Setting Up Online Store With No Previous Experience: Steve Of MyWifeQuitHerJob

I am resuming the Interview With Successful Entrepreneurs series. I haven’t been writing about entrepreneurship for a while, but it’s something very close to my heart. Entrepreneurship is empowering. It’s about believing in yourself and your idea and taking the initiative to bring it to the world. (Photo by leefotos)

Today’s guest is Steve at My Wife Quit Her Job. His blog is full of practical advice. I am very interested in what he has to say because his business is about selling stuffs, not service. So far, we’ve had only one guest (Susanna Ordway, who sells her handmade jewelry) who is in product-based business. All others are in service business, and I myself am in service business.

I guess product-based business has a set of unique challenges, such as managing logistics and inventory. To me, it sounds so difficult.

So please welcome Steve.

1. Tell us a bit about your business and why you started it.

When my wife and I first got engaged, she laid down the terms up front that she was going to become a housewife and quit her job as soon as we had our first child. This was something that I had no problem with since I strongly believe in having a parent stay at home with a child especially during the early years.

But when my wife became pregnant with our first child, we faced a huge dilemma. With mounting bills to pay and a child right around the corner, we would be taking a 50% hit on our total household income during a period of time in which our expenses would increase dramatically.

Since my wife was not going to work and we needed the money, we decided to create an online business selling wedding linens to offset her lost income and thus Bumblebee Linens was born.

We chose the wedding industry because my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed planning our own wedding and wanted to help others do the same. If you are interested in how we stumbled upon on our store idea, you can read more about How We Found Our Niche For Our Online Store for more details.

2. What were the three biggest challenges when you were starting off as a new entrepreneur?

I would say that most of our challenges were mental. Getting the online store website up was relatively easy. But working out the logistics and getting customers in the door was the hard part. In fact, there was a point after we launched our online store in which we had no business for many weeks and we almost decided to call it quits. It’s difficult to narrow down the biggest challenges down to three but I would say that the following were the largest obstacles.

• It was extremely hard for us to find the time and motivation to actually work on the business. Both my wife and I had full time jobs at the time and we were always extremely tired after coming home from work. In fact, working on the business was probably the last thing on our minds at the end of the day. It also didn’t help that my wife and I are lazy at heart and like to relax in front of the TV
• It was also really hard for us take action early on because we knew absolutely nothing. We had no idea what the hell we were doing. I didn’t know a single thing about websites or web programming. My wife didn’t know anything about how to run an online store. What ended up happening was that we got stuck in this loop of doing research instead of taking action because we were afraid of doing something wrong.
• When we finally got some momentum going, we found that there was an enormous amount of information that we had to digest and learn in order to open our online store and we constantly burned ourselves out while trying to cram it all in. The problem was that we wanted to get our online store up and profitable as quickly as possible so we often worked late hours to try and jam everything in. All of these late nights took a huge toll on our psyche and our morale. Then, when we finally opened our online store to zero customers, our excitement and hopes turned into despair.

3. And how did you work through these challenges?

Finding the time and motivation was probably the hardest obstacle to overcome. Our minds were always motivated but somehow we could never find time in our schedules to work on the business early on.

Starting a business is hard work and requires constant, steady progress. Steady being the key word, my wife and I overcame this barrier by dropping certain activities and setting aside specific times and days during the work week to work on the business. By setting aside and scheduling “business” time, we eventually started making progress towards our goals.

The “knowing nothing” aspect of our business was very frustrating as well. We kept second guessing ourselves and early on, we had a bad case of analysis paralysis. Ultimately, we overcame this by just putting our foot down and telling ourselves “Screw it! Let’s just launch the business and figure things out as they come”. Turned out to be a wise decision because in the end we came across problems and issues that we would never have been able to predict ahead of time. For example, we were completely wrong in terms of what we predicted would be our best selling products.

Once we got going, my wife and I kept burning ourselves out. For example, I stopped exercising, stopped eating, stopped sleeping and focused all of my time on the business. It took us a while but after getting sick multiple times, we finally discovered a proper balance between work and play. It’s easy to get caught up with your business early on, but it’s important to find the time for a break as well. Ironically, taking time away from the business allows you to be more productive.

4. What is the best part of being an entrepreneur for you?

The best part of being an entrepreneur is the ability to set your own schedules. These days, my wife stays at home with our daughter full time and works on the business when our daughter takes naps. There’s no way that you could do this with a full time day job.

In addition, I like feeling in control over my own destiny. Running a business is hard work, but it’s worth it knowing that you get to call all of the shots.

5. Any advice for people who dream to have their own business and yet find it hard to make the leap?

My advice is to set aside at least one day of the week to think about and brainstorm business ideas. Once you have a few ideas in mind, you then need to find that magical trigger that will motivate you to follow through with your plan. Why do you want to have a business? Are you really serious about it?

Our trigger was obviously our first child. We desperately needed to find another money source to replace my wife’s lost income. In fact, our desperation was probably the single most important reason why we were successful with our online store.

Motivation will provide you with persistence and mental strength when things go wrong. Motivation will provide you with the necessary energy to succeed. I strongly believe that if you are properly motivated that everything will work itself out. Everyone has their own “Go” button. You just need to find yours.

Regarding the product-based business aspect, my wife and I had no prior experience in managing logistics, importing goods or managing inventory.  We basically learned through trial and error and getting advice from friends who run brick and mortar stores.  My advice to people in the product business is to find a friend or mentor that you can consult with early on so you don’t get bogged down with stupid mistakes.

My Takeaway
I love their “Just do it” attitude. As he says, we could be caught up in the analysis paralysis forever. And that doesn’t get you anywhere nor make money. Taking actions empowers you. And I agree that there are problems you get to learn only after you start — even if your pre-launch research is extensive.

I checked their online store and it’s beautiful and easy to navigate. It even has some fun craft ideas, so even if you are not getting married, you might enjoy checking it out ^_^

Are you interested in starting your own business? Not just as a way to pay bills but as a way to bring more meaning, passion, and fulfillment to your life? Check out my (free) eBook, too!

My eBook On Spiritual Entrepreneurship

Finally! My eBook “Lightworker’s Guide to Self-Employment” is ready for your free download.

I feel strongly about self employment. I love being my own boss, and I envision more and more people will be self-employed in the New World. Having made the transition from a corporate employee to a small business owner recently, I also know there are a lot of questions and fear among aspiring entrepreneurs.

This eBook guides you from the embryonic phase of “Can I possibly start my own business? Do I have what it takes? What does it take to be a successful entrepreneur anyway?” to the point you make the leap of faith with a clear vision of your success. It consists of three parts:

Part I: Myths & Reality
Part II: 5 Steps to Self-Employment
Part III: Your Success

A lot of materials comes from the posts I wrote on this Yes to Me blog, but I have added new ideas and insights, and put them all together in an integrated one vision, one process. It discusses paycheck mentality vs risk management skill, our attitude about marketing, very practical suggestions about business names (which is a key to effective marketing), the unavoidable issue of money, our secret fear of success that deters us, and a lot more.

Spiritual entrepreneurship

Throughout the eBook, I point out how spirituality can help you in the endeavor of starting a new business. If you think spirituality has nothing to do with the real world challenge of making money, you are in for a good surprise. If you think spirituality is a drawback, putting you to a disadvantage against those aggressive “practical” type who would do anything to make money, you are in for an even bigger surprise.

I know this from my own experience. I don’t think I had the courage to quit my cushy corporate job if it wasn’t with my spirituality. I don’t think I could survive the transitional phase when nothing much was happening (at least on the surface) if I didn’t have the willingness to contribute to the world. Now, this year, which is my second year, I’m making more than I did in the corporate world and my business is growing. Doing what I love and by helping people.

This eBook is a gift to you and to the world. You can just click on the icon on this page or on the sidebar to download it. You are also welcome to share it with your friends.

Social entrepreneurship

The eBook is free, but if you find it valuable, please consider making a contribution to Kiva. Kiva is not a charity — they help entrepreneurs in the developing countries by lending money for their businesses. Those entrepreneurs will pay you back. You can then take back your money or re-loan to another entrepreneur.

When I think of the many small business owners all over the world, I feel so inspired and I’m sure the feeling is doing me good in my business. Plus, by making them rich, we are developing a worldwide market — for your business.

I appreciate if you could leave a comment with your thoughts on this eBook. Perhaps I will revise and enrich the eBook in the future to make it even better, and your feedback is priceless in such an effort.

My gratitude also goes to those many entrepreneurs who have inspired me through the interviews and other communications. Entrepreneurs are never alone (which is another critical point I make in the eBook). In fact, I will be publishing several more Interviews With Successful Entrepreneurs soon — interviews with some spirited business owners that I came to know recently. (Stay tuned!)

Coaching The Freedom Of Self-Employment: Tom Volkar

We continue to interview inspiring and successful entrepreneurs here at Yes to Me, and this time, I didn’t have to look far for the perfect interview guest. Tom Volkar, Career Coach from CoreU Coaching and Delightful Work has been a steady commenter at Yes to Me. Just like myself, he helps new and aspiring entrepreneurs to have the business of their dreams. He recently made a community call, which attracted many bloggers. (Photo by leefotos)

1. Tell us a bit about your business and why you started it.

I began my career as a soloprenuer in 1998, first as an inspirational speaker and corporate vision consultant. This was soon after closing an earlier entrepreneurial, entertainment business that resulted in me losing everything, including my home. My marriage of 19 years ended then when I refused to go back to a 23-year career in sales.

Once again, on the trail of pursuing work that I loved, a guy came out of the audience, after a talk I’d given and asked if I’d ever done any coaching. I coached his wife on discovering career fulfillment and found it far more satisfying than speaking; thus my coaching business was born.

I started the speaking business because I valued doing what I loved more than anything. Yet if I hadn’t walked down the corridor of speaking, the coaching door may not have serendipitously opened.

CoreU Coaching was initially a life coaching business where I delivered every kind of coaching imaginable, including: corporate executives, relationship coaching and coaching for supervisors in manufacturing plants. But the clients, who always gave me the greatest thrills, were budding entrepreneurs who were preparing to make the leap to self-employment. So In September 07, I began writing my Delightful Work blog, which is dedicated to that community. I coach, write and create courses and programs to support those who want to be their own boss.

2. What were the three biggest challenges when you were starting off as a new entrepreneur?

My first entrepreneurial enterprise in 1992 was for a brick and mortar business. The challenges were different than for my coaching business. I successfully raised 2.5 million dollars, so it was necessary to get dozens of lenders, investors and vendors to buy into in my vision, since it was never done before. My biggest challenge in that business was in finding and presenting existing business models that gave these supporters confidence.

In my coaching business the challenges were more internal and consisted of trusting myself and working through the underlying fears that developed around the lack of time and money. In chronological order here were my biggest challenges.

1. Not completely following my core values, allowed me to be lured by projects that looked financially promising but were not authentically aligned with who I was.
2. I fought prevailing wisdom to niche myself for far too long because I thought it would limit the work I’d receive and cause me to earn less.
3. I allowed my fear of learning technology to get in the way of my business growth.

3. And how did you work through these challenges?

Values Un-aligned Projects – I worked through this one the hard way, by continuing to say yes to opportunities that looked good but did not turn out well for me. If we beat our heads against the same wall long enough, the pain awakens us. Lesson learned: Not everything works for everyone in the same way. If you have to fight it to work it, the resistance will stop the money from flowing.

Committing to a Niche – After yet another misguided decision in challenge one, I finally said the hell with it and made a sacred vow to commit to marketing myself as an expert only in the area that brings me most alive. That is inspiring and encouraging the leap to the freedom of self-employment. Lesson learned: Committing to one niche does not limit the work we receive. I am still presented with opportunities to coach in other areas. But commitment allows us to approach mastery in the area we care about the most. And mastery leads to greater propsperity in fulfillment and in finances.

Fear of Technology – I worked through this fear using Emotional Freedom Technique and a decision-making technique that I learned in Eckhart Tolle’s, The Power of Now. Essentially I had to release limiting beliefs about my ability to learn technology, while at the same time accepting that the Internet had become an essential component of business building. Lesson Learned: Even though we are more naturally suited to learning some concepts than others. Our resistance is unnaturally created by fear not by original makeup.

4. What is the best part of being an entrepreneur for you?

Total autonomy is the best part of being an entrepreneur. I view employment as mental and emotional slavery. Each of us holds the key to remove our own shackles. Having the total freedom to decide what I work on, the projects I create, the self-determination to work when I feel like working and to work in service to who I most want to serve: that is the liberty of entrepreneurship that I hold most dear.

5. Any advice for people who dream to have their own business and yet find it hard to make the leap?

There are four essential realizations that are required understanding.

1). No one can build your unique business like you can. Your best guess about what that is, is far better than any outside expert’s opinion. Tap the expertise of those who have actually been in the arena, for their encouragement, methods and tools. But look to yourself in matters of decision-making.

2). Quit dreaming and thinking – instead act. Find a way to get into action, even if it’s part time. You cannot see what doors may open (like the doorway to my coaching) until you walk down the corridor. Get out of your own head and into action. You can always adapt on the fly. It may not seem comforting but no one ever figures it all out first. That’s a myth.

3). Carefully choose your sources of support. Advice from others, even from those who love you, needs to be taken with a grain of salt. They can’t see things from your perspective. They aren’t aware of your desires and strengths. No one else can intuitively understand what you know about yourself. For support, find a community of budding entrepreneurs who are feeling what you’re feeling.

4). Don’t let the search for the perfect pre-existing career slow you down. You may not find perfect, pre-existing, authentic work created by another. You may need to blend all of your special strengths, peculiarities and values together, to build your own empire.

My Takeaway

I totally agree with the importance of authenticity! I also like his advice on how to choose the supports and advice with care. The moral encouragement from friends and family is nice, but if they are not entrepreneurs themselves, do take it with a grain of salt. That kind of free advice can cost you a lot in terms of your time or missed opportunities. So thank them with grace, and find other entrepreneurs and real pros for advice.

If you like this article, you might enjoy my eBook on spiritual entrepreneurship. Click here for free, immediate download

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