how in the world are we going to pay the bills...
) Starting a business in your mind can become a reality and a dream come true.
However, family members and even friends can put a negative spin on your plans once they realize how serious you are of becoming an entrepreneur.
Having family and friends jump on board and believe in your entrepreneur pursuits is going to require you to have a heart to heart conversation with them regarding the extreme time commitment, financial resources, and the collaboration effort it will take in order for your business to succeed.
The challenge; however, is that sometimes family members or friends aren't completely honest with you about how they feel when you announce your desire of owning a business.
Typically, it's not until after you start pursuing your goals that you realize that the support you thought you had is not reality.
So how do you detect the secret elephant in the room and get family and friends to support your business vision? Recognize the signs that family/friends aren't onboard Here is a list of signs that could mean that your family or friends aren't really supporting your efforts to be an entrepreneur:
- Lack of involvement in the business planning stage.
- Always have an excuse as to why your business idea doesn't or won't work.
- Never refer you to others to help you get clients or customers.
- Never have time to talk about the progress of your business.
- Complains about how much time you're spending on your business.
- Embarrassed to tell others what you do for a living.
- Never attend your business events when asked to go.
- Keep asking you for clarification of what you do because somehow they never remember.
- Keep sharing negative stories about business failures of other people that they know.
- Always try to convince you that you should change careers.
Perhaps they see something about you that could prevent you from being successful.
For instance, if you have poor organization skills at home, they may not think you're capable of running a business.
The key is doing your homework and including them in your business plans upfront to dismiss the doubts early.
How to get family and friends to support your business vision Act as a salesperson I bet you never thought you would have to sell your business to those closest to you.
Let them know how serious you are about your business.
Include them when getting feedback on your business plan.
Meet with business advisors and get business planning counseling so your support group can see your efforts and commitment to following through.
It may be helpful to invite them to come along so they can understand the details of the business.
Always ask for their feedback and be open to receiving criticism.
If you feel that they are not being fair, try to discuss openly with them about their personal concerns with a trusted business advisor or client that agrees with you.
Address their fears If it's about money, talk to your family and friends about how the business will be supported and when you feel projections of income will come in.
Explain the best case and the worst case scenarios so there won't be any surprises.
If they want a certain amount of money in savings upfront, then be reasonable.
If they're not comfortable with you quitting your day job right away, do the business part-time and share with them your financial success.
Check in with them on a consistent basis with expectations and concerns.
If your business is a top priority and it begins to interfere with your relationships, compromise by showing how you can balance both (i.
e.
dinner once a week, one day off a month, etc.
).
Get them involved The most successful politicians aren't afraid to ask for support.
For example, they may ask you to donate to their campaign, but if you can't then they may ask you to volunteer to be on their campaign committee.
Therefore, try to follow this as an example of getting the support that you need and don't be too proud to ask for help.
Once they get involved and see the value your business brings to others, then they'll more than likely be in support of your entrepreneur experience.
Try to find something they would enjoy doing such as the bookkeeping or making customer phone calls.
And by all means, don't be a slacker! People support what they visually see you do.
If they don't see you trying to make a sincere effort, then they won't believe in your success.
For more information on how to get family and friends on board to support your vision register for the Confidence Builder Business Program free teleseminar March 3rd, 2011 at 7:30 pm.