Passion, Plan, Profit -- A Review

Creative-type individuals are often the ones most interested in going into business for themselves. They enjoy the freedom that comes from making their own hours, following their own methods and being able to make money from what they love doing. There is one major problem, however, that most of these individuals face--they are ruled by their right brain. This is a problem for most because starting and succeeding in your own business requires getting "practical", organized and planning. These are mainly left-brain activities and do not come easily to those of us who find creativity is our stronger suit. Help has arrived!

Author and business coach, Christy Strauch, understands the dilemma faced by those who have never sat and written a business plan. She understands how the traits many take for granted are not so easy to cultivate for many. In Passion, Plan, Profit: Twelve Simple Steps to Convert Your Passion into a Solid Business, Ms. Strauch takes you by the hand and guides you step-by-step through the process of deciding why you want to go into business for yourself through the final step of having your first year planned. She then adds an added section on quarterly evaluations. The list of resources she includes is excellent. An added plus for me was that she does this without once talking down to the reader like many coaches do. You get the impression that Christy Strauch knows you can learn what she has to teach.

This book is not your ordinary "do this, this and this and you will succeed" book. It is chock-full of worksheets, each working off the one before and each one simple when taken by itself. The process of planning a business is explained not only by method, by also with explanations as to why each step is needed and the importance of including the information gained from the worksheets. I found myself excited right from the start, going from "I couldn't possibly understand this." to "Wow, even I can do this!" by the end of the first chapter. This is no easy task for someone trying to get left-brained concepts through to me.

The book is set up with plenty of margin space for making notes, adding comments or questions, etc...This is a book meant to be read with pen and highlighter. By the time you have finished going through the book step-by-step, the cover will be well-worn, the pages full of notes and page after page of worksheets will be completed. You will also be confident you have prepared yourself as completely as possible for your new adventure into self-employment.

This is a book I will recommend for years to come. It isn't meant for just someone starting a brick and mortar business, but can also be used by writers, artists, photographers and any other freelancer who want to guarantee success on their own. It rates a solid seven colors on my Rainbow Scale of Excellence.

If you'd like to see more of this book for yourself, click on the cover photo at the top of this post and it will take you there! I would love to have those who try this method stop by and tell us how you fared. I'll let everyone know my outcome!















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