Where to Start? What do I want to do? What do I like? How do I start a business? - Any of those questions sound familiar to you? If you're thinking about starting a business, they should! That was me about ten years ago.
I've always known that I wanted to have my own business even from a young age. I believe it comes from my parents own entrepreneurial journey when they were in a network marketing venture, while my brothers and I were younger. While we would drive around, they would have tapes (yes, cassette tapes!) playing from entrepreneurial and motivational speakers. We would go "dream building" and see large homes and yachts. We would travel around the Southeast of the U.S. for my parents to go to conventions. Us kids would stay in the hotel with my grandma and do kid things. But what I'm getting at is… I was listening, I was paying attention to these tapes and dream building activities. This is where my entrepreneurial spirit comes from because I wanted, not necessarily the big house, but the freedom to do whatever I wanted.
That drive I had to own my own business was always my ultimate goal. After college, I even remember thinking now what. Oh, I need money to start a business or have the means to start but really, I just didn't know what I wanted to start. I had a goal in mind that I would make money from working with someone else and then as I get money start to figure out what I wanted to do, so I could invest in myself. A few years passed and I was still working in a job that paid the bills and quite well, but I had the yearn and nagging feeling of - OWN A BUSINESS! So that left me thinking with where to start? What do I like to do? What do I want to do? How do I start?
I had no idea what I wanted to do; I just knew I wanted my own business. I love the idea of starting businesses, building businesses and profiting from businesses - that is my passion as well as helping others do the same. I also, at the time, was traveling a lot for my work, so I needed something that was as remote as me and work from anywhere (anywhere is part of my freedom thoughts too). This idea of remote working and business was prior to what the world is today, but it was growing with the rise of social media.
I had dabbled in a few network marketing ventures myself, but none really stuck with me as something I wanted to invest my time into. But one day, as I pondered at my desk, came the first business idea! I texted two of my girlfriends and ask them if they would want to partner together on this new business venture. They both excitedly said yes! A couple months later, we had our first business.
All three of us, were traveling constantly for both work and pleasure. We all met back in the day at one of the banks and then had gone our separate ways to do consulting in our field. So, since we were traveling often, we would think of things that we would often forget and created a box - Little Black Box with goodies inside that you may need for emergencies or would make a great bachelorette party box. It carried a hair tie, a mint, pain medicine, lip balm (the best lip balm too!... hmm, business idea?!) … OK getting off track, and the box had some other items too that were useful for on the go, emergency items, and party necessities for a fun night out. That was my first true start of my "own" business and where it all started.
Of course, there are some nuggets and a mindset I've learned along the way, those lessons will come, but for now I’ll leave you with the start of how my first business came to be!
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