She Owns It

Celebrating, Connecting, and Supporting Women Entrepreneurs

3 Easy Steps to an Expert-Based Business

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by Cheryl Garrison

So you want to start a business but you’re not sure what type of business to start and how to get it started. You’re not alone. I get tons of inquiries from women, especially those over 50, who are ready to assert their independence and become their own boss but can’t seem to find the business they want to start. They dabble in and out of network marketing or direct sales and find that they don’t truly have a passion to build a team or host parties! The idea of having a business becomes more and more frustrating and they are at the point of giving up on this long-held dream. Does this sound like you?

Good news. More and more women are finding that the business they’ve been wanting to start is literally inside of them. It’s their talent, knowledge and passion – the thing they love to do and can do with ease. It’s called starting an expert-based business.

According to market trends, over 33% of businesses started are businesses that evolve from prior experience. This includes businesses like freelancing, independent contracting, consulting and virtual assistance. Many of these businesses are started at home and are more likely to succeed. Personally, I ran a successful consultant business from home for over 15 years. It was based on my work experience and passion as a corporate and technical writer. I was able to raise my three children (now adults) and earn a significant high five-figure income annually.

How did I do it and how can you take your expertise and passion and turn it into a viable and successful home-based business? Below I share three steps you can take to get your expert-based business started and get you on the road to success from home.

Step 1: Be clear on the type of business you wish to start – Many people are knowledgeable about something. In fact, most of us have multiple talents and passions and it is sometimes hard to narrow them down and know your true expertise. Do a quick expertise inventory. Simply get a sheet of paper, draw a line down the middle and on one side write all the experience that you have. It can be from current or past corporate jobs, hobbies, volunteering, and education – just brainstorm all of your experience. On the opposite side, write all the things you are passionate about, the things you LOVE to do. You might be very knowledgeable about accounting but truly love teaching. This might lead you to creating an online class on how to keep accurate accounting records in a small business. This exercise has led many people to start lasting businesses.

Step 2: Position yourself as the expert – As I said earlier, most of us are experts at something. But, until someone knows our expertise, our unique and special gifts remain unknown. How do you get people to know that you are knowledgeable in a certain area? You tell them. You tell them online, offline, every chance you get. Some of the most notable ways people are establishing themselves as authorities or experts in their field include:

  • Writing a Book – Writing a book about your field of expertise is instant credibility. Luckily, in today’s digital world, it has gotten easier to get your book on the market through self-publishing, vanity press and ebooks. Decide on the book you want to write and then get busy writing it. ‘
  • Hosting an online podcast/FB LIVE – Establish your expertise by hosting weekly or monthly podcasts/FB LIVEs where you can share “how-to” tips. This is merely a way to keep your message in front of your audience and allow them to see you in the position as expert.
  • Obtaining speaking engagements – Get on the stage as much as possible to establish your credibility. Your local chamber of commerce has opportunities as well as women groups and conferences in your community.

Step 3: Share your Story – The final step is to create a platform for sharing your knowledge with a pre-defined audience. How will you deliver the message? You might decide to create an online course, do live webinars, or conduct one-on-one coaching.

How will you reach them? You might decide to create a social media strategy for Facebook and Instagram. Your offline strategy could be attending networking events.

The three steps referenced here are a quick overview of ways to get your expert-based business started. Remember, starting any business requires clarity, planning and a no-excuse attitude. Follow these steps and you will be well on your way to being your own boss. To your Success!

 

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Cheryl Garrison is a business coach, speaker, author and champion for women over 50. Her desire is to help women re-invent themselves through business ownership. She encourages women over 50 to take their decades of skills and expertise and turn the into a thriving business. For more than 30 years, Cheryl has been an entrepreneur and has earned well over a million dollars from her various ventures. As a business owner, she was awarded numerous Business Excellence awards.

She has been a featured speaker at several women’s conferences and networking events. She is the author of two books: Re-Invent Yourself and From Expert to Entrepreneur. Most recently, Cheryl published her first magazine for women over 50, 50Something Lifestyle Magazine.

As a coach, Cheryl works one-on-one with her clients in addition to group training and masterminds.’

Cheryl created 50Something LIfestyle to help women deal with the “now what”.  Just because we are 50Something, it doesn’t mean that we are ready to be done. We are strong, vibrant women ready to create the lifestyle of our dreams?

The 4 Benefits of Hiring a Business Coach

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by Cheryl Garrison

Are you considering hiring a coach or mentor to help you start and grow your new business? Well, below are a few things to consider as you make this decision. I know for me, working with a coach made all the difference in being profitable and pretty much falling flat on my face. A few years ago, I was literally at the point of closing a business because I was doing so poorly. I had invested thousands of dollars in starting the business but wasn’t making any money. In fact, I only earned $2000 my first year in business. Disaster!

After many sleepless nights of tossing and turning trying to figure it out, a fellow business owner recommended that I hire a coach. It was a foreign thought to me, but I wanted things to work out and I didn’t want to lose all my investment so I did just that. To make a longer story short, the next year I ended the year with over $200,000 and I never looked back. The lessons I learned helped me in multiple businesses and I have made a substantial amount of money being an entrepreneur

Here are some of the benefits of hiring a coach:

  • Unbiased Support – a coach will tell it like it is. Friends and family want to spare our feelings and will tell us that we have a great idea or are doing great when conditions are totally opposite. A coach will give you an unbiased assessment of how your business is doing, what you can do to correct it and then support you as you turn it around.
  • Accountability – a coach will hold you accountable for the goals you set for yourself and your business. A coach will help you create an action plan with goals and objectives that can be measured. Accountability will hold you to making the sales calls you have decided to make, create programs that need to be created, stick to a social media strategy that works! Accountability is the biggest benefit you can get when working with a coach.
  • Motivation – there is nothing like having a positive and spirited fan club. A coach will be the head cheerleader when it comes to keeping you motivated to reach your goals. When things aren’t going well, a coach will help you affirm positive thoughts and take action to get back on track.
  • Expert Advice – a coach will have the knowledge and experience you need to start and grow your business. A coach will help you write a business plan, lead you through the steps needed to legally set up your business with the state and federal government, create a marketing plan and do all the tasks necessary to go from zero to profitability. How better to learn than from someone who has already achieved the success you are wanting to achieve.

Do you need a coach? Only you can answer that. As you can see, the benefits are worth the investment.

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Cheryl Garrison is a business coach, speaker, author and champion for women over 50. Her desire is to help women re-invent themselves through business ownership. She encourages women over 50 to take their decades of skills and expertise and turn them into a thriving business.

For more than 30 years, Cheryl has been an entrepreneur and has earned well over a million dollars from her various ventures. As a business owner, she was awarded numerous Business Excellence awards.

She has been a featured speaker at several women’s conferences and networking events including 2015 Womanpreneur conference which was live-streamed to over 15,000 women, Women Who Prosper 2016, Women’s Information Network Summit 2016, Sisterhood TeleSummit 2016, Be-Well Mastermind 2017 and 2018, and numerous workshops including Don’t Retire, Refire! and Passionate Purpose.

As a coach, Cheryl works one-on-one with her clients in addition to doing group workshops.

Cheryl created 50Something Lifestyle to help women deal with the ‘now what’. “Just because we are 50Something, it doesn’t mean that we are ready to be done. We are strong, vibrant women ready to create the lifestyle of our dreams.”