What are the 5 ‘Ps’ to being your own boss?

The good news is you don’t have to be a specific age, or reach a certain point in your career to be your own boss. In fact, it is very likely that you already possess many of the skills required for running a successful operation.

Here are the five ‘Ps’ you need for business success.

1. Passion

When going into business for yourself it’s vital to choose a business that you are passionate about, says Cathy Beckman, franchise owner of Salts of the Earth, Mount Gambier.

“It is a very rare business that doesn’t have teething problems, so you need to have passion to make sure you stay the course,” she says. “Choose something that you believe in and feel confident about promoting and selling to customers, to ensure you don’t run out of steam too quickly”.

Marie Vastani, franchise owner of Salts of the Earth, Hampton had first-hand experience with salt therapy and it was her passion for the therapy that inspired her to buy a business.

“My daughter had suffered numerous conditions over many years, including asthma, hay fever, and dust, food and animal allergies. Salt therapy had a huge impact on reducing her symptoms, so when the opportunity came up to buy the franchise in Hampton close to where we live, I knew I would be delivering a service that would help other sufferers in our community”.

2. Persistence

There is no doubt that being your own boss requires self-motivation, discipline and persistence, so if you have the ability to set yourself goals, and the determination and drive to achieve those goals, then you will be in a good position to be successful, says Marie.

“When we purchased our business I felt that I had no business skills, but I knew I had drive and determination, as well as great organisational skills. These have been vital in helping us to achieve success”.

3. People skills

Having good people skills can be very useful when collaborating with and motivating staff members, not to mention when dealing with customers and contractors.

A big part of having good people skills is being self-aware. Very few people who set up their own business start out with all the skills they need. The secret, Marie says, is to review your skills at the start and identify any gaps in your knowledge base. “You can then either get the training you need, or employ people with the right skills for the areas that you aren’t experienced in.”

Cathy agrees. “If you know your own strengths and weaknesses, you’re more likely to surround yourself with people who are strong in the areas where you lack skill or experience, and are therefore are more likely to succeed”.

4. Planning skills

Before you commit to spending any money on a business it’s worth writing a business plan and finding out as much as you can about your potential client base.

“There’s no doubt business planning improves your chances for success,” says Cathy. The good news is, a business plan doesn’t need to be more than a couple of pages. If you keep your goals and action steps concise and simple, you are more likely to have a clear path forward.

Spend time finding out who your target market is and ascertaining how many people are likely to buy your products or services. You can get up-to-date information by reading industry articles and blogs and looking at Australian Bureau of Statistics data, or better yet, ask your target customers directly.

Marie says after talking with other people who had benefited from salt therapy, she reviewed the Salts of the Earth business model, and then focused her attention on writing her own business plan.

“I thought it was important to do my own research and write my own business plan prior to purchasing the business,” says Marie.

5. Patience

Cathy says it is only natural to feel cautious when investing a lot of money in a franchise and you need to be patient. “I knew in the early days that I would have to invest a lot of time and energy into educating people about salt therapy and its benefits. You have to view it as a marathon and keep looking forward to the bigger picture.”

Cathy says she has found it useful to regularly monitor her KPIs and year-to-year comparisons to guide her on what is working, what the business’ strengths are, and where things can be improved.

“My best advice is don’t wait until you have opened your business to start building it – start networking and promoting your service offering as soon as you decide to become an owner. The rewards may not be immediate, but if you’re patient, the rewards will come”.

Keep reading to learn five more tips to owning your own business – that’ll get you there.