Do You Need a Process for Setting Up as an Entrepreneur?

If you’re starting out as an entrepreneur, I always suggest that you begin with an inner level energy management foundation to help you to pre-pave the energy for the actions that you will need to take in setting up your own business.

At the same time, if you don’t have any idea of what the outer level processes would be for your business, it can be a little bit daunting to try to manage your energy around it!

I believe that the Inner level and Outer level are equally important to every entrepreneur – in fact, seeing these things as equally important is what makes you a Spiritualpreneur!

But if you are a little nervous about what exactly to do for taking those next actions, keep in mind some of the following steps that will be very helpful to you as tried and true ways that you can go about setting up!

First, decide on Full Proprietorship vs. LLC.  Your decision is an individual one and may depend on your tax situation and current income levels.  Interview an accountant or a tax preparer to get more information.

This decision is important for you and for the IRS.  If you are going to be a sole proprietor, the accountant can tell you what you need to keep and how to keep it.

Set yourself up properly and stay in alignment with good records.

When you begin building your Business Team, consider these key job descriptions that will be needed from time to time:

• Accountant
• Attorney
• Tax Preparer
• Financial Planner
• Prepaid Legal Services

Even if you already have some of these positions filled to support your personal life, they may not be the best ones to have for your business and financial planning.

Those working in the business arena will know the specific kinds of things that can enhance your business, so it is important to find people with that expertise.

In creating your team, remember to focus on your brilliances, create systems, and delegate the rest.

You will always have only 24 hours in a day.  If you want to know how you are spending or investing your time, then take a look at your checkbook and your calendar.  This will show you exactly where that time and money is going.

You may think you will be able to do some of the things that are on the job descriptions for members of your team for yourself.  You might try doing this because you know you have the ability to do it and because you hope to save money.

However, that would take time from where you could be focusing on your brilliances or on key activities like marketing, conducting teleseminars, and speaking.  All of these are marketing yourself – which is something no one else can do.

Marketing = Relationships!

Marketing is a primary activity, and you are your best marketing tool!  Every successful entrepreneur invests time in marketing personally.

• Remember that YOU are what you are marketing
• YOU are your products
• There are multiple streams of marketing needed
• You need to manage your energies around that

Ask to have activated in you the energy that loves marketing!

Determine and use appropriate technologies and personnel for where you are – things that will make your tasks simpler and easier.

Use an online Calendar that can be shared with your assistant or appropriate staff (both of these are easily available on sites like Google and Yahoo).

Multiple people on my business team have access to my calendar.  I use it to block out spaces for personal use and self-care; and I set parameters for times to schedule clients or do telecalls or workshops.

Get an Assistant (even a Virtual Assistant)!

Hold an intention to have an assistant that is a perfect match for you – a right hand person to do x, y and z.   If you try to do it all yourself, you are putting up energetic barriers because it is too much.

Employing an assistant for a reasonable hourly rate for even 2 hours a day or 5 hours a week (or whatever meets your needs) allows you to invest your time in your brilliances and in marketing YOU.

Develop job descriptions for each position and conduct performance evaluations for your staff.

It’s easier to attract what you need when you define the qualities, characteristics, and duties that you expect, and further define them through evaluations.

Remember to delegate!  Develop a system of handling paper and tasks.  I suggest the Three D’s: Do it, Delegate it, or Dump it.

Use checklists.  Each time someone on your team does tasks for a project, have them keep a checklist – an audit – of all that needs to be done and how much time it takes for the various components. Note the easiest order in which to complete the tasks.

That way when someone is not there, someone else can easily pick up and complete the work.

This helps you to stay in a place of power about your own business.  You don’t want to have the only person who knows how to do something leave (for whatever reason) when you don’t know how the process worked.

Work for gaining balance in your business.  It’s not so complicated in the beginning.  The important thing is that you do not engage in analysis paralysis.

• Consider talking with your bank
• Set up separate checking account for your business
• And know that you can use a simple ledger just as long as you can justify it.
• Set up systems, but think “out of the box” and “outside the lines.”  Identify your needs and push that energetic alignment out there to start attracting.

Another thing to consider when you are starting out as an entrepreneur is your office set-up.

Carve out a space so that you can have privacy for clients.  Ideally, you should have an individual room or a basement space to yourself.  You want to have room for files.  Make it appealing to you with colors and functionality that suits you, and be sure to add nice lighting!

One of your most important office tools – your Telephone:

• Get a good one! – Something that you know sounds good and works well.
• Features that you want to include are mute function, speaker function and volume control.
• It’s a good idea to get a head set so that you can take notes while speaking if you need to.
• Use a voice mail recording system that records messages privately.
• Have a separate line for your business calls and don’t leave confusing mixed greetings of personal and business directions.
• You’ll also find it helpful to set up a third phone line and possibly even a recording system.
• Check how you sound on the phone – whether you are too fast, too slow, what your voice quality is, etc.

Finally, decide how you want to maintain your files – whether you want computer files or hard copy files or both. Back up your files or have it done for you through outsourcing.

The key is to be sure to set up systems that will serve you.

Of course, there are even more steps that you will need to take in setting up your business, but these are core elements that you will want to consider right away.

This may seem like a lot, but that’s where the Inner Process of spiritual energy management becomes so important in keeping you from feeling overwhelmed.

If you can manage your energy around all of these actions, you will be setting yourself up for success in everything that you want to do as a Spiritualpreneur in your business!

If you’re looking for more ways to amp up your business in the New Year, I invite you to attend my upcoming free teleclass on the Missing Element to Your Entrepreneurial Success on January 22nd.

Click on this link to find out more:  www.coachingfromspirit.com/SpiritualpreneursBlog.