Want to start a profitable business that you’ll love?
Curious about how to profit from your passion?
Tired of waiting for the perfect moment to start your business? Here are 8 steps to starting a profitable business that you love by @next_levelblog #entrepreneur #businessClick To Tweet
“Find something you love to do and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” Every time I hear this saying, I am so grateful that I started my own business and that I love what I do.
If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, I know you’ve thought about doing the same.
Table of Contents:
To start your own profitable business, you’ll work harder than you ever have. If you don’t love what you’re doing, you’re going to get burned out, really fast.
So how do you turn something you love doing into a profitable business?
It’s not as hard as you might think. If you follow these 8 steps, you’ll be able to start a profitable business you love in no time.
Grab a notebook and your favorite beverage, and let’s get started.
If you prefer, I’ve created an awesome Start A Business You Love Workbook, which you can download here. It’s totally free and will help you organize your thoughts.
This post includes affiliate links. 👇🏽 Click here for the full disclaimer statement.
8 Steps to Starting a Profitable Business You Love
#1. Find Your Passion
Did you know that most new businesses fail within the first two years? That’s kinda scary, but you don’t have to be one of them.
Finding your passion is the first step to starting a profitable business you love.
If you’re passionate about your business, you won’t let anything stop you from being successful.
Brainstorm Ideas
To find your passion, start with making a list of things you enjoy doing. I’m talking about those things that you enjoy so much, that you lose track of time when you’re doing them.
You may not even connect your business ideas to the things you enjoy most, but that’s where you’ll find your best idea.
You might have several activities that you’re passionate about, and that’s okay. There are really no wrong answers for this step, so just write them all down.
Narrow It Down
Now it’s time to narrow down your list.
Choose your top three ideas and cross the others off.
👉🏽 RELATED POST: How to Find an Amazing Business Idea
#2. Monetize Your Passion
Once you have your favorite activities on paper, think about all of the ways you could monetize them.
You don’t have to sell your soul to make money doing something you love.
Ultimately, I know that you really want to help people. Write down all of the ways you can help others solve a problem or improve their quality of life, as it relates to your passions.
If you’re still having trouble coming up with ideas for some of your passions, don’t stress it.
👉🏽 RELATED POST: 7 Steps to Making Extra Money on the Side
Turn to Google and Pinterest for each of your passions, and look for the ways other people were able to start a profitable business in that niche. Simply search for, “profitable business ideas” + niche and you’ll get plenty of ideas, like these 55 profitable business ideas or these small business ideas.
#3. Ask Family And Friends
Sometimes your best qualities may not be as obvious to you as they are to others. That’s why your next step is to ask your closest family and friends for their input.
Make a list of those people in your life that will give it to straight – the good and bad.
Once you’ve got your list, arrange a time to talk to them when you can get their undivided attention.
Then, tell them you’re thinking of starting your own business and that you need their honest opinions. Run your ideas by them and get their feedback.
This is a great way to learn more about your own strengths and weaknesses. They may even offer new ideas that you haven’t thought of already.
#4. Narrow Down Your Niche
Now that you have an idea of which direction to go with your business, it’s time to narrow down your niche. Trying to please the masses is going to be too overwhelming and, ultimately, impossible.
The easiest way to decide on your niche is to create an ideal customer avatar. A customer avatar is a well-known marketing strategy used by businesses and is essential for creating your business plan.
You’ll create a detailed persona of the one person that you envision purchasing your products or services. This is the one person that would love everything you offer.
Create Your Customer Avatar
When building your customer avatar, you should include the following:
- Name – What is your avatar’s name?
- Demographics – How old is your avatar? Where does your avatar live? Is he/she married or single? Does he/she have children, and if so, what are their ages?
- Financial Status – What is your avatars monthly/annual income? Does he/she live paycheck to paycheck or have significant disposable income?
- Goals & Challenges – What goals and values are important to your avatar? What is he/she working towards?
- Hobbies and Passions – What does your avatar do for fun? What hobbies does he/she enjoy? Is he/she passionate about a specific cause?
- Online Habits – Which social media platforms does your avatar frequent? What websites does he/she visit often?
- Pain Points and Challenges – What obstacles does your avatar face? What challenges does he/she have that you could help with?
- Objections To Pitch – What would stop your avatar from purchasing your products or services? Is your avatar the decision-maker in his/her family?
Once you know who your ideal customer is, it’s much easier to actually make money just doing what you love and offer valuable products and services.
#5. Check Out The Competition
Now that you’ve narrowed down your niche, start checking out your potential competition.
Chances are you already know of a few people that you admire in your niche. If not, do some research and find those that are successfully doing what you’re passionate about.
Your competition already knows what it takes to start a profitable business in your niche so pay attention. Take some time to:
- Visit their website and take note of their branding
- Join their email list
- Read their blog posts and leave comments and questions
- Download their free content upgrades
- Check out the products and services offered
There’s a lot to learn from your competition, so use that to your advantage.
What’s not available for your target customer and what could you offer to fill that void? What else could you improve on to stand out from the competition?
You don’t want to copy what your competitors are doing, but getting to know their strategies will help you create a strategy that fills a need in your niche.
#6. Get Active On Social Media
You can start getting to know potential customers before you even start your business. Getting active on social media makes that easy for you.
Once you’ve created your customer avatar, you know which platforms your target customers are using. Create accounts and start interacting with them.
Once you start connecting with them, pay attention to their conversations. Jump in and participate by offering your opinions, and look for opportunities to answer questions.
If you use social media effectively, you’ll already know what types of products and services are needed in your niche. Plus, you’ll already have a circle of potential customers.
👉🏽 RELATED POST: The Best Essential Tech for Starting Your Business
#7. Make It Happen
If you follow these steps you should have a solid idea to build a business that you love.
If you’ve gotten this far then it’s time to make it happen. Finding time to start a profitable business can be one of these biggest obstacles for some of you.
You’ll probably have to keep your full-time job until your business takes off, and you might have a family that requires your attention, too. So how do you find the time to start a profitable business?
👉🏽 RELATED POST: How to Overcome Your #1 Struggle as an Entrepreneur
Finding Time
Cut out activities that aren’t bringing you closer to your end goals. If you’re stumped, consider some of these ideas:
- Stop watching television
- Stop using social media unless it’s related to your business
- Wake up an hour earlier
- Cut back on social activities with friends
Some of those activities will be a sacrifice for you but to start a profitable business, you’ve got to make sacrifices. Once you get your business off the ground you’ll be glad you gave those things up.
👉🏽 RELATED POST: How to Be More Productive and Stop Being Lazy
Do you need more help with getting your business started? Consider hiring a career coach.
#8. Hire A Career Coach
If you can afford it, a coach can help you:
- Create a business plan
- Develop branding strategies
- Create marketing strategies
- Stay on task by holding you accountable
- Set goals and give guidance on how to achieve them
If you happen to be a blogger ready to turn your blog into a profitable business, check out my related post 13 Reasons To Hire A Blogging Coach.
Is There a Profitable Business in Your Future?
If you set your mind to it, you can start a profitable business you love and be successful at it. Yes, you’ll put in a lot of time, hard work, and dedication, but it’s totally worth it.
The Printable Strategic Planning Workbook can help you plan your new venture.
Sign up below for your FREE Workbook + weekly tips to help you slay your goals.
I started my own business after working my butt off to make other people rich for over 15 years.
Finally, I decided to take a chance on myself and pursue my own goals instead. It’s the best decision I’ve ever made, and I wish I’d have done it sooner.
👉🏽 RELATED POST: 8 Simple Steps to Being Your Own Boss
If I can do it, so can you.
Once you get started, you’ll never look back.
It’s time to stop dreaming and start earning with your own profitable business.
Are you ready to start a profitable business you love?
More About Guest Contributor
Angel is the founder of Next Level Blogging, and an entrepreneur and blogging coach. In 2016, after 15 years of helping small businesses improve their sales and marketing strategies, she quit the 9-5 to follow her passion. She now helps other bloggers and entrepreneurs create successful and profitable businesses, sooner rather than later. Sign up for a free consultation here.
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It’s so important to cut out any activities that aren’t helping you achieve your goals! I’ve been cutting out excessive television. I used to be a binge-watcher of Netflix & now I work on my blog instead of Netflix. I feel so much happier & productive. Such a great blog post!
Stephanie
Hi Stephanie. It’s amazing how much time we really have once we actually keep track of how we’re spending it. Kudos to you for giving up your “Netflix and chill” time to work on your business.
Helpful pointers, hence the reason why I started my blog, because I love fashion and everyday i’ll Be on my phone looking at those lovely fashion bloggers, so I decided to take the step and turn myself into a business and hopefully find success one day, brilliant pointers x
Hi Kaydeon,
Success is totally possible for you! Make up your mind that you’re going to make it successful no matter what.
Then, make a list of what you define as success, and start finding ways to make those items happen.
Most of all, don’t be afraid to reach out for help if you’re unsure of something! I love helping other bloggers and every problem has a solution.
You’ve got this, Boo! Own it, and start rockin’ it out.
work really can be fun and rewarding when doing something you love! Love your printable images 😉
Hi Susannah,
Thanks for your feedback.
There’s nothing more rewarding than waking up every day to make money doing something that you love to do anyway.
Yes, Nadalie rocks with her images!
Great tips! I have one success small business and am trying to start another. I have used almost all of these ideas on the first one!
Congratulations Allie!
It’s kind of addictive, isn’t it? Once we recognize that we can achieve success, the floodgates open for ideas.
Good luck with the new business!
What an empowering article – also very informative for sure. I love how you break it all down and make sense of it. Doing what someone loves is sure key to success!
Thanks so much for your feedback, Joely. I’m glad you enjoyed the post.
I hope you’re following your passion, too 🙂
These are great tips! That’s pretty much how I got into blogging: hmmm, how can I turn talking about makeup into a job? But it’s true, if you love it, it rarely feels like work.
I’m glad you found a way to monetize your passion. It’s a lot of work, but luckily, it’s fun stuff.
Plus, you get to help build people’s esteem, so I know you must love what you do.
Keep it up!
It’s the monetizing part that I really struggle with! I find myself doing things for free simply because of passion and then realizing I that my gains are all emotional rather than financial! Need to work on that!
Hi Sunrita,
Monetizing is easier than you may think. Please reach out to me if you’d like some personalized tips. I’d be happy to help you think of a few ways to make money, while still providing valuable content.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Thanks for the motivation! These are awesome tips. Especially doing what you love and making it happen!
Glad I could help!
I found that once I just started putting ideas into action, everything started to fall into place.
You can do it, too! Go get it, girl!
Very good read! I wrote a few things down that I should do!
Hi Angela,
I’m so glad that you enjoyed the post!
Once you get going it will get much easier, and become second nature.
Let me know if I can help. Thanks for your feedback, too.
These are great tips to overcoming some of my fears about starting my own business. I know what I love, I just am afraid to get out there and do it. I need to find people and make connections – I don’t know what to do and where to start!
Hi Karissa,
Guess what? You just took the first step to making connections! Leaving comments on other blogger’s posts is a great way to break the ice.
I’d love to help you start working on building your business. Feel free to reach out – that’s what I do!
Looking forward to hearing from you 🙂
Great information. I have my website/blog and that is going great but i am trying to find some other ways to bring in income. I love your tips. Something I Need to consider.
Hi Censie! There are a number of ways to monetize your blog other than sponsored posts and affiliate marketing.
I help my clients build a digital product that will make money over and over again. Sometimes, the answers are right in front of us, but it takes a second set of eyes to make it click.
Let me know if I can be of assistance.
I couldn’t agree more with finding your passion. My side hustle is my cooking blog, and truly I could work on it day and night, I love doing it so much. After five years, it still hasn’t gotten old and I get up every day thinking about how I make it just a little bit better. x
Glad to hear I’m not alone. I work on my blog and business so much, I almost feel guilty! 5 years is a long time..I’m guessing if you weren’t passionate about it, you’d have let it go by now. That’s wonderful!
I always love checking out the competition, it helps see where things work and where things do not. Also, getting onto social media is huge. So many businesses are missing out on audiences and business because they do not know how to work their channels.
You are so right about social media! I’ve found a real need for social media management from the local businesses in my area. I love their excitement when they see what a difference it makes in their sales.
Very detailed tips, I wanted to make more out of blogging but I’m really on the lazy side so although I know I can improve, I just don’t go on doing it. haha, I find your articles always motivating, I hope I get to do them – I’m doing what I love, sometimes I love it too much. 😀
Yes, I’m not sure that I would have been able to devote so much time to my business when my 4 children were growing up. My business is now my baby 🙂
This is great information for beginners. I wish I could have stumbled upon this information when I was beginning. It can be really hard to navigate at first but once you reach your goals and surpass them it is such a worthwhile investment of your time to be able to work for yourself! I love it!
I’m glad you made it past the initial hardships of starting a business. Too many people give up when the going gets tough. Problem-solving skills and the ability to think outside of the box are really key to getting through the first year or two.
These are great ideas and easily approachable. My personal game-changer was creating my customer avatar and not in a general sense, but really drilling down! I got this concept from Amy Porterfield and Ruth Soukup. I highly recommend this process to anyone who’s thinking of starting their own business or blog. Great post!
Absolutely! I just wrote a post about creating a target reader avatar because some bloggers do not realize the importance of knowing exactly who their writing for. Once you know your exact ideal reader, content creation and monetizing becomes much easier.
Thanks for your feedback!
These are the universal and all important tips for any business.
Rather you’re online or have a storefront – you really need to use these tips as a strategy
Yes, Donna. I couldn’t agree more.
Although I work primarily with bloggers now, many of the strategies I teach were developed because of what I learned working with brick-and-mortar businesses.
Thanks for your feedback!
This is a great post for anyone looking to start up a business. Full of some really sound advice and checking out the competition is a really good idea!
Hi Elizabeth!
One thing I really love about working with bloggers is that we are willing to help each other grow and the sense of community.
Getting to know our competition actually helps us open doors to new opportunities.
Thanks!
I have a passion for so many things. I always wanted to try a Business but I really don’t know how or when to start. these are a great guide for me.
Hi Kelly!
I’m really glad you found this post because you are exactly who it’s written for. I hope you downloaded the free workbook. It will really help you determine which business idea will be right for you.
I’d love to help you get started! Please reach out if you’re ready to get started building a business you will love.
This post is full of super charged ideas to get going and get started with encouraging steps to find help. Thanks for your super power and insights to always approach biz with strategy.
Hi Evelyn,
I’m so glad that you enjoyed the post! I work really hard to provide encouraging, insightful posts and I’m glad it hit the mark.
Thanks so much for your feedback.
This is a great information for us all and all you said about social media is totally right , I agree with you . So happy i came across your blog and I will reading this over and over 👍👍👍
That’s great! I’m glad you found it helpful and hope you enjoy the rest of the blog posts 🙂
I agree with you 100%. Watching TV and staying online doesn’t really help. Better to cut back on these things and focus more on being productive
Hi Sonya! I know sometimes it’s hard not to get sucked in to stagnant activities. Self-discipline isn’t always easy, but totally worth it!
I feel ya with this one. But I’ve found that the more I’m into my blog the less I’m distracted. And instead of wasting time with TV, it’s now a treat for good behaviour.
These are great tips, the quotes you used are so inspiring as I work to build me website.
Hi Erin! Nadalie is so inspiring and the quotes she shares are just an added bonus. Good luck with your new website! I look forward to checking it out.
Aww thanks Angel! Ya’ll know I’m all about the quotes.
This post had some amazing tips, I’d never thought of having a career coach before! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thanks Courtney! Yes, hiring a coach may be a small upfront investment but the benefits you acquire are totally worth it. Getting individualized attention can get you focused on the tasks that will make you money.
Let me know if you need anything 🙂
I’m all for having a coach that makes you feel special and HELPS you get where you want to go.
Great Post! I’m a firm believer in turning the things that you love doing into a profitable business. What could be better than making a living doing something that you love? I really liked that you mentioned coaching and taking action. These are two very important components to running a successful business.
Yes, Shawn, absolutely. It’s amazing what we can accomplish once we actually just take the first step.
I’ll admit, I still struggle with action on some new projects. I get these big ideas, but get a brief streak of terror that stops me from executing them.
Once I take a step back and ask myself “What’s the worst that can happen if it’s a total flop?”.
Usually, the risk is truly minimal in the grand scheme of things.
Perfect steps to really get success. Every idea can turn into a great business when you know how and where to pinch it. Especially, loved your point to make a customer Avatar!!! It’s really take great efforts to know your customers!!! The carrer coach’s advise is precious, lucky if you find one.
Coaches are hard to find, at least those that are really customer-focused. That’s why I started my coaching business. I provide a plan of action that is very targeted to my client’s needs and enjoy nurturing those relationships.
Thanks for your feedback!
Inspiration, motivation and all great tips in this post. You make it sound so easy you definitely would encourage anyone to follow their passion today. I have so many my problem is just focusing on just one lol . I will follow your steps and see where the process takes me .
Hi Tachira,
I’m glad you found the post inspirational and that it gave you some motivation to tackly your own goals.
Running your own business takes a ton of work and dedication to be successful, but it’s definitely worth it.
If you need help deciding which ideas to tackle first, I’m happy to help!
Love this post. Especially the part if you aren’t doing something you love, you will get burned out fast. I can spend endless hours on my blog. Doing something you love can also teach you discipline and accountability. Staying focus is key as well as remembering your reason to why you started.
Hi Marlene,
I’m with you.
Because I love what I do, I am always implementing new ides. They tend to come faster than I can churn them out!
Discipline to stay focused is still hard for me, since I want to get everything done – right now. Prioritizing is key.
Thanks for your input.
I love that you start by encouraging people to start with their passion verses just looking for the most commonsense place. What “makes sense” isn’t always the best and most profitable plan in the long run… and it’s also most likely the safer and most comfortable choice.
We all know where comfort takes us… no where! Lol
Our passion should scare us a little and require us to stretch toward our greatness. Awesome post! Love your content. 🙂
Thanks so much Brandi!
Being an entrepreneur is scary sometimes – especially when I stop to breathe and realize how much I’m actually doing. It’s a lot! But realizing that I’m somehow managing it without falling flat is so uplifting.
Thanks for your kind words.
Thank you! I currently freelance as my day job, but don’t necessarily enjoy the things that I am doing – only the flexibility it offers. I appreciate this guide and hope it helps motivate me to find something I actually enjoy doing. After all, you can’t get anywhere if you are stuck at #1!
Thank you! I currently freelance as my day job, but don’t necessarily enjoy the things that I am doing – only the flexibility that it offers. I appreciate this guide and hope that it motivates me to find something I actually enjoy doing. After all, you can’t get anywhere if you are stuck at #1!
Glad to hear that, Darcee. If you’re already doing freelance work, just tweak it so that it fits into your life’s core goals. I’ve learned that life is too short to not go for our dreams. Good luck and let me know if I can help.
I agree with every single one of these!! Especially asking your family! They know you better than anyone else! Great read!
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Kori. Sometimes we’re too hard on ourselves, and our family and friends see what areas we really shine in.
These are great ideas! Even some that I think I could employ right now for my own things!! 🙂
That’s fantastic, Ashley! Thanks for your feedback.
I can see where these tips can work. I kind of fell into my business, but having a plan would have made things so much easier.
Congrats Stephanie, on your business.
I have to plan or I’ll waste time and energy on unnecessary things. That’s just my ADD, I think!
This is one very inspirational post! There are a lot of times I feel like I’m giving up doing what I love just because I can’t seem to move a step forward with it. Thank you so much for this post. It drives me to work on with what I love 🙂
That’s great, Kyla. Sometimes we just need a little reminder of why we work so hard for the life we want. I’m glad I was able to offer that in this post.
Just remember, if you get stuck or need additional guidance with what to do next, that’s what I’m here for! I love helping people just like you build a successful business. Feel free to reach out anytime 🙂
Great information. This make me feel like, I can go out right now and conquer the world.
Very useful tips. It’s great to have a list of things you have to do, so you know what you need to focus on. And you are right about willing to sacrifice some things we like to do. There’s no way to really get through with what we want to accomplish if we keep on wasting time.
Thanks for the good read.