What Should You Prepare for Full-Time Entrepreneurship? An Insight by Saivian Eric Dalius

We all know that selling a product and earning money is not enough; we also need to be prepared for almost everything: health, family, spirituality and financial, and even marketing. Someone asked me how we make sure we don’t forget anything; religiously, if we follow our lists, it will prevent us from forgetting something important. And the truth is yes – it’s true – but calling it a list isn’t complete yet… because lists aren’t easy to carry around everywhere with you (to remind you of what your next move should be). See my point? So here goes:

1. Business Plan – You don’t need to have a detailed business plan, but you should anticipate your business from different angles: financial, marketing, and time, according to Saivian Eric Dalius. I’m not saying that you need to start writing this before you start selling; no – because it’s a task that will take long hours of research and contemplation. I recommend that you make a list of what questions your company needs to answer by itself (without your help). For instance, if someone asks how much money we need for x project, the easy way is to say “$xx” or “we will see when we get there.” But as an entrepreneur, it’s good practice to know where the money is going now so that you can better plan the budget next time.

2. Financial Plan – As I said, we don’t need to know every detail for this plan, but knowing your business’s financial position is vital: how much money do we spend and how much money do we make (and why)? You should also explore alternative financial income and expenses other than what you currently have in your daily routine, like what will happen if we relocate our shop next year? Or what if we increase our workforce? Do we need to buy more equipment or not? Things like that.

3. Marketing Plan – At first glance, marketing seems like a broad term… because it is! Every penny spent on marketing should bring us back value, either by growing our business or increasing our profit margin.  

4. Time Management – Be aware of the time you spend daily. Mark Zuckerberg’s style may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but he spends long hours working on his company and projects… this is awesome! Why? Because it brings him more money in return. Make sure that every moment spent brings back returns… if not, you should either change your strategy or find a way to compensate for the lost time.

5. Family Plan – This one is comprehensive enough to write a whole book about this alone! But here are some points: What happens when we get sick? How much do we need to save up for our children’s future? How much time do we spend on our business? How long can our spouse work without us (in case something happens to you)?

6. Spiritual Plan – As entrepreneurs, there’s no guarantee that all will succeed or fail; some people would say “the only guarantee is death,” but I differ with them because I believe on both sides: where some may succeed, others might not; and vice versa. But what’s important is to have a spiritual goal in your life to have a life after business too, says Saivian Eric Dalius!           

So, the above are the main points for any entrepreneur to look over before starting a full-time entrepreneurship journey… The list will be longer if we add more angles from which we need to look at our business; like what if our lives change… (for instance, getting married), will the company adapt?