You want to start your business, work for yourself, and rise to the level of success that so many other women are achieving these days. But starting a business can feel like a daunting task.
There’s so much to think about, especially when you have no idea what kind of business you can realistically run and make a success. In fact, this is one of the biggest hurdles you’ll face as an entrepreneur.
It all starts with recognizing your skills and passions, then discovering the value of what you can deliver to others.
Defining your skills
Every one of us possesses skills that we can use to create a business. Think about what comes easily to you that would be helpful to others.
If you’re drawing a blank on what your unique skills are, don’t worry. That’s completely normal and it certainly doesn’t mean that you’re lacking. Sometimes, we are blind to our skills because we are so good at them that we take them for granted.
The solution?
Ask your closest family and friends
Ask the people closest to you — whom you trust the most — what they think you are good at. They will be able to illuminate the skills and talents that you have that help you stand apart.
Here are our 5 useful tips for turning your everyday skills into a business.
- Start blogging
If one of your natural talents is writing, starting a blog may be a great place to start. Blogs can help you accomplish a couple of things: First, you get to write and share about what you love and what you have the most knowledge about.
You can start a blog about anything you want, from gardening and cooking to musical instruments and fitness. Not only can you choose to write about whatever you wish, but you can also choose a style that feels completely natural to you.
Secondly, you can then monetize your blog strategically by using affiliate marketing, ads, and sponsorships.
Your blog will likely not make you money overnight. It takes an audience, time, and lots of high-quality content. If you’re patient, though, and you love what you’re doing, your blog could become a serious business.
- Try freelancing
Freelancing is an increasingly popular way to share your skills and talents with the world and make money doing it. There are plenty of freelancers out there who are running legitimate, full-time businesses on their own terms.
You can freelance all kinds of services from writing, website design, graphic artistry, virtual assisting, and more. Again, this is where knowing what you’re exceptional at comes in handy. You can use your natural talents to create a service to offer to others who don’t share that same talent or who don’t share a love for doing it.
For example, let’s say you’re exceptionally organized. All your friends, family, and coworkers come to you when their desk or their life is a mess. You can take your seemingly everyday skill of being organized and turn that into a business.
You can become a professional organizer and use your skills to help others streamline and simplify their life and business. There are plenty of people out there who value systems and order, but lack the time or interest to do it all themselves — and happily pay a professional to help them.
- Create an online course
Online courses and online education are some of the fastest-growing industries in the world right now. People are beginning to rely more on online courses taught by experts in specific niches than they are on college courses. Online courses are the continuing education of the future, and you can jump on the train while things are beginning to explode.
Online courses offer accessible content that’s engineered to fit the needs of your target audience. You can create a course of your own and upload it to one of the many online course sharing platforms out there (such as Udemy). Or, you can market it on your own website, blog, or social media.
- Consider online coaching
Along the same lines as creating an online course, online coaching has become the education and training of the future. If creating an impersonal, one-and-done product like an online course doesn’t appeal to you, why not try online coaching?
This is a great way to turn your everyday skills into a business, as long as you excel at communication and the ability to guide people to find their correct path. People all over are looking for easy and accessible ways to learn from experts in a one-on-one setting, but on their own schedule and from the comfort of their own home.
- Create physical products
Do you have an idea for a new product or invention that you just know will make a splash?
Or do you have a way to improve an existing product, putting your own unique spin on it? If so, there are countless ways to start a business and make money selling physical products.
There are plenty of convenient places to advertise and sell your product, too. Amazon, Etsy, and eBay are just a few of your options. You can also turn your own website into an e-commerce store and sell products from there.
So, whether you’re exceptional at making jewelry or you have a new product invention that will cater to a specific audience, there are plenty of ways to get your product in front of the right people and turn that passion into a business.
Get creative!
If you’re willing to think critically about what you’re great at and mix in a little creativity, there really are unlimited ways that you can use your skills to start a business. Even a small side hustle has the potential to launch you into the career of your dreams with a little time, effort, and dedication.
