A famous author once said:
“Real change is difficult at the beginning, but gorgeous at the end. Change begins the moment you get the courage and step outside your comfort zone; change begins at the end of your comfort zone.”
The second sentence is what intrigued me the most about this quote. I know that you may be asking “Ok, so what does this have to do with business development?” Honestly, it has everything to do with it. Courage is the fuel that will ignite your passion to turn your ideas and dreams into a tangible business. That same courage will comfort you during the times of uncertainty of your product or service being purchased. Courage will take you many places, but the first place it will take you is out of your comfort zone.
Starting a Business
In order to start a business, you will have to be okay with dying to your personality so that your business can live. Sounds similar to our life with Christ, right? We will have to sacrifice the comfortable for the uncomfortable to see the bigger reward.
Let me bring things into perspective by sharing a bit about who I am. My name is Jameka and I am an introvert. I love to work alone and I thrive in environments where I can work independently with little to no interaction from others. Now don’t get me wrong, I love people but I’m naturally shy and I don’t like having to initiate conversations if I don’t have to. To be honest, the very thought of “networking” makes me cringe. Yet, on this journey of entrepreneurship, I have stepped out of what is comfortable for me to meet clients. I had to initiate conversations and spend time listening to other people’s business ideas. Then, offer my business cards and services to make connections and potentially land clients. Being willing to sacrifice my comfort zone to gain clients has tremendously helped my business. For the past couple of years, I’ve made a significant amount of money. This wouldn’t have been possible if I had let my comfort zone lead me in my business dealings.
Now, this may not be your area of comfort. You may not like to ask for help, or you could be someone who has so many ideas but can’t find time to put them on paper. Some people have been in business before and don’t like to invest a lot of funding into their craft due to fear of the loss of money. There are various comfort zones for each person, and you know them better than I do. I just want to challenge you to step out of your comfort zone so that your business can live.
“In order to reach somewhere that you’ve never been, you have to be willing to try something that you’ve never done.”
Newness
As I stated above, if I didn’t step outside of my comfort zone I wouldn’t have made the money and connections that I’ve made so far. I had to try something I’ve never done, and it worked. The most you can do is try, and if it doesn’t work at least you can go back to the drawing board and try something else.
I’ll share another transparent moment regarding business: So, my expertise is writing business plans for entrepreneurs. I know how to complete my service with no problem, but I didn’t know what the next steps would be to promote my business to obtain clientele. This is hard, especially with what I do because I thought it was common knowledge that all entrepreneurs should know that they needed a business plan (Jokes on me). In various conversations I’ve had with entrepreneurs, it’s revealed to me that they either are intimidated by the phrase “business plan” or have searched the subject in Google and found that many people don’t use them anymore. So for me, I take a seat as an advisor and educator to explain why people need them and this has to be part of my marketing strategy so that people are aware of why you should have a business plan.
To this day, I’m still developing different ways to perfect my marketing strategy. I got caught up on how things should look versus the quality of my content because I hadn’t found my marketing niche. A niche is defined as a comfortable or suitable position in life or employment. So I soon realized, I don’t need a marketing niche because I might grow comfortable in one way and potentially miss out on new clients because I wouldn’t be taking the time to continue changing my strategy. So what did I do? I’m glad you asked! I had to reach out to some marketing specialists. Here goes the point of me stepping outside of my comfort zone again. The science behind having a successful business operation is inclusive of many parts, one of those being marketing. If you don’t know how to do it, you have to reach out to someone who does. Now that I’ve stepped outside of my comfort zone, I have been able to be patient with myself and find what marketing strategy works for ME.
We’ve covered so much in this short amount of time so I want to leave you with some encouragement as you take the courage to step out your comfort zone to start your business:
- Pray before you act. God is abundant in wisdom, and he doesn’t condemn us for asking Him for clarity on what to do. (James 1:5)
- Examine the cost. When I say costs, I mean literally (currency) and figuratively. How much time, energy, and prayer will you be willing to put into this business? Jesus encouraged His disciples to do the same when it came to leaving all they knew to follow Him. (Luke 14:28-30) Examine how much of your comfort you are willing to leave behind to become the entrepreneur you have always dreamed of.
- Be willing to ask for help. Learn from the moments I just shared with you regarding my experiences. If I didn’t reach out and ask for help, I probably would still be sitting at home broke wondering why nobody is seeking to do business with me. Proverbs 15:22 says, “Plans go wrong for lack of advice; many advisers bring success.” Out of your prayer time, God will lead you to the right advisers who can assist you with what you need.
I pray that this post has helped you, and I can’t wait to see what else God has for me to share with you all. I am excited for all of the budding entrepreneurs. Step out of your comfort zone and watch how God honours your courage AND faith. God bless!
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Jameka D. Anderson, MBA
Founder & CEO, Anderson Advisory Services
Jameka D. Anderson is the sole owner of Anderson Advisory Services. She has a background in Accounting, Business Administration, and Contractual Writing -together these 3 skills assist her with the knowledge needed to formulate traditional business plans for her clients. Jameka’s portfolio demonstrates her ability to take a simple idea and expound on it with pertinent information to give her clients an organized outline on how to proceed with business operations. Also, Jameka is able to develop figures within financial statements that deem prospective business ventures to be lucrative for an investors interest. Her services are new, but she is committed to the vision God gave her to assist others in writing out their vision to make an impact on the world.