Turn Your Skills Into a Business: Business Brainstorming Strategies | #182

Have you been wondering if you have what it takes to start a business with your skills and experience?

In this special episode of Second Act Success Episode #182, host Shannon Russell shares a replay of her popular Business Brainstorm Masterclass. You'll learn how to plan your exit strategy, discover the right business idea for you, and take the first steps toward entrepreneurship. Whether you're in the early stages of brainstorming or ready to take action, this episode is packed with practical advice to help you transition from employee to entrepreneur with confidence.

Takeaways from this episode:

1. Plan Your Exit Strategy: Learn the importance of timing, financial preparation, and maintaining professional relationships when leaving your job.
2. Validate Your Business Idea: Discover how to assess your skills, conduct market research, and ensure your idea has a strong chance of success.
3. Explore Business Models: Gain clarity on whether an online business, service-based business, or franchise is right for you.
4. Build a Support System: Understand the value of mentors, coaches, and networking during your transition.
5. Take Imperfect Action: Start small, test the waters, and make progress toward launching your dream business.

Get ready to grab a notebook, take notes, and map out your journey to Second Act Success! For show notes and resources mentioned, visit www.secondactsuccess.co. Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with a friend!

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Transcript

Second Act Success Career Podcast
Season 1 - Turn Your Skills Into a Business: Business Brainstorming Strategies | #182
Episode - #182
Host: Shannon Russell
Transcription (*created by Descript and may not be perfectly accurate)



[00:00:00] Speaker 2: Are you ready to quit your nine to five job and start a business of your own? Well, you're in the right place, my friend. Welcome to the second act success career podcast. I am your host, Shannon Russell. I am a former television producer turned business owner, career transition coach, and boy mom. My mission is to help you produce your best life.

This podcast will teach you how to get from where you are now to where you want to be and how to build a business that fits your life and lights you up. Let's get started. 

Hey there and welcome back. I am. Shannon Russell, your career transition and business coach. And today. On this episode of the podcast. I'm actually replaying a masterclass my business brainstorm masterclass Inside this masterclass, we talk about what it's like to leave your corporate job and start a business. How you can plan your exit strategy, how to figure out what business is right for you using your [00:01:00] skills and experience. We talk about networking, LinkedIn, really doing all of the work that it takes up front to validate that business idea before you move forward. 

This is really an intensive masterclass. So You can listen, you can take notes, you can jot down ideas. I think it's really going to help you. If you're in that place where you're thinking about business ideas. 

But you're not really sure which one to choose and which path to go in. I think this episode is really going to benefit you. So get comfortable, grab a notebook, grab a pen. And let's get started.



[00:01:34] Speaker: In this masterclass,

We are going to be talking about how you can take an idea for a business and turn it into an actual profitable business. 

Making that decision to take action towards becoming a business owner is really a big deal. You know what it's like to work for someone else. You know what it's like to be that employee, but when you decide to leave [00:02:00] your role, to leave your job that, or leave that career that you've been working in for so long to take action and become an owner of a business that is all of your own.

It's a big deal. So we're going to really dive into how you can figure out if now is the right time. If you know what the right business is and how you can take those action steps towards really launching a business that is yours. So what is the why behind you wanting to be an entrepreneur? So really diving into what it is that you want, what is the why behind it?

Is it the flexibility? Is it the money? Is it the creative control? Think about that why behind you wanting to make this change. Really dive deep for this. A lot of times you can think, Oh, it sounds great. I just don't want to have a boss anymore. I'm going to become my own boss. But you want to have a deeper why, in my opinion, because that why will drive you.

That why will drive you the [00:03:00] entire time that you are launching the business and while you're in business. If it's just that you don't want to have a boss anymore. That's okay, that's a valid reason, but do you also want to have that creative autonomy? Do you want to run a team? Do you want to constantly be thinking about this baby for 24 7?

This business becomes all encompassing to an entrepreneur, so you want to really know the why and make sure you're a thousand percent set on this decision. Remember, it's important to always run towards something and not just away from something. That is something that you should print out, put on your wall as you're making these decisions because it really is true that you want to be running towards a goal instead of just away from an uncomfortable situation.

All right, so how to plan your exit strategy to make this transition easy is very [00:04:00] important. And here are a few things I would suggest you do to make sure you have a very successful transition. Number one, why, first off, is an exit strategy important? Why is it important? So many reasons. It's important, number one, because you do not want to burn a bridge.

You want to Thank your boss. No matter how much you like or dislike this person, you want to thank your boss, your manager, your team for the opportunity for all that you've learned. Thank them and let them know that at this stage of your life, you need to try this life as an entrepreneur. You have this inner dream, you have this desire and you want to see if you can fulfill it.

We have one life, so that boss or manager is most likely if they're a good person going to understand your need to try this out. And so if you're thankful to them and you leave [00:05:00] your job in a good place where everything is set up for the person who will be taking over your role, then you are leaving on a good note.

You're leaving it open because you never know if any of those people that you currently work with will become your customers, clients, or partners in your next act. So don't burn a bridge. Another point is what if you try this business? And for whatever reason, it doesn't work out the way you'd like it to, , you want to leave that option open to going back if needed.

Yes, you're not even thinking about that right now, but what if? So never burn a bridge. Leave those doors open whenever possible. You want to plan how you are going to exit your current role in a very professional way so that it's seamless. When thinking about your exit strategy, you want to think about when a good time is to make that move.

I always suggest to my clients that you look at your financials. [00:06:00] So how are you living financially right now? Do you have three to eight months worth of savings for you to live off of while you're transitioning from your job into launching your business? Do you also have finances prepared to invest in this business for the growth, for the startup?

Look at your finances and be really truthful to yourself because only you and your bank account will know how financially fit you really are so that you can move forward confidently. Number three, Have you done your research and assessed your skills to help you decide what type of business you want to start?

Meaning, have you done your research? Do you know the type of business that you are thinking of launching? Are there any skill gaps that you might need to fill, whether it's a training, a certification, degree. Have you thought about any, have you, [00:07:00] have you considered if you do have the skills to launch this business and make it successful?

Look at those gaps, do your research, make sure you're 100. Well, better off 1000 percent sure that this is the business that you want, the industry, the field that you want to go into, and that you are confident in your skillset to make it happen. Also, if you know there's a certification you need, if you know you need to do a little bit more research, then while you are working, you are earning money.

So that you can start doing this research or taking that class and planning for your next step. Think about the timing of your exit to make sure that you're not only financially prepared, but you're educationally informed and ready to go as well. Think about all of this as you're planning your next move.

Number four, do you have support in place? Do you have a system that can really help support you during this [00:08:00] transition? And I'm not talking financially here in this scenario. I'm talking about a mentor, a coach, a fellow business owner, someone who knows what it's like to run their own business.

and who has been there, done that and can help you. Someone who can hold your hands and make sure that you are thinking of everything, making sure that you're emotionally supported and that you have someone or a group of people that you can go to to spitball ideas and get inspiration. It's really great to make sure you have at least one other person that can be your go to person while you are making this employee to entrepreneur switch.

Number five, what does your timeline look like? If you've gone through these past few steps, you can now truly assess your timeline. Do you want to work for two more months? Six more months? What does it look like for you so that you can be financially ready? You can be informationally educated and [00:09:00] ready and that you can know that you have all of these pieces in place to really Start moving this business idea into a reality.

And then once you kind of know what that timeline looks like, you can reverse engineer it, go back to the beginning, and really try to figure out how long you need, when you should be giving your notice, how many weeks you'll need to prepare that person who will be taking over your role so that you can leave and feel good as you exit your current role.

your timeline can really be flexible. You can map it out now, put it on paper, and know that it is ever changing, but just so you know exactly when all of this change will happen. It might not be tomorrow, it might not be next week, but you can have this timeline so that you can prepare in a way that feels comfortable to you.

This is my next question for you is, Have you thought about dabbling in that industry or [00:10:00] working part time in building this business on the side? Have you thought about having these interviews or informational conversations with people who are already in that industry or people who are business owners?

You want to make sure that you are fully educated on what this will look like. And by testing the waters, you're doing it with just a toe in instead of leaping in fully. Just an idea if you do want to kind of figure out, play and, and add this part to your research plan as well. Number seven, make a plan to give your two weeks notice.

This part does not have to happen today. It goes back to your timeline and when really works well for you. Now know if you do give your two weeks notice that two weeks might turn into a month. It might turn into more of a negotiation with your current manager. You just want to know that you're giving the appropriate professional amount of time as you decide to exit your current role, and that [00:11:00] you have that time to wrap up all the loose ends.

Make sure that your work is all tied up nicely and ready to pass off. And that can take more than two weeks, but you want to make sure that you have this time ready and prepare to actually let your Team know, let your boss know that you will be leaving and you want to do that in my opinion. And, and you want to set up a meeting.

You want to have an in person conversation to let them know, and follow up with an email stating the same thing. So you have it in writing as well. Next, what type of business do you want to start? Here's where we brainstorm a little bit. So we want to think about what is your experience from the past and what are your interests?

Do you know right away what it is you want to build or do you need to think back to things that you have enjoyed doing in the past and work that is something that you might continue to be interested in? Or do you have [00:12:00] other interests outside of your current role that you might not have a lot of experience in, but that really light you up?

Think about that when you are deciding the type of business that you want to open. Next ask yourself, what is your dream business to run if money were no object?

So think out of the box. Do you want to run a McDonald's? Do you want to open a gym?

Do you want to create a clothing line? Do you want to make jewelry? Do you want to teach clients how to have better nutrition? , think about what interests you and what you're think about your dream business. And then think about how realistic that is.

Is it possible? A lot of times we have a dream and we think, Oh, it's off in the distance. It's never going to be feasible. But when you really start to break it down and think about it, maybe it really is at your fingertips. So think about that dream business and think about if that's really an option for you or if an [00:13:00] element of it may be an option for you.

Okay.

do you prefer an online business, a service based business, or a brick and mortar business? An online business is what I run currently, which is my career coaching and business coaching business. So I work online, I meet my clients online, everything I do is virtual. A service based business might be where you're taking your services and you're going out into the community.

Maybe you're a personal trainer and you work and you meet your customers or clients at the gym. Maybe you clean homes and so you're going into other people's homes or offices to do your cleaning. Those are service based businesses. A brick and mortar business simply means that you have a business that you run out of an office or a storefront location.

Think about the type of business that you would prefer and keep that in mind as you start building out that business idea. Have you considered an already [00:14:00] established business like a franchise or are you interested in creating your own brand? Oftentimes when you are thinking about starting a business, you think about starting a business from scratch, taking an idea and really forming it into this business entity.

But there are already established businesses that are franchised or licensed that you can purchase and then run where things are already working for you. Don't discount that if you know you are interested in something and there's already someone out there doing it

and it's working well and it's successful. Think about the franchising or licensing aspect of starting a business because you're starting that much further down the line than starting from scratch and really trying to grow that brand, , that people have not heard about. Whereas if you were to buy a Subway sandwich shop, people know about Subway.

So you already have an advantage, when it comes to customers [00:15:00] and marketing. What is a franchise? It is the right or license granted to an individual or a group to market a company's goods or services in a particular area. My first business when I left television was a franchise business.

[00:15:15] Speaker: I had a territory. I was able to operate this already successful business in my territory. I still had a I still had to market the business in my area because it was not a McDonald's or a Subway. It was a smaller franchise that people did not know about in my area, yet I had the marketing materials from our corporate office.

I had all of the service based materials. I had everything I needed and marketing plans and procedures and systems already in place that helped me grow the business faster than if I had just built the same identical business by myself.

Don't discount franchises. I am a big fan and I would always welcome a chance to chat with you [00:16:00] about franchise businesses. Here are just some of the top franchises for women in 2024. These are cleaning businesses. They are blinds. We have cruise planners, bath and kitchen companies, sign companies, Kona Ice, which is an ice truck, Mathnasium, a tutoring center, salon suites, and even ice cream.

Okay, so now to get back to another question when it comes to business brainstorming. I want to know if you are planning on being a solopreneur, creating this business alone, or will you have partners running it alongside of you?

This is something you want to decide in the very early stages of planning your business. Because if you are going to have partners, even investors, if you're having outside people in any way, making decisions and being involved in the creation of the business, that changes how you plan and design the business.

You are going to have a lot more meetings and really have to be [00:17:00] more flexible. Whereas if you're a solopreneur, Every decision is yours and you can just take that idea and run with it without getting approval or Advice or insight from someone on your team? So really think about the way you want to set up your business early on all right mind mapping is just a very simple way of really getting all of those ideas in your head that we just discussed and Putting it on paper and making it so it's a little clearer for you.

You can put the idea of your business in the middle and then out from there, it's all of your different ideas that you can put, and then ideas off of those ideas. It just helps you get everything out, kind of a brain dump onto paper.

You can also do the post it approach, where you just take your ideas, you do post its on the wall, whatever works for you to just get those ideas down. So you don't miss a step. And honestly, you will miss steps and you'll go back and you'll learn and you'll figure it out. But just as you're starting to brainstorm, so you can really get [00:18:00] confident on the type of business you want to start.

These are just a few methods I wanted to suggest to you. And of course, networking, asking other people, their opinions, if there are people who are already in a business. If you have other business owner friends, if you're in a networking group or a Facebook group or a LinkedIn group with other entrepreneurs, ask them how it's going, ask them how they started, lean on people for that support and for that advice, especially in the early on stages.

And of course, get to work. Carve out some time throughout your week, even if it's an hour here and there, 30 minutes a day, a couple hours on the weekend when you have extra help with the kids, whatever it might be, and think about what you're going to do. Really get your ideas down and make that plan because you'll never move forward if you don't immediately start Taking action 

Here are some ways you can do that. First, of course, research what your business entails. Once you come up with that [00:19:00] idea, research everything, the type of customers or clients, what products will you need?

What services will you be offering? Do you have a logo? Do you have a website? Think about all the little things that come together to really start a business. Do your market research. Are there other businesses in your niche? Is there a need for this type of business in your area? What products or services will you be selling or offering?

And how are similar businesses doing financially? This is where you'll find a similar business and look to see what they offer. What are they charging for their products or services? How are they looking when it comes to Google reviews, Yelp reviews, Facebook reviews?

How are their followers on social media? , what can you learn about that business? And then take that information and build your business Off of that information. Also look to see if there is a need for what you want to [00:20:00] start, whether it's in your community or online. If it seems saturated already, 

think about how you can niche down your business so that it can really have an impact from the get go. When you launch, you can look at online marketing tools to help you as well. There's market research tools like Google trends, social media analytics, setting your competitors like we just talked about

also you can ask questions in online groups. You can ask friends and family. You can do a poll on your social media profile asking people. What they would like from a business like this, or what are they looking for in that particular field or industry and these research tools will just better help you gather that information.

Taking polls from friends and family, conducting surveys, focus groups, observing the competitors and speaking with owners of similar businesses. For example, if you are opening a business in your community in Nebraska [00:21:00] if you look online and you see a similar business in another state, maybe in Tennessee, you can reach out to that person online and say, hi, I'm thinking about starting a business and I found yours while I was doing my research.

I would love to chat with you. I'm all the way out in Nebraska, so it's no competition, but I would love to ask you some questions about how you got started and how the business is going. Chances are someone will feel flattered that you're asking them that you're interested in what they built and they'll want to have that conversation with you.

Gather research, get those results, and once you have that information, once you have that information, you can make an educated assessment of how this business will do and you can move forward from there. Studying your competition is really important. Such a key way to getting that clarity that you need about how well a business will do.

So do not skip that step. And how will your business stand out? What makes you and your concept unique? Like I said, if [00:22:00] there are other businesses that are similar, you need to find your niche. You need to find what is unique about what you are going to offer. Do you have experience, knowledge, skills, and a passion to truly cultivate this business?

That is something that only you know, and that's where you have to turn in, have that conversation with yourself to figure out where your passion comes from. And if you don't have a lot of skills or experience in this field, what transferable skills can you take from your past that will really reflect well in this new business?

it's all about examining your experience. What is the thread between your professional experience, your educational background, and the skills maybe needed for this business? You also want to ask yourself, do you have connections to help you in this business field?

If you're opening a clothing boutique in your community, do you have connections outside? Do you have connections to help you source [00:23:00] the material? Do you have people that will help promote it for you? What can you take from your background to really help you build this business?

Think about your community, your friends, your partners, think about who will help you grow this business once you launch. Also keep in mind that you don't have to have all the answers as soon as you begin. You're a professional. You have experience and that is enough for you to start and take that imperfect action.

I would love to touch on networking and promotion of your business because it really does make all the difference. LinkedIn is a network of over 1 billion users. So if you're not already on there, you definitely need to be. LinkedIn will help you build a strong network that can lead to job opportunities.

Business partnerships. And of course, growth. It will also establish you as a personal and professional brand. You can be talking about your business on your personal LinkedIn page, and you can also open [00:24:00] a business LinkedIn page so you can also have information about your business.

These are ways free and easy for you to stay on the forefront of other people's minds while they're engaging. And while you're engaging with them, having that LinkedIn profile really represents you. It represents your past and what you're working for and what, and what you're working towards. So people from your past.

High school, college, different jobs you've had will know you from then and now they're seeing what you're doing now. So it's linking people to you in a whole new way. You're able to show off your experience, your expertise. You can also use keywords that will attract new connections to you based on what you write in your posts, in your LinkedIn bio, et cetera.

And you want people to know exactly who you are while they're on your page. So you have this all laid out clearly and it will just help promote you and ultimately your [00:25:00] business. These are some ways that you can show off and really let people who stumble upon your LinkedIn profile know where you've been these people will learn quickly who you are and what you are doing and how you are serving your customers or clients.

All right. So we have done a lot of brainstorming, a lot of thinking about ideas and ways to kick off your business. So what you can do right now is really Make a simple pros and cons list. Go down each different idea of what business you're considering, narrow it down and start thinking about how you can move forward.

Thank you for joining us. I hope you found some gems of inspiration and some takeaways to help you on your path to Second Act Success. To view show notes from this episode, visit www.secondactsuccess.co. Before you go, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss a single episode. Reviews only take a few moments and they really do mean so much.

Thank you again for listening. I'm [00:26:00] Shannon Russell and this is Second Act Success.