Key Steps to Building an Aligned and Profitable Business or Side Hustle without Confusion or Overwhelm, so that you can go from 9 to THRIVE!

Meet Sharnette and be inspired to go from employee to entrepreneur, 9-THRIVE style!

As this is published in June, I'm reminded of meeting Sharnette in a Facebook group and the conversation we had. We discussed when is a good time to ditch 9-5 life and put family first: anytime. If building a side hustle and, ultimately, a profitable business, is your goal, you don't have to wait to get started. Going from employee to entrepreneur is foundational to the mission of this blog and my tradition of sharing insight, experience, and inspiration from guest authors is carried on with her post below. Along with the tradition of ideas and resources to ease the overwhelm.

Take a peek and be inspired by this mom, business coach and children's book author!

Sharnette is a former financial advisory expert who pivoted from the corporate world to follow her passions and fulfill her dream of becoming a published children's picture book author. She considers herself a natural storyteller, who has always enjoyed writing songs, poetry and short stories. She is also a DEI specialist who works with corporates to help identify, develop retain top diverse talent.

After years of writing only for herself, Sharnette published her debut picture book, 'Ada's Wash Day' in November 2021.

She now wants to help other aspiring writers do the same with her 8 week programme - “Launch your first picture book”.

Note: As a blogger, I use affiliate links sometimes! I may receive commission from purchases on links I share, but it does not change your price.

Photo by Joshua Sukoff on Unsplash

If you’ve been thinking about starting your own side hustle, or leaving your 9-5 to start your own business, then this is for you.

You probably have a ton of ideas, but you haven’t been able to get out of your head to follow through on any of them.

You probably spend your days trying to find time around your 9-5 to work on your ideas, juggling being a parent with building your business, procrastinating due to self-doubt, and overwhelmed at the thought of going at it alone.

Don’t give up!

Take a step back.

You just need alignment & strategy.

Photo by Ikigloo on Unsplash

Vision & Intention setting

Vision and intention setting is one of the crucial steps that aspiring entrepreneurs miss.

If you can create the time, the opportunity to reflect on how far you've come, what you have done and what you have achieved is the first, and often missed step to facilitate real and meaningful change for yourself.

A big dream is a bold vision for the future.

If your goals don’t scare you, then you need to dream bigger!

There's nothing more powerful than a person committed to and determined to rise and achieve their full potential.

When you have a clear vision of what you want to achieve and where you want to end up, the strategy to get there is easier.

RELATED: A post on this blog dedicated to "why."

Photo by Nick Gordon on Unsplash

The 3 Ps: Purpose + Passion + Plan = Profitable Business

This is my approach that I used to build my business and that I use with my clients to help them manifest their vision into reality – building a profitable business that they are passionate about.

Purpose

“Start with Why?” Simon Sinek.

This is YOUR unique motivation for building YOUR specific business! Narrow your focus and be clear and honest about what is important to you.

Think about the impact you want to make. What do you want to be known for?

Develop a compelling brand story and brand identity, which is backed by a strong mission & vision.

RELATED: This 50-page e-book from Margaret Bourne about nailing your personal brand.

Passion

The quickest and most inexpensive way to self-start your own business is to start with what you love, what you know and what you have.

You have everything you need to turn your ideas into an income generating business.

Use what you know & have (your expertise, skills, network) - to design a compelling product or service that people would want to pay for.

Passion is an essential foundation for any basis. It fuels your motivation for success, especially when times are tough. Harness your passions to create a business that you love and that you will want to work on consistently to create long term success.

Photo by Ishan @seefromthesky on Unsplash

Plan

This step requires planning, patience, and a lot of ACTION.

Ask most entrepreneurs and they will tell you that the best way to eventually become your own boss is to start a side hustle, whilst working a day job.

In doing so, you can:

· validate your idea;
· improve your service or product with feedback from clients and customers
· generate additional income
· build up your customer and client base
· and boost your confidence

Because let's face it, a business that doesn't pay you is an expensive hobby.

So, use the time wisely:

• Outline your big vision for you and your business so that you can develop a clear and focused strategy that you can implement quickly and easily to see the results that you want.
• Focus on 1 - 3 strategic areas that are important to your personal & business goals at the stage you’re currently at so that you can move forward with clarity & ease without overwhelm.
• Develop a detailed, clear & aligned strategy broken down into specific action points, supported by SMART goals, which you can implement in your business straight away to take you closer to your big vision.

ALL whilst bringing in an income to support your longer-term vision.

RELATED: Get a business planner to put your thoughts, goals and actions together! Click here to shop.

Photo by Raphael Wild on Unsplash

When the time is right, then you can leave your day job and work on your business full time.

In 2020, I left my successful corporate career in Strategy & Transformations to be my own boss and go full time into my coaching business. For 2 years, I did coaching as a side hustle alongside my day job to build my confidence, my client base and my network.

It was a real challenge starting from the ground up and managing my side hustle with my day job, but by using this approach, I was able to have consistent income, which I could use to invest in my business (coaching, website, laptop, and a VA) and refine my coaching method and services.

So that by the time I was ready to leave my 9-5, I was confident that I could make it a success.

I didn’t stop there. Having the freedom and flexibility of running my own business, allowed me to follow some additional passions of mine. I then took the leap again and fulfilled a long-term dream of mine and published my own children’s picture book, Ada’s Wash Day.

Every day is a new opportunity for you to empower yourself to create the life you want. Take concrete and meaningful steps towards achieving them - today!

Reach Sharnette:

Ada’s Wash Day: Get the book here!

Little Big Stories Website: Click here.

Coaching website under construction and re-brand. For enquiries, you can email me on [email protected] or @sharnettedonacien on Instagram and Facebook.