There’s a whole lot more involved in starting a business.

I know you’re used to me cheering you on and encouraging you, but today I’m offering up a different perspective (some may call it tough love), while still having my pom-poms in hand. I rarely try to paint the picture that running your own business is a walk in the park, but I do always try to push you towards your purpose with a tool belt full of techniques so you can anticipate the speed bumps inevitably coming your way.

When it comes to starting a business the main question remains, “but where do I start?!”. Today I’m taking a little bit of a different approach: where NOT to start, or really, why passion alone isn’t enough to start a business.

Creative entrepreneurs are often passionate and inspired by more than one area of interest. Honing in on just one area where you can see yourself being successful might feel daunting. Heck, even if you’re only passionate about one thing and one thing only, starting a business is intimidating and your passion for that thing is not going to be enough to get you off the ground.

Ultimately you’re looking for a source (or second source!) of income, aka convincing people to give you their money. The only way to do that is to solve a problem, point-blank. There’s no way around it.

If you’re not solving a problem, it’s going to be nearly impossible to succeed on passion alone.

If that was a bit of a gut punch, bear with me, we’re about to get to the good stuff. I wouldn’t just leave you hanging! Of course, we’ll be working through all the things you’ll need, just as much as that sparkling passion, to get through the other side with a fully viable business plan.

The now rather obvious… Step Number 1: What’s the problem you’re solving?

Ask yourself, what’s a pain point you can solve? Where are there gaps or things you wish you had? Things other businesses aren’t doing, or just aren’t doing well? Where is there an underserved population?

Envision the transformation your product/service will provide to your ideal client.

You want to make “the sale” as easy as possible because your passion can only go so far, right? At the end of the day, you’ll be even more passionate and fired up if you’re actually making an impact for the people you’re serving. So aim for that!

For me, the question of what problem I was solving became obvious as I started to realize I was unhappy in my job. I wanted so desperately to branch out on my own, but like most entrepreneurs, I didn’t know where to start.

I have been in the shoes of the clients I now serve and experienced first hand, the bumps in the road, the anxiety, and the hesitation they experience. The pain I’m solving now is a pain I also had to work through. But how did I know other people were experiencing the same pain so that I knew there was space for me to help?

Glad you asked! Step Number 2: Hone in on your ideal customer’s pain point

After speaking with colleagues, friends, and family about my own struggles, I realized there was a trend rearing its head: Many people weren’t happy in their jobs and dreamed of being their own boss, they just didn’t know how to start.

There is something so glorious about identifying a pain point, flipping it on its head, and making a profit from it. You feel like a superhero winning a fight against the enemy! Ha! Take that big scary fear! Take that 9 to 5 job that makes me grumpy! I’m the captain now and I’m taking all my clients to the other side with me!

Okay, I’m back, but seriously, does that not just absolutely light a fire in you? Hopefully, you’re Tom Cruising right there with me.

Practically speaking, you might need to do some research. Scratch that, please do your research. What specifics of this pain can you dive into? Learn it, study it, live it. Talk to people who are experiencing it in focus groups, surveys, and just conversations on the phone/email.

Be vulnerable and share your own experiences. Things you’ve observed, the trends you’ve seen. The less alone your ideal customer feels the more willing they’ll be to give you more information on what it’s like from their shoes. Identify themes and align your “what” to solve those themes. Document your findings so you can more easily pick up on words and issues that are being repeated.

Step Number 3: Identify how your strengths solve this pain point

As you start to identify trends, you might also start to inevitably brainstorm ways to solve that problem. Be specific here with things you know you love and are good at. Naturally, the way you approach the problem will be something you’re good at, so make note of that too.

For me, this looked a lot like feeling empathy for others as I researched and I also started to feel a desire to teach. There seemed to not be enough resources even out there and I felt a pull to create the content that I myself wanted to read and needed to be successful.

A strength of mine has always been teaching and helping others, throughout life and my career, so that part was relatively easy to pick up on. I’m also pretty good at making action plans for myself and typically take on somewhat of a “project management” role in most things I attempt. I decided to marry those two concepts, helping others and coming up with action plans and there was my business model: business coaching and creating The Consultant Code.

Starting out is always the biggest roadblock, but as you’ve read in every single one of my Everyday Entrepreneur series, once you’re in motion, just putting one foot in front of the other, there’s no stopping you! As soon as you take the time to go through these 3 steps, you’ll be well on your way to creating a plan for yourself to step out on your own.

Combining your “what” with your passion is the only way to survive as a business owner so don’t forget that secret sauce. You’ll definitely need both, but nobody wants Nachos without the cheese, ya know?

Holly works with professionals to create services-based businesses using expertise and strengths they already have. Holly is the creator of The Consultant Code, a program will have you up, running, and profitable with your services-based business in 60 days or less! Want to learn more? Drop her a note at: holly@hollyknoll.com