with graduation on the horizon, finding a career has preoccupied my thoughts lately. it’s always a bit of an apprehensive time, wondering what’s out there, if you’re lucky to find something you love, what kind of boss or co-workers you’re going to have, and so on.
in the last few months or so, a new idea crept into my head: starting my own business. i’m not much of a desk-bound job kind of person, i like to move around and immerse myself in a creative environment and work in a very ideas-driven career. starting my own business sounds too much for me at times, so i like to think of it really as working for myself, or a passion project – essentially doing what you love and finding joy, meaning and fulfillment in it. because we spend so much time at our jobs, it’s essential to enjoy your work or at least gain a valuable learning experience.
i’ve been thinking about what it is i could possibly do and if there’s a niche for something waiting to be filled by this thing i love (whatever it may be), but nothing concrete has materialized yet. at the same time though, i feel like this would be an ideal situation type of thing, when i’ve firmly established myself in a career and can afford to branch out. for now, a girl can dream…
anyhow, goop (yes i do confess to reading it and actually find it quite resourceful) has some great advice for small businesses and here are some of the tips that stood out the most for me:
- “Building only what you need to prove that you can succeed. Create the minimum you can in order to test the hypothesis of whether your business will succeed or not. Polish, and bells & whistles are great, but if you focus on answering whether your fundamental assumptions are correct, you’ll be much better off in the long run.” – Kevin Systrom, Co-Founder of Instragram
- “You need business experience. Even if it’s not formal business training, a law career or expertise in another field is necessary.” – Tim Zagat
- “Change, constant thoughtful change. We’ve redesigned our site (and major aspects of it) about 5 or 6 times since our launch. And every year, we take a close look at our content and other products, both top performing and the clunkers, and really examine what’s working for us as a team, an evolving brand and content leader, as well as for our readers.” – Christine Barberich, Editor-in-Chief of Refinery29
- “Have fun with the fantasy. Starting a business is really hard and it can be a marathon in terms of keeping spirits up and staying positive. For me, it was really helpful to spend time imagining Refinery29′s success and the fruits of all our hard work. When obstacles or frustration would creep up, I would just sort of go to that happy place and dwell for a minute in that feeling and image…the excitement, the gratification, the actual space. The fantasy is part of the reward—at every stage of the process—and it can be an insanely powerful tool for manifesting what you really want.” - Christine Barberich, Editor-in-Chief of Refinery29
- “Passion is essential. You need to make sure that you’re passionate about the product you’re basing your business around and that you are soulfully connected to the mission of the company. When I started, I truly felt that I had something that needed to exist and I needed it to be successful.” – Jessica Herrin, Founder of Stella & Dot
credit//goop
