It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Chris Guillebeau’s work at The Art of Non-Conformity and the World Domination Summit.
Chris’s encouraging approach to life as an adventure has always appealed to me. He applies his consummate curiosity to the subject of entrepreneurship in his latest book, The $100 Startup.
Filled with case studies and grounded, simple advice about how to launch and run a small business, this book will inspire those just starting and those who’ve been in business for awhile and who need a perspective refresher.
Chris just launched this book and has embarked on his book tour. We hosted him in Denver in 2010 for his Art of Non-Conformity book tour.
This year, he’ll be speaking on Friday, May 18th, 2012 at 7:30 pm at the Tattered Cover in Highlands Ranch. I’ll be there and look forward to the discussion that Chris will initiate about entrepreneurship.
Enjoy my video review, with a revelation of a surprise connection between my business and this book. Below the video I’ve shared about my own $100 startup.
My (Less than) $100 Startup
In May, 1999 I quit my job at the bookstore and struck out on my entrepreneurial path. I’d read an article about coaching, attended a weekend introductory course, and knew that coaching was the career for me.
I didn’t have savings, I didn’t have a golden parachute, and I didn’t have a plan other than to coach and write.
Frankly, I didn’t even know I was going into business.
I’m sure I didn’t have $100 but I didn’t leap from my job without ways to support myself. I’d always relied on multiple streams of income, so I moved forward on the bridge of my existing skills.
A financial bridge to fund the startup
If you’re considering self-employment, you may need to have a financial bridge to support you while you build your business. This could be made using the skills from your former work.
My bridge had these sources of income:
Personal chef Every week, I’d cook a week’s worth of delicious and healthy vegetarian meals for a family.
Cooking classes At this time I was in the middle of my ten-year career as a cooking instructor. I had a small following, and several of these people became my first clients and also came to my other workshops.
Writing classes I had been teaching writing since 1996. I earned money teaching classes at a local writing school and leading free write groups in my home.
Writing I was a columnist for Life on Capitol Hill. I wrote a monthly article and was paid $50 per. This of course was a pittance but it built confidence in my writing and gave me clips to prove I was a published writer.
Pushing the leap
The next year I pushed myself out of the safety net of Denver and moved to Boulder. With no money, no boyfriend, no job, no nothing, I needed to take a job while I built my business.
Part of me felt this was a defeat. But a friend shook some sense into me. “Girlfriend, you need cash! Just go find a part-time job.”
I went to interviews, and in one office, I broke down in tears. “I just want to build my coaching business,” I cried to the sympathetic woman interviewing me.
Finally, I found a job at the box office at Chautauqua. I sold concert tickets and made friends. In the winter I worked at a cooking school.
Both of these jobs allowed me time to develop my own business while earning money. (The first job also led to some lucrative opportunities for me, but that’s another story.)
In February 2001 I went fully self-employed. I haven’t punched a time clock since.
It’s possible to build a lean startup
I’m a lot like many of the entrepreneurs featured in The $100 Startup. I had an idea, the inspiration to help others and a perfect blend of courage and ignorance.
If you’re considering taking your own entrepreneurial leap, The $100 Startup gives both information and solid advice for bringing your idea into the business realm.
Over to you
What sources of income can you use to support yourself while you build your business?
Leave a comment below telling about how you’ve funded your startup and you’ll be entered into a drawing for a hardcover copy of $100 Startup.
Comment by Monday, May 21st. I’ll draw a winner at random and announce it here.
I am curious now – I watched your video the other day on the book and then researched it. While I’m not ready to quit my job – because of that pesky thing called insurance and I’m the family carrier – I’m always interested in other sources of income. I put my books back on Amazon when I read them – the books I read for pleasure that is – and that helps keep me in books! BTW – Bel Canto is one of my all-time favorite books – and I’m almost finished with The Last Nude!
I’m babysitting for friends, earning good money and having so much fun taking kids to splash in Boulder Creek and so many other activities I wouldn’t do on my own. I work when my schedule allows, and feel good about the loving care I’m providing.
I did quit my corporate job, and relocated near my father to assist him during his health crisis. Since he died I’ve been working on building my business, and now I’m back in the job search since I’ve run out of money. Thanks Cynthia for including “I needed to take a job while I built my business. Part of me felt this was a defeat” because I’ve been feeling that too, and I’ve avoided it as long as I can. Too long really and now nothing but a full-time job will suffice. I’m committed to building my business no matter what, even though hours to devote to my biz will be limited while working a full-time job. I’ll simply have to be more efficient with my time!
I quit the job of my dreams when the economy had tanked and I was stuck putting bandaids on their marketing strategy instead of leading the company forward, which I had loved doing for the 8 previous years. My aha moment came at my review, which I knew was going to be great – we had managed to make money in a down economy by grabbing our bootstraps and high-tailing it back out into the world of intense sales. I was dying inside. I mean it – dying – each day was drudgery going to the job I LOVED at one point.
So, I had that “Popeye moment” when I’d had all I could stand and I couldn’t stand it no more. I was in a corner – I couldn’t go into my review and NOT quit, knowing in my heart that I HAD to quit. So, I did. No back up plan, no clients, no real money in savings. My job became my first client as a marketing consultant, which lead to some more referrals. This small business has led me to my passion and starting a non-profit in a challenging economy would not be my advice to anyone but that’s what I was lead and it was clear that this was my path. So, now I’m in that stage of the game where you were before you went solo in 2001 – making enough money to pay the bills while I build my dream business. I need this book! 🙂
Thanks for the great post, Cynthia!
Vickie, Sharon, Isadora and Linda,
Thank you for sharing your stories with work and entrepreneurship. I LOVE the variety of experience we all have with work and life. And that so many paths are available to us. The real work is choosing what’s right for us and when.
Good luck with your job search, Isadora, enjoy your work/play, Sharon, keep soldiering on, Linda, and Vickie, keep painting!
Linda, you are the winner of the copy of $100 Startup. I believe I have your address but if you’d like to email it to me privately, I’ll ship your book out this week!