The farm was beautiful:a moderate house and 11-stall barn built on 40 acres outside of Nashville. It reminded Christy Wright of her father and Bo, the wobbly-legged colt she watched take his first steps nearly two decades before. Bo was his first horse. He was wild and adventurous, much like her. She wanted to live on a ranch ever since. She wanted this ranch. But there was a not-so-small problem:the rent was about three times more than the struggling college grad could afford. Wright praised it anyway.
She wasn't focused on the ways she could fail; she was focused on her dream. To solve her big ranch and her little money problem, Wright turned to the resources she already had:knowledge of horses and horse care and 11 empty stalls. Fields of Grace Farm would become his first business, a horse boarding service that turned into a haven for miniature donkeys, stray cats and two fainted goats. She never entered with the intention of making a huge profit or even qualifying as an entrepreneur. She simply combined her skills, background, and available resources to solve a problem in her life.
Related: How Women Advance in Business
“A lot of times, business isn't super sophisticated; it’s just a junk,” says Wright. “It’s just to make it work. It's failing, picking yourself up and trying something new. ”
The opening of the farm was quite risky. These times were not easy. But Wright was tired of living in a house filled with an endless cycle of roommates coming in and out. She was tired of working 80 hours a week at a non-profit minimum wage. She gave herself permission to pursue a bigger dream and then made a plan to achieve it.
Now a 35-year-old business coach, media personality aligned with Dave Ramsey, bestselling author of Business Shop and the creator of the Business Boutique brand, Wright is on a mission to empower women everywhere, in boardrooms and nurseries, to embrace that little voice in their heads that is brimming with ideas. Her often sold-out events aim to inspire women to embrace the solo hustle as a way to exercise natural gifts and supplement their income.
A solo or side hustle doesn't have to be big and it doesn't have to change the world, says Wright. You don't need to move to Silicon Valley or even step out of your basement. You don't need to increase your income to $1 million. You can make just enough to fund an annual family vacation, for example, or your child's sports travel expenses. The beauty of YouEconomy is that it's eternally customizable and can be bent, twisted, twisted, and twisted until it fits the beautiful, often messy realities of your current schedule. Your YouEconomy business should fit into your life, not the other way around.
This new concept of the American Dream is accessible to any woman who wants to work there. And helping women design, plan, launch and grow their businesses YouEconomy became Wright's work and the foundation of Business Boutique.
Related: Why Mentally Strong Women Aren't Afraid to Break the Rules
“My favorite part of this journey is getting a front row seat to watch these people do this stuff, build their businesses and chase their dreams,” says Wright.
But, she warns, starting a business, no matter how large or complex, isn't easy and it's not for everyone. For those who want it, the timing has never been better. Here, she offers LadiesBelle I/O her top tips for starting a YouEconomy business.
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Understand Your Calling
So you love designing and building coffee tables? Cool. Is it your passion? Is this your life's work? Is this how you will be remembered? Maybe not, and that's fine. The thing is, you love it, and maybe you'll find a group of people who also love handmade coffee tables but don't have the talent, time, or patience to build their own. They are willing to pay you for your product and maybe create a long-term business relationship with you. Boom, you have a first customer, which means you are in YouEconomy. It can be as simple as that, says Wright.
“[Calling] implies that there was one thing you were put on this earth to do, and I disagree with that,” she says. "No matter what you do or how you do it, I'm passionate about serving people, and there are many different ways to do it. »
Chasing your dreams can be daunting when you wonder if your hobby or skill set is profitable and scalable enough to share with the world. Put those negative thoughts aside, says Wright.
Embrace your story
Wright's entrepreneurial journey began long before his adventure on the farm. When she was 6 months old, her single mother was struggling to make ends meet as a sales representative for a large national company. Long hours didn't mean time with her daughter, so she rewrote the script of her life.
Wright's mother approached a moderately successful candy store owner in downtown Nashville. He needed more business and she needed an established platform to showcase her talents for creating cakes and desserts. She suggested that he display his homemade sweets in an empty display case. For a portion of the profits, Wright's mother would get prime real estate and the candy store owner would see more foot traffic. It worked, and Wright's mother eventually opened her own bakery.
Wright grew up in this bakery. She befriended employees, organized downtown deliveries by bike, and organized bags of icing by color. She wasn't all for the baking side, but the hustle and bustle of small business excited her, even then. She spent most mornings before school napping on 50-pound bags of sugar and flour, often showing up to class with a powder hue in her already white blonde hair. She loved the cash register, the rhythm of the buttons, and the satisfying buzz as the drawer opened. Wright has a BBA and is a certified business coach, but his first business and leadership lessons were at this bakery.
"My mom didn't teach me work ethic and character and passion and persistence and kindness and customer service," says Wright. “She experienced it in front of me, and as a result, I experience it too. ”
The bakery has never experienced exponential growth. Wright's mother made a comfortable living, although she never became independently wealthy from her business. But she loved baking, and it brought her joy to play such an important role in celebrating life milestones for her loyal customers.
At a time when virtually anyone with internet access can start a startup , the market may seem too crowded for handmade jewelry or all-natural soy candles. But Wright says the same age-old marketing principles apply:Customers, especially millennials, want to try new products, and the market is always ready to embrace new ideas.
But what sells really, it's the person and the story behind a product.
"Personal branding is the branding of your company, and that's a unique advantage," says Wright. "Maybe that's why people come to you. »
Things that may seem strange to you are those that make you unique and, by extension, make your product or service unique. Embrace the story of who you are and what you are trying to accomplish. Your audience will sense this vulnerability and react.
Do your research and be realistic
Wright is a no-nonsense business coach. After leading large teams, growing departments and launching new businesses, she doesn't subscribe to sugar-coated advice. She is realistic. If your passion has no demand in today's market, it will tell you.
If you like giving piano lessons, so much the better. But if your neighborhood has three other piano teachers struggling to fill time slots, you might have a problem. This doesn't mean you're doomed, but it does mean you need to do your research. Why are these other teachers struggling to fill the benches?
“For anyone to make money in the world we live in today, they have to solve a problem,” says Wright .
Start with what you have – and start fast
Launching a successful solo gig doesn't have to be complicated, says Wright. Start with the resources you have. Maybe you are fluent in three languages. Consider teaching a foreign language or launching a digital course that your clients can take at their own pace. Your barrier to entry into the business world is now the cost of your internet connection and the time it takes to develop a lesson plan.
Related: Try this brainstorming exercise to come up with better business ideas
For many, the hardest part is getting started, says Wright. This is true for most scary or unpredictable things in life. She advises her clients to focus on getting one paying customer as quickly as possible. Your first win can give you the confidence you need to stay motivated. After that first client, you can adjust as needed.
"It starts fast, fails fast," says Wright. "You'll find out if it doesn't work and you can redirect if you need to." ”
Involve Your Field
Your unique selling proposition is the one feature of your product or service that hasn't been achieved by anyone else. A typical example, says Wright, is the Ember mug:a ceramic mug that lets you adjust the temperature of your drink via an app on your smartphone. For Wright, a mother of two young boys who heats her coffee 50 times before lunch, it was revolutionary. But what if you don't have a breakthrough idea that no one else came up with?
That's when your unique selling proposition simply becomes the only quality of your product or service that you choose to highlight.
Related: How to Start a Business in a Day
“A lot of what makes Business Boutique unique is me,” says Wright. "There are billions of business coaches out there, but people come to me for the way I teach it."
When considering what makes your solo business marketable, don't be intimidated by the idea of creating the first or even the best version of your product or service.
Dream big, start small, and work hard
Wright started working for top-selling money whisperer Dave Ramsey and radio personality, in 2008. She started as a product developer, then became a speaker, and now, with her mentorship, a business coach at her own company.
Wright had long dreamed of working to inspire businesswomen, as her mother did by example, but she also took calculated risks, exercised patience and embraced a student mentality. Though she thinks we need to nurture the dreamer in ourselves, Wright cautions about your or your family's financial security.
"I will always, always teach the safe road," Wright says. “I never teach people to Jerry Maguire when you catch the goldfish and say, "Who's with me? » »
If your YouEconomy business is new, now is probably not the time to leave your nine-to-five, says Wright. Be patient and create time out of your schedule to grow your business to the size that's right for you. When you place all your metaphorical eggs in the side basket, you run the risk of sacrificing your financial security and operating your business from a place of desperation.
"I guarantee it," says Wright. “If you're desperate for sales, desperate for money, desperate for personal income, your customers will feel it. »
Take the time, not the excuses
How many times this week, this month or this year have you told someone that you would like to start a business, but they don't simply aren't enough hours in the day? The problem, says Wright, is that we don't deliberately choose how we spend our time.
“I'm very aware that my time is limited and I can do anything; but I can't do everything... I agree to say no. »
“I'm very aware that my time is limited and I can do anything; but I can't do everything…I agree with saying no,” she says.
If you often go to bed wondering where your day went and you feel guilty for not having completed your to-do list, it may be time to do a schedule audit. For a week, write down everything you do and how long it takes. If you got sucked into an Instagram scrolling session for 25 minutes, write it down. If you streamed TV shows for three hours every night, don't minimize it. At the end of the week, calculate the time spent doing time sucking activities versus those that promote self-care and your goals.
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Wright's mom taught him from an early age that letting your dreams take a backseat is not a viable option. Whether you swallow a wish to create a YouEconomy gig or are already in the planning stages, identify your Why can provide the extra motivation you need to make your dreams and goals a priority. Your why doesn't have to be grandiose; it can be as simple as wanting to earn a little extra money.
"You stay home mom, you who have fears and doubts," says Wright, "you know you can do that too. . »
