Cao svima!
With all of the excitement surrounding the Zbog Tebe launch, I’ve been getting a lot of questions about how Balkan Bred even started. I’d definitely recommend listening to the first episode of our podcast HERE, where I go over the entire story. Like most good stories, it’s a long one, but I promise it’s worth hearing.
If you’re interested in more of the technical aspects that come with starting your own business, then I have a good feeling you’ll want to tune into this episode. I outline the basics of getting your idea off the ground and rolling, plus share my personal experiences with figuring out how to give Balkan Bred its name.
Here’s a break down of five things I think you should know before starting your own business.
1. Write everything down.
It sounds quite simple, but writing it down makes it real. This is real. It’s not impossible. You just have to be honest with yourself — where do YOU see this going? What does your idea mean to you? Is it based on your own previous experiences in the past or do you see it as more of a practical solution to a problem? Either way, you must recognize that it’s important to you so that way you can hold yourself accountable in the future.
Plus, think about how many thoughts are roaming around in your brain throughout the day. I can be very forgetful, not because I don’t care about the important things, but just because there are WAY too many things to keep track of. Consider what you need to get started — whether that’s certain people, other resources, etc. Your best bet is to keep a little notebook dedicated to your ideas so that way whenever something pops into your mind, you have a place to write it down.
2. Ask yourself about the desirability, feasibility, and viability surrounding your idea.
- Desirability: What is the NEED behind this idea?
- Feasibility: What resources will it take?
- Viability: Is there a viable business model behind this?
Going back to basics, if you want to have your own business, you’re going to need to raise revenue. No matter how in love you are with your idea, you have to be black and white with yourself — is this something that people need? Will they actually be willing to pay for your product/service? If you’re not 100% sure, I’d recommend asking people who would fall into your target market. If they seem excited about the idea, then you’ve got something. If they seem skeptical and start mentioning ideas that may already exist, then you should probably sit down and brainstorm some more.
This brings me to my next point, which is very important: make sure your idea doesn’t already exist. Depending on which market you are looking to break into, there may already be a solution that’s out there. Do yourself a favor and conduct some Google searches to be extra sure. If you happen to discover that there’s already something quite similar, don’t get discouraged. Is there a way that you can make that idea even better, more unique perhaps? If so, don’t give up on it. At the same time, allow yourself to explore multiple ideas because you’ll come to find that the possibilities really are endless.
3. Always invest your time > your money, first.
One of the most common excuses people give when it comes to starting their own business is, “I don’t have enough money.” Even though money DOES come into the picture later on, that shouldn’t be your first concern. I know what you’re thinking, “You have to have money to start your own business, there’s no way around it, Emina.” Yes, of course, you will need some capital, but here’s the thing: you don’t actually need any money if your idea is in the beginning stages.
Why would you want to invest in something if you don’t even have a clear picture of what exactly it is that you’re doing? You’re not going to blow $10,000 right away to buy a printing machine just because you want to make custom t-shirts. Remember that nobody is going to give you money if you can’t communicate the value of your business to them in 30 seconds. If you’re struggling to explain what you’re doing, then you just need to do some more homework in solidifying your idea.
Even if you do end up investing in something that fails at the start, that doesn’t mean you can’t turn it around into a profitable business. You can ALWAYS get back the money, but one thing you can NEVER get back is the time. Take the time to do your research, to do some experimentation and know that there’s always going to be a little bit of uncertainty that follows you around — it’s just something that comes with entrepreneurship — but by no means should you let that stop you from investing when you feel confident in your idea.
Don’t feel like you need to be the sole investor in your business, actually, it should never be that way. My entrepreneurship professor used to always say, “All you gotta do is move a little bit of their money into your pocket,” referring to angel investors. When you start to get serious about your business, look into pitch competitions. Yeah, they can be kinda intimidating, but sometimes you’re offered free coaching and you can still learn SO much, even if you don’t win!
4. Put yourself out there — you never know who can help you.
My last two years of college, I was pretty active in the business school at my university, and I remember being an ambassador for these events we’d have on campus. Usually, it was big companies coming to talk to students and recruit them, a really good networking opportunity, essentially. I signed up for the “Entrepreneurial Panel,” which was my favorite event; I had been to one the previous year, way before I even realized that I wanted to start my own business.
One woman, Tallia Deljou, stood out to me in particular. She is a positive psychologist, co-founder of Mavenly + Co, and pretty much everything that I aspire to be one day. Before every event, we had the opportunity to chat with the panelists, but I didn’t get a chance to have a conversation with Tallia since we were short on time. After the event was over, I finally mustered up the courage to go and talk to her. Let me just say that I am not one to go up and talk at these kinds of things, but I knew I’d be mad at myself if I didn’t go up there. So, I stood in line with about five other students waiting for my turn to chat with her. In fear of sounding like an idiot, I decided to confidently ask if I could feature her on the #GIRLBOSS series I had just started on my blog and she was absolutely delighted. I never expected her to end up becoming my mentor only a month later!
5. Believe in your idea because if you don’t, nobody else is going to, either.
No matter what your idea is, if you don’t believe in it, you’re screwed. If you don’t get excited talking about it with others, then they won’t get excited, either. Since Balkan Bred is something that’s very close to my heart, this was never a huge issue, but of course, I had my doubts. In the back of my mind, there was always that thought, “Yes, this could completely fail, but I’m going to try it anyway.” I’m glad that I believed in my idea because it turned out to be one of the best things I’d ever done.