Starting a Business
Entrepreneurship, Leadership, The Big Idea, Business Owners
Curated By
Therese Basham
Therese Basham is an independent Marketing and Communications Consultant based in St. Louis, Missouri. In addition to being a stay-at-home mom to her son and daughter for the past 20 years, she has remained engaged as a freelance marketing communications writer, photographer, and videographer. She recently joined the Association of Professional Photo Organizers, and is now helping individuals bring order to their digital and physical photo and video collections with her photo organizing business, It's a Snap! Therese is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, where she studied marketing and psychology.
They Might Be Thinking:
- How much money will I need to start this business?
- How long will it be before it becomes profitable?
- Can I support myself with this business? When should I quit my current job?
- Should I ask other people to invest money?
- Where should I invest my resources?
- What are the tax implications of starting this business?
- What should I get help with and what should I do myself?
- Who else should I trust to help me?
- What sort of systems should I put into place?
- How will I find my customers?
- There's so much to do and I'm so overwhelmed.
- Sometimes I feel like a bit of a fraud and that I have no idea what I'm doing.
- Will I ever be able to take a day off?
- I'm so excited to be launching this new enterprise.
Words That Might Be Encouraging:
- Your new business sounds so interesting. Tell me about it!
- How did you get the idea for your business?
- How long have you been thinking about launching this enterprise?
- I believe in you and your idea, and I wish you much success.
- I'm proud of you for trying to make your dream a reality.
- It takes time to grow a business. Don't get discouraged.
- I admire your courage and your creativity.
- How can I purchase your product?
- When everything starts to overwhelm you, break it down into manageable bites and tackle them one at a time.
- You will be great at this! Things will get easier with time.
- Can I share information about your business on my social media accounts? How else can I help spread the word?
- Would you mind if I gave you some feedback?
Words That Might Be Discouraging:
- How much money are you investing in your new business?
- Is the business profitable?
- How many people work for you?
- Are you sure you know what you're doing?
- Do you know how many new businesses fail?
- It doesn't really seem like the right time for you to start a business.
- Why would you quit your current job?
- Isn't it time consuming?
- Why are you working so much?
- Do you miss having a real job?
- Can I get a discount?
- It sounds more like a hobby.
- Are you still doing your business?
- You should [fill in the blank.]
- What will you do if this fails?
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