THE 5 CRITICAL STEPS FOR STARTING YOUR NEW BUSINESS, OR SIDE HUSTLE
Who hasn’t dreamed of launching their own business or starting a side hustle with dreams of a better life? Maybe you have had an idea but don’t know where to begin. If I share with you the 5 critical steps that will bring you closer to success in the launch of your business, will you try?
I am a big fan of frameworks, processes, and systems. When you can establish and fine-tune them, you can replicate them. Any enterprise that started small and then became a multi-million-dollar company spent a lot of time creating processes and systems. These are necessary for scaling and growth.
I have launched three businesses in my life and helped many others to start their own business. As most of you know, I spent 26 years in the Swiss Air Force as a fighter pilot and instructor on an F/A-18 (yes, the same aircraft that Tom Cruise flies in the movie “Maverick”). I realized that the way we plan a mission, or a flight is very similar to building a business. I will use this flight plan metaphor to help you create your future business, side hustle, or anything else you want to pursue in life. All you must do is follow the 5 critical steps we use when creating any flight plan:
Step 1: Destination
The first part of the plan is realizing the destination. In the military world, we receive the task order with the target: what we are aiming for. In the civilian world, this is the destination where we transport passengers. I call it “the dream island”. Using this metaphor, what does the destination look like for your business, your side hustle, or the new phase in your life? It is important to take a holistic approach and have a long-term perspective when considering your destination. The best way to think about it is to ask yourself questions.
Who do I want to be? If you must describe to someone the best version of yourself in the future, who will they be? The best way to do this is to visualize a typical day from the time you wake up to the time you get back into bed in 5 or 10 years. Visualize the best version of yourself with all the different roles you may play (business owner, CEO, leader, parent, spouse, coach, mentor, etc.). Create an image of this future you with as many details as possible.
Where do I want to go? If you look at your life, do you want to stay in the same place or do you want to move? Do you want to create a business or a lifestyle in a different part of the world? I remember when I was a teenager, I dreamt about living in a place where I could look up and see palm trees in the blue sky. I even had a wallpaper in my bedroom with palm trees. 36 years later here I am!
What do I want to create? What will be your contribution to this world? What do you want to build? What does your business look like? How does your life look? Don’t be afraid to dream big. Don’t be scared to take a 180 degree turn in your life and start something new. I remember when I left my successful career in Switzerland to start all over again in the United States in a new field. My colleagues couldn’t understand my decision. They were afraid for me but I did it anyway. I am now in a much happier and better place than staying where I was. I see palm trees in the blue sky and the ocean every day now 😊
Why do I want it (purpose)? This is the question that will test both your motivation and the reason why you want to start something new or implement a big change in your life. Too many people start a business identifying the “WHY” as making more money and/or retiring sooner. If these are your only two motivations for starting your business, let me tell you that you are going to face disappointment. Starting something new and redesigning your life will take a lot of your resources and energy. Rule of thumb: it will take twice the resources and time than you think.
The best way to look at it is to understand the purpose behind what you want to accomplish and question it. How is this going to help or serve other people? How is it going to benefit humanity? What positive changes will it bring to the world? Allow yourself to dream big. Look at it like your North Star. When you will feel down or frustrated, that North Star will keep you going, the big “WHY” is what will motivate you to continue. It is what will lead you to success. Money and retirement will come. Think about those as a byproduct of what you create with purpose and intention. Believe me, if your heart is at the right place, it will happen. Just follow your North Star!
Who is with me? When you picture yourself in the future, who is with you? When I look back over my life, this is probably the one factor I missed. I was so goal-oriented and obsessed with achievement that I forgot to bring people into my picture. I succeeded in almost every big life adventure. I executed my flight plan very well, but when I reached the destination, I was alone.
Let me tell you that now, whatever I create, I visualize many people with me. It is so much more enjoyable to be in a team. Furthermore, if you want to reach your goal faster, you need to plan with a team. Think about a flight. You are the pilot in charge, the captain. You need a crew and external support to get to your destination. So, who will be in your crew?
Step 2: Departure
You may ask why I didn’t start my 5 steps with the departure point and instead with the destination. The answer is simple. If you take inventory of who you are now and what you do now, there is a high probability that you will limit yourself when you visualize your destination. You will consciously or unconsciously downgrade your “dream island”. I don’t want that. I want you to think big about the future business or life you want to create. After, and only after, you have clarity about your destination, you can take inventory of the present moment and the life that you have right now. Warning: you must be brutally honest when you will answer the following questions. No cheating or beautifying what is. Be raw and honest with yourself.
Knowing your departure is very important. Imagine if a pilot wanted to fly from the east coast of the United States to Paris without knowing exactly where he or she is. They know the heading is somewhere east but it would be pure luck if they reach the destination without knowing where they take off. You don’t want to plan a business or your life that way. You are the captain and in charge of the flight. So here are some questions to ask yourself:
Who I am as a person? Consider who you have become through the years. Are you happy with this picture? What good aspects of your personality do you want to keep and what aspects do you want to leave behind? We all change in life. Struggles, experiences, memories, and/or traumas change us. Look at yourself in the mirror and have an honest conversation. I did this exercise when I decided to leave Switzerland and my successful career. I didn’t like what I saw in the mirror after surviving traumatic experiences in my home country. I didn’t want to live that way. I wanted to become a better person. Yes, I was disappointed with myself. But it was okay because I knew it was just the starting point of growing into a new, bigger, and better version of myself.
How I became who I am? This is an important question. The reason I ask you to look back is to build your own confidence. Yes, it can be scary to start something totally new or redesign your life. You may feel fear, anxiety, insecurity, or doubt about your capabilities. Look back 5, 10, or 20 years. Where were you? What were you doing? How much have you learned since? Look at all your achievements. List them and look at them. Be proud. Tap yourself on the shoulder, you made it! Now, the next leg in your life will trigger the same feelings. Just remember how you became who you are and the amazing journey and achievements you already have accomplished. It will put wind in your sail, or better said, on your wings to fly higher and further.
What are my skills NOW? This is an important one. All the skills you have learned so far brought you to where you are now. However, what brought you here today will not bring you to the next destination. You will have to learn new skills or improve existing ones. So be honest with yourself and evaluate your skill sets from one to ten, one being poor and ten outstanding. If you have some low ratings, that is okay. We all have started somewhere. Be kind to yourself; be proud of all the skills you already mastered!
What are my strengths and weaknesses? When you answer this question, take a holistic approach. Look at different areas of your life. I found it very useful to look at these five areas:
Your physical, mental, and emotional health: what does your diet look like? How much exercise do you do each week? Are you drinking enough water? How well and how long do you sleep at night? What is your mood during the day or the week? Are you able to focus on your task or projects? Are you easily distracted? How do you feel emotionally? Are you at the level of joyfulness, happiness, and fulfillment you want? These are nice questions to reflect on.
Your social life: how do you interact with people? How close are you with your family and dear friends? How much positivity and joy do you have when you are around them? Do you think you are an influential person, a role model? Evaluate the friends you have around you honestly. Are they uplifters or downers? How mindful and connected are you with your loved ones, your partner, spouse, kids, and parents? Are you sharing your emotions and showing them how much you love, value, and appreciate them?
Your contribution: what are you good at in your field of expertise? What are the areas that you need to improve? How much of an impact does your life work have on the people around you and your community?
Fun and self-care time: how good are you at taking care of your own needs? How much time do you spend on the hobbies you love to do? Do you take time to take care of your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual body? When was the last time you spend some time alone, reflecting? When was the last time you spent a weekend with your friends or a getaway to recharge? There is nothing wrong with taking care of yourself first!
Connection with the Divine: How present and connected are you with what is around you? Do you stop and take time to smell the flowers? Have you ever had a deep connection with the beauty of this world and felt that something bigger and greater than you is making this magical world happen? Do you have faith in the Divine? I am not talking about religion but about something that really makes us connect together. How good are you at being present and feeling gratitude for this life? How often do you spend time in nature?
Where am I in my life? This final question has two aspects to it. One is your physical location, where you live today. The other aspect is where you are with your life in general. Are you happy with the situation you are in? Is there something that you really miss and want to change? Maybe you want to have a family, but you are still single. Don’t judge yourself. Just acknowledge where you are in your life with honesty and kindness. You have already done so much. Look again back to where you were 5, 10, or 20 years ago. Isn’t it remarkable and amazing the progress you have made already?
I have seen too many people having a big dream, a feasible dream but never truly realizing it because they neglected to look at themselves, to look at their departure and where they are now. When you know where and who you are now and know where you want to go and who you want to become in 5 or 10 years, when you have these two points defined with clarity, only then can you create the path to your new life or future business. The next step is to find a way to connect these two points.
Step 3: Waypoints
Now that we have our starting and ending point, we can build our route. As a pilot, when we have a long flight or a flight with many twists and turns, we use waypoints to navigate. These waypoints help us to stay on track. You don’t want to fly 12 hours straight without checking your position from time to time. Imagine if you are 2 degrees off when taking off from New York flying to Paris. There is a very high likelihood with that direction that you may end up somewhere far north or far south of Paris in another country. When you launch a business, a side hustle, or change course in your life, you want to make sure you stay on track. These waypoints are mandatory or “absolute” markers you must hit before you can continue to the next one. For example, if you want to become a doctor, you probably have the following waypoints on your flight plan: high school diploma, bachelor’s degree, pass the Medical College Admission test (MCAT), apply for medical school, be trained, find a residency program, and then obtain your medical license. Waypoints can be defined differently according to the need or what you want to achieve:
Time: these are waypoints that are scheduled on a regular time. For example, it will be the weekly or monthly meeting where you must track your performance (sales, revenue, expenses, production…)
Events, phases: these are not linear or defined by time. They are events or phases that need to be completed. The perfect example is those defined before for becoming a doctor (e.g., certificates, training, education).
Process: these waypoints are defined by processes. A typical example would be building an app or software. You must follow a process and design flow to get your software running properly. You can only go to the next step when the previous one is completed.
Synchronicity: When you design your flight plan for a new business, some waypoints have to be synchronized with other external events. An example will be the purchase and remodeling of a house. You have waypoints for how you want the remodeling to go. You will have to synchronize some of the events with the time you will move in which can be dictated by the time the school starts for the kids or your new job. Often, these waypoints are defined when the professional and personal life meet or when someone’s needs must be met at the same time.
Label: each waypoint should have an identification marker. In aviation, we have maps with all the navigation waypoints. They have a name or are represented with an alphanumeric code. Every pilot in the world will use the same name for the same waypoints. For you, it is important that you do the same. If you have a team or close ones with you, you want to make sure you are all talking about the same waypoint (which can then be a time, event, process, and synchronized waypoint).
P.S. Often, people use “milestones” when they plan something. It just does not sound very flyable... but these are the same as waypoints.
Step 4: Logistics
As you can imagine, flying a fighter jet or an airliner requires a lot of logistics. Nowadays, it is impossible to operate everything alone. Your business will be the same. You may start alone. However, sooner or later, you will need some support. If you grow, you will need to create a team. At some point, you may subcontract certain parts of your business or delegate them to someone else. Did you know that Swiss Air Force pilots are the only pilots in the world to trust 100% the mechanics who prepare the aircraft for the mission? We do not walk around the aircraft and do any checks. We just check the logbook which tells us about the status of the aircraft, its ammunition, fuel, and any software or hardware loaded specifically for the mission.
Under logistics, you want to know what you need to reach your destination. You will look at what you listed in step 2 (destination) and step 3 (waypoints). These two steps will help you to define what you need. A few examples:
Skills: what skills do I have to improve or acquire? If I don’t have them and can’t learn them (i.e., takes too much time or not your field of expertise), then who can help me? One thing I want you to know is that you are more capable than you think. You can learn new skills if you put in the time and effort. Never, never, and never doubt your capabilities. You are stronger than you think. Look at what you have already accomplished in your life. Do you remember in step 2: “How I became who I am”? This question was placed on purpose to show you how awesome you already are! And it is just the beginning. It will be a good reminder as well when times get tough!
Resources and assets: what do you need to get your business started? For an airline, it will be the airplane. If you want to open a restaurant it is to have a place with a kitchen and a dining area. Think about the basic needs to start your business or your new life.
Internal support: for an airliner, it will be the pilots and the cabin crew. For the restaurant, it will be the chef, the kitchen staff, and the waiters. But sometimes, you need a little more than that. As a fighter pilot, I will have an intelligence officer who will brief me about what is happening in the theater (yes, we call it this way!). We will have a meteorologist briefing us on the weather. In a restaurant, you will have a manager to help you organize shifts and plan. You may have a director of food and beverages. One suggestion for you: think early and ahead when you want to internally grow. Don’t wait until the last minute to hire someone. Plan it in a way that you have time to select, hire and train the person well.
External support: an airliner will need fuel, oil for the engine, food, and beverages for the passenger. They will need people to load the cargo and the suitcases of the passengers. The airplane will need a tarmac, taxiways, and a runaway. They will need air traffic controllers to support them from take-off to landing. Now, ask yourself, where do you need support and who can provide it? If you are going through a big life-changing event, who are the people who can support you? Think about the people you trust. Think about people who were just ahead of you and did it. Who could train, teach, mentor or coach you? We all need support. The earlier you ask the better. Too many times I have seen the ego of people getting in the way… “I can do it myself; I don’t need anyone…” Does it sound familiar? Well, this just delays their own success!
How and where: finding the right resource. Now that you know what you need, it is important to find out who can provide what you need and/or where you can find it. Be diligent with this work. I have seen too many friends and business owners fail because they asked their best friend to help them. Unfortunately, they were good-hearted people, but they didn’t have the skills or knowledge to fulfill their position. Do your due diligence. Make sure that the information you require or the help you need comes from a secure and trusted source. As a pilot, I will not ask my mechanic how to execute and approach a difficult airfield in the middle of the Alps (yes, we have small hidden runways in very narrow valleys). I will ask a pilot who did it many times. I will ask for his opinion and advice. If you hire a chef for your Chinese restaurant, you want to make sure they are an expert in Chinese food. It sounds obvious... but do you know how many people failed because of that mistake? Do your due diligence. Ask for multiple offers. Ask for references. Test for quality. Make sure that the crew you have on board and the service you will provide will be outstanding.
Step 5: your flight plan
You are almost there. You can see your plan coming together. There is one last step: finalize your flight plan with your route. Now that we know where we take off, the waypoints we need to fly over to reach the destination and the logistics we will need to have a successful flight, we need to think about the route and what could happen along the way. For this part, we, as pilots, use particular tools that really serve their purpose well. You will see that you can use the same ones when you launch a business or start a new phase in your life.
Plan the route: you need to connect all the waypoints together. This is a good time to maybe reconsider the route. Maybe there is an option B that might be available to reach the destination. Maybe there is a leg between two waypoints that is too long. You need to create other waypoints as a marker to make sure that you stay on track. When I had a mission that involved flying low level in bad weather to reach my target, I would plan my route with different options in case the weather was bad, and I couldn’t reach the target. There are always different ways to reach a goal. Open your mind to different perspectives and again, don’t be afraid to ask the opinion of others!
Break it down into mile-markers: the earlier you see a deviation between what you plan (your flight path) and what you are flying, the smaller the correction. For example, if you track your expenses and revenues and check if you perform according to the plan on a quarterly basis, you may get a good or bad surprise. The deviation can be big, and it will be hard to correct. But if, instead, you track these expenses and revenues on a weekly basis, you will have to make only small adjustments. In flying, we do the same. If we have wind that is pushing us off track, we want to make sure we recognize it early and make very small heading changes. If we wait too long, we may miss the waypoint or need to make a huge correction that will cost us fuel and time. The best way to do this is to break down each leg with mile-markers. How often? It will depend on what you do and what you want to achieve. Start first with a few mile-markers and you will know if you need to add a few more or not.
Checklist: that is our lifeline as pilots. We use many checklists for many different phases of our flight. We have checklists for before starting the engine, starting the engine, before taxi, taxiing, before takeoff, take off, after takeoff, climb checklist, cruise and it goes on. Create your own checklists for the different phases of your flight. You may have a checklist about what you need before starting your business (taxi), one at the starting phase of your business (takeoff), then another one when you start to grow (climbing), then one when you are sustainable and profitable over the long period (cruise) and one the day you want to exit your business (landing). Yes, don’t forget to plan what you want to do at the end when you reach the destination. For example, a checklist for you could be the agenda you plan for the weekly meeting, as simple as that!
Reserves and contingencies: be prepared for any wind change. Wind is the metaphor for all the internal or external challenges that may occur during your journey. The side wind is the wind that wants to take you off course. These are the obstacles, difficulties, and challenges you will face. They will be there, be ready for that. Maybe you have headwind, things go slower than you planned. Or maybe you have tailwind, you grow faster than you think. It happens too! So, make sure you have reserves in case you have to counter the side wind or headwind. In aviation we calculate fuel and time reserve. In your business, it could be the financial resources. So many businesses don’t succeed because they run out of cash. They had a great idea, and it was well executed but they just didn’t have any reserves in the tank. Use a simple rule of 80-20. Always have 20% more money on the side for each phase, have 20% reserve time in case it went slower than you thought, and have 20% more inventory and resources available. You may argue that this is a waste, or it is not efficient. Technically it is, but what about those moments that you really have a delay and can’t support it because you ran out of your skinny cash flow or exhausted your resources? It is not going to be a waste but a total loss.
Contingencies in aviation are the plans B and C in case something happens. What do you do if one of the engines is on fire? What is the alternate airfield if the weather is bad at the destination? What is my no-return point, meaning when is the last time I can board my flight and come back safely to my starting point? In business, your contingency plans will be what you are going to do if your competitors are more aggressive than you thought. What is an alternative niche or market if the one you selected didn’t work? What do you do if your supplier cannot provide what you need? What is your alternate supplier? What do you do if you have a natural disaster or a pandemic situation? What are your contingency plans? I don’t want to create fear or doubts in your mind, but life happens and often not exactly as we planned. The more you plan for any turbulence, the better off you will be. As pilots, we have simulators where we can train all kinds of emergencies and practice our contingency plans. Being ready is knowing what to do when things do not go as planned.
Brief the crew: now it is time to get everyone onboard and brief your flight. Airline pilots always do a crew briefing. Fighter pilots do the same and brief as well all the members of the formation. As a leader, entrepreneur, or creator, we too often think that people will understand what we do. Yes, it may be very clear in our mind because we have planned and thought about it for days, weeks, months, or even years. But people don’t know all the processes and thoughts behind what we want to achieve. So, it is important to brief your crew. There is a high probability that you will need internal or external support. The more clarity people have about your vision, your goals, your destination, and the way you want to reach it, the easier it will be to lead. On top of that, why not share your dreams with others? Maybe you will inspire them to step up in their own life. Maybe they will become your cheerleaders when times get tough, and you need support. They will be the ones reaching the destination and celebrating with you.
Final words
Now you are ready. Weather looks good, the aircraft is ready, and your crew is waiting on you. It is time to start your engine. Trust your flight plan. Believe in your capabilities to figure out along the way. You are well prepared.
My last advice to you will be the following: enjoy the flight. Too many times we are so focused on reaching our goal and our destination that we forget to enjoy the journey. Don’t be one of these pilots who looks down in the cockpit watching every single instrument and never appreciates the view in front of him or her. You are in the front seat! Enjoy the ride. I know, sometimes it will be stressful and scary. You may hit a storm, fly through turbulence, or see lightning in the distance. But this won’t last. There will be times when the scenery in front of you will be amazing. Celebrate those times. Celebrate the moments you reach a waypoint or a mile-marker. Celebrate with your crew. Too many people wait until they reach the destination to celebrate. No, do it along the journey. Who knows, maybe your flight can be redirected to another and better place, so why wait for the destination?
Then, you may ask, what do I do when I reach the destination? What do you do when you have lost the weight you wanted? What do you do when your business is thriving? What do you do when you succeed in changing and redirecting your life for the better? Well, there are two options. One is to prepare to fly back with the knowledge you have. That is what I do as a coach and mentor. I go back to where I was and take new passengers and crew on board. I share my experiences and help people to reach their “dream island”. I will redo the same journey but better. I want more people to experience it. The second option is to plan a new destination. This time you will push the envelope. You will use your experience as a steppingstone for the next leap in your journey. Maybe you will expand your business. Maybe you will start a new one. Maybe your life has changed so much that you want more of it and are ready for new challenges. Whatever it is, make sure to plan your flight and fly your plane. Be the captain. Lead with confidence. Be bold and trust yourself!
Before you take off, I have a gift for you. You can download a fillable pdf with the summary of each step of the flight plan. Just click HERE!
Wishing you a good flight my friend and many happy landings.
- Hubert
YourHPcoach
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