Hello Alexandra

Helping people build businesses is what I have done for a living for about twenty years now. I say that only so you know my expertise. I read through all of your responses, so here is my ten cents. Hope it helps.

There is the idea of owning a business and then there is the reality. Like anything where that is the case (being an actor, a monk, a Navy SEAL, so on and so forth), the reality does not always match the idea. And it’s super important to plug into that truth, here is why.

While business is complex, the things that fuel success are rather straightforward:

1. You need to find something that you are VERY passionate about. It doesn’t have to be a calling, per se, but strong passion has to be in there somewhere. Business has many highs and lows, lots of pain and lots of joy. The only way people stick with that rodeo is the core passion that fuels them. More this later.
2. You need to be rather good at your one thing: executive recruiting, blogging for moola, retail jewelry, restaurant, ad agency, pet tricks specialist, on and on the list goes. Ya gotta be good at it.
3. You need to be good enough at business to not go under. If you really want to thrive, you also gotta be good at business on some level. And being good at business is different than being good at your one thing.
4. Your capital needs to be sustained, not a Hail Mary pass. This is super important. Not enough start-up capital is one of the top reasons early start-ups crash. Lots of dreams, enough cash to launch, then crash. But why does that happen? Because you don’t know what you don’t know. A huge part of the initial learning curve is making mistakes.

Ok, back to that passion thing. There is a big difference between being a passionate person, or being passionate about an idea, and having a passion you want to monetize. A passion for independence alone, will not be enough. Now, that passion for independence alongside a business that you get real passionate about, that’s a winning combo. But it takes both.

For example, you could become financially independent selling real estate. You kinda sorta own your own gig. If you’re a broker you definitely do. But the frameworks for success tend to already be established, so you can just plug into one of those frameworks and find independence.

My executive recruiter client, doing several million, second generation, is very passionate about placing top-tier managers in the industry they serve. They are also very passionate about having integrity and having an amazing culture. My health food store client is very passionate about wellness. I have a young client your age that is very passionate about digital marketing.

So finding your one thing is very important. And clarifying whether you simply want to lock down a profession that allows for a lot of independence, or rather, you would like to build a business around your one thing.

So where to begin? If I were coaching you, based on what I have read, I would recommend a three-pronged approach. #1- Continue your career to keep your revenue solid. #2- Explore as much as you possibly can, without spending money, what your one thing might be and look like. #3- Take a few crash courses like you are, to get a better feel for the world of business.

Until you are extremely confident about “one thing”, I would not spend any of the money you have set aside. I also think it would be wise to explore professions that allow for independence, versus starting and building a business.

Make sense?

Hope that helped-
Bob