It's "Ask Away Wednesday" over at www.KickTheCubicleHabit.com and todays question comes from Michelle:

Hi Danette,

At 35, I have a lot of working experience and skills in a couple of areas of business. Recently I've been thinking about launching myself as a business consultant. The problem is I don't have a lot of money saved to begin and I don't know which services to offer. How do I create a business I will enjoy long term that does not require a large budget to start?

Hi Michelle,

Thank you for your question. It may seem like a frustrating place to be, not knowing which direction to take, but I can assure you of two things. One, this is a common dilemma for women as we begin to think about launching out on our own. We feel a call to do something new or take our contribution to another level, and we are not sure what to do or how to do it.

Secondly, I want you to know you are at a great place in your career, because you have the opportunity to think about your new venture from a holistic perspective. This means, you get to decide what you want your life to look like on a daily basis as you do your work, and build that into your business model. It is an opportunity to design a business around the life that you really want, instead of ending up with a practice that forces your life to be a certain way.

Here are three things you can do starting today to create a practice you love, clarify your offers, and find the audience that is waiting for your solution.

Commit to purpose-driven entrepreneurship

Enjoying your business will happen when you structure your practice with thoughtful intention. As we approach the ages of 35-40 we often begin a period of contemplation and a re-evaluation of our lives and careers. We feel a shift in our perspective away from the rules of work and begin to feel a call to contribute in a way that is more significant to our own life experience and perspective. We want to make a bigger difference and we want more control over our lives.

Entrepreneurship is a fantastic way to have the freedom we need to be creative, own our time and tailor solutions that impact lives and contribute in a way that's unique and important to us.

Your enjoyment will come from being confident that what you are doing everyday is a part of what you came to this life to do. If you miss this purpose tie-in however, you can experience restless thinking, or moving from idea to idea but never settling on one. This reduces the likelihood of actually starting and experiencing real success. Michelle, you can begin the process by asking yourself the following questions:

1. What productive work do you enjoy so much, you lose track of time?

2. What problems do you solve often and easily, like second nature, but appear to be a big problem for others?

3. Who do you have a heart for, or feel an unrelenting urge to help?

4. What skills, experiences, and knowledge do you have that can be used to create an effective solution for these people?

If you can answer these questions clearly you've taken the first step to laying a good foundation.

Do the research

Once you are clear about what problem you want to solve and for whom, you will need to perform market research. Do it simply. Get out there, talk to people who face challenges around that issue, and let them tell you what it's like.

I like to think of myself as a detective or a scientist. Take for instance the character of Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennen in the Fox TV series "Bones". She is a forensic anthropologist, and no one knows more about human bones that she does. She is the best in her field, because she has made it her business to know everything about her subject matter or her "target market".

Do that for your practice. Survey the people in your market and really get to know them. Talk to them about the biggest challenge they experience around your subject. Ask how they feel when they're faced with this challenge? How they react every time it comes up? What's stopping them from solving the problem? Really probe by asking specific and strategic questions.

Make this a priority before you begin to put any programs or service package together, and be sure to answers these questions for yourself as well:

1. Are there enough people in this market to sustain a practice?

2. Are they already gathered in a way that will make them easy to reach?

3. Do they have the decision-making ability and the resources to hire and pay your fees?

Michelle, once you understand your purpose, you've identified your audience and researched to know exactly what they want, you are ready to craft your solution. The key here is to structure your service package so it's a clear win for your clients.

Test your solution

The most effective and progressive companies use beta testing to see how their products and services actually perform before an official launch. You can use this concept to get real feedback on your solution.

Take a small selection of your target audience through your program or service package and get genuine feedback on its effectiveness. You'll be able to see where clients have challenges during implementation so you can provide extra support and get testimonials for your service. The best news is you can do all of this on a tiny budget.

So Michelle, as you think about your new consulting practice, work through each of the steps outlined above and you will be very pleased with what you create. Remember, you were created to do remarkable things. So know your worth, be bold and be unstoppable.

o Danette Alexandra Malcolm, MSc., is the founder of Alexandra Image & Launch Partners and www.KickTheCubicleHabit.com, where she helps women entrepreneurs and solopreneurs to launch and grow their coaching, consulting and service based businesses before leaving their corporate jobs. To get answers to your start-up questions, simply go to www.alexandraimage.com/ask-away-wednesday and submit your questions there. The question that will help the most people will be selected and the answer provided for everyone to benefit.

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