How to start your own business (and enjoy it) with the help of our new course
Love to start your own business (and enjoy it)? Find out why we’ve launched a new one-year business course – and how it will help you.
Over the past four and a half years we’ve grown our own hugely successful business from scratch as first time entrepreneurs – and watched many other business owners on their own journeys.
We’ve even helped a number of businesses to launch and grow with our monthly membership club, Kickstart. (You can watch a video interview with member – Jennie Adams, a former deputy head teacher, here.)
And we’ve always wanted to do more.
We’ve seen so many businesses hit the same roadblocks, make the same mistakes (many of which we’ve made too!) and struggle alone.
Some businesses that have had potential haven’t made it. And many entrepreneurs have found the experience much harder than it could, or should, be.
So we did something about it: we turned Kickstart into a 12-month course that guides startup businesses through their first year – and makes it fun.
Here’s how it works.
Focus on one area of your business every month
Kickstart follows a carefully planned roadmap that guides you through the process of launching a successful business. Each month we focus on one area of your business – avoiding the overwhelm (and burnout) that comes with trying to tackle everything at once.
Instead, you focus on mastering one aspect of your business, with all the information, tools and support you need. Each month that progress builds, as does your confidence, as you shape a business that fits your life and goals.
Enjoy the process with a friendly team on your side
One of the most daunting aspects of starting your own business is the loneliness. Often you’re working on your business alone at home, with no one to ask for advice, support or even just opinions. And no one to share your successes and disappointments with.
Kickstart has been shaped to give you the team you need to enjoy growing a profitable business. Here’s why you’ll never feel alone:
- Share your journey with a friendly and helpful group of fellow entrepreneurs (and us!) in our secret Facebook group.
- Ask for advice, opinions or help at any time via our learning platform or in the Facebook group. We’re always on hand to ensure you get the most from the course.
- Join fortnightly, fun, live online classes, where you can ask questions, get feedback on your business and learn invaluable business wisdom.
Get training on core business skills
As a startup business you can’t usually afford to outsource skills like copywriting, marketing, sales, social media and PR. But you also don’t have the skills to confidently master these tasks. So what do you do?
In Kickstart we teach you how to do all these skills for yourself. We teach you how to write your own website, how to plan and implement a social media strategy, how to write a marketing plan, how to get the media interested in your business, and how to sell.
And if you struggle with any of these tasks, we’re here to guide you through them, and give you feedback on any areas that can be improved.
Get your pricing right
It’s really important to us that Kickstart doesn’t just help you start a business – it helps you grow a profitable business.
One of the toughest aspects many female entrepreneurs battle with is pricing – especially for service-based or training businesses when you are, in effect, pricing your time.
That’s why we have TWO modules tackling money – a pricing module and a sales module. In the pricing module we guide you through setting a value to what you sell. But we also do much more. We encourage you to share your pricing with us in the Facebook group. So you get the feedback of us, and your fellow Kickstarters, on your pricing. If we think it’s too high, or too low, we’ll tell you.
So not only can you put your products or services out into the world for the right price – but you’ll have the confidence to stick to the rates you have set. And won’t be tempted, as many businesses are, to sell yourself too cheaply, and make too little money for what you do.
Start your business while working and raising a family
One thing that stops many mothers from starting a business is time. They worry they don’t have time to launch a business while working and raising a family. And they can’t afford to quit their job until their business can replace their income.
So we’ve designed Kickstart so you can work through the course while working (and enjoy the process). We estimate that you’ll need to put aside six hours each month to work through the coursework. And the online classes are all recorded so you can still watch them if you can’t make them live. (You can also email in any questions you’d like us to cover if you can’t make them.)
In module one we also teach you the time management techniques we ourselves used to create and launch Talented Ladies Club while working full time as freelancers and with three children between us (two of whom were just three years old). Trust us, if we can do it, you can too!
We can’t wait to share Kickstart with you
We really are so excited about this course, and delighted with the progress we’ve already seen in the members who have started it (we did an early pre-launch to the TLC Business Club on Facebook).
It really is the most comprehensive, friendly, supportive and fun (and best value) online business course you’ll find, and we can’t wait to share it with you – and help you get your business idea out into the world.
If you’d like to find out more about Kickstart, and see whether it’s right for you, take a look here.
Photo by Eye for Ebony
