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mercurial-muses · 6 years

Text

A Family Matter

A bedsheet-sized square of canvas was spread across the kitchen floor in front of Penny’s stove. Lined up neatly along the edge of the drop cloth were an assortment of hand tools and brushes, accompanied by a can of oil and a dirty but neatly folded rag. The stove itself had obviously been cleaned recently, and a warm glow from the fire box served as proof that it was back to work. The scene several feet back was far less orderly.

Larkin sat cross-legged at the back edge of the tarp with paper schematics unfolded over her lap. There was grease on her fingers and a smudge of it on her right cheek as well. A pencil was tucked behind her left ear, framed by wisps of hair that had slipped free of her ponytail. Her face was screwed up in intense concentration as she carefully fitted a door onto the small stove that stood in front of her, a miniature copy of Penvenom’s favorite stove back at the abbey.

Penny came in and looked at the scene for a moment “Chief?”

“Penny?” she echoed, a little distractedly.

“W..what are you doing…?”

“I gave the stove a good going over, maintenance and cleaning,” she said, gesturing at the kitchen stove with a sharp tilt of her chin. “And it occurred to me that, no matter the condition it’s in, it is not the stove from back at the abbey.” The engineer peered up at Penny, then returned her attention to the mini stove in front of her. “So I thought I’d build one like that. Well, a small prototype for starters.”

The engineer had barely taken a single deep breath before she continued on. “I didn’t want to waste too many resources on what’s basically an experim-” The words cut short and Lark shook her head. “Sorry to babble,” she said, then offered a sheepish smile. “I guess talking makes for a nice break from overthinking.”

Penny smiled and came in to look over her stove. “D..don’t tell Maggie, but you’re the only one I let touch her…” She smiled again.

“I’m genuinely honored.” Larkin’s grin came easier this time.

The chief looked around then, and it occurred to her just how much space she was taking up… and not on her own turf. “Oh,” she said quietly to herself as she scrambled to her feet.

“I can start hauling this stuff out of here, Penny, give you your kitchen back.”

“N..no it’s alright..I, umm, can share my….workshop w..with you. I…I was going to make tea…did you want some?”

“I wouldn’t mind some,” the chief replied even as she set to work.

Larkin grabbed the large paper schematics that had been in her lap and carefully spread them over one end of the table. She then hefted the small prototype stove up as well. With those things out of the way, she made quick work of folding the dropcloth and dragging it into a corner. It was soon joined by all the tools, bits and bobs she wasn’t currently using. Hands on hips, she looked around the kitchen again and dipped her head in a curt nod.

“There now. That looks a little more like sharing space, and less like me monopolizing it.”

“I…if you ever saw a kitchen a….real noble’s kitchen, you would find th..that there is a great deal of space sharing.” Penny got the tea on.

Taking a seat in front of the mini stove, Larkin grabbed a length of thick wire and began to twist it into a spring handle with a pair of pliers. "I was hoping you’d show up while I was still in here, to be honest.” She set her project down when her hands began to shake. “Seems the kitchen is where we’ve had some of or most important talks, y'know?”

Penny nodded. With the kettle on, she moved to get some bread out and some cold meats. “K…kitchens a..are, umm, safe places.”

“It’s become the first place I think of when I hear the word ‘home’.”

The engineer propped both elbows on the table and rested her chin atop her clasped hands. “I never really used or understood that word the way most others do, until I started to truly settle in at the abbey. Growing up, home was just a place. There was no emotion or sentiment attached to it.”

Penny tilted her head a bit, like she was trying to understand that, then nodded. “H….home was for me….a kitchen like this. Some people think that’s sad, but…I always felt warm.”

“The Pack,” Lark began. “We’re all a bit broken in our own ways, flawed, but I think we’ve done a good job of making a home at the abbey. I believe we’re making one here too.” There was wistfulness in the chief’s gaze then, run through with a shadow of something else. Reluctance? Fear? “Makes me wonder if I have a fair chance of making the word ‘family’ mean something, like ‘home’ now does. Do you think…?”

Sighing, the chief shook her head and picked up the beginnings of that spring handle to spin it idly between her fingers. “Nevermind.”

Penny nodded. She wasn’t about to pry. However, with the tea done, she placed a cup down for her packmate, loaded it with milk and sugar. Beside it, she set a plate with some cold meats and the leftovers of that day’s bread.

“A…aren’t we a family? I…I mean I had father, then Cook. Maybe then Moni….so I shouldn’t really…compare…”

“A matter of semantics with me, I think,” Lark replied. “I guess, emotionally, ‘Pack’ speaks best to my connection with you all. But when it comes down to it, I guess you and the others are the closest thing to real family I’ve had.”

Larkin stared at Penny for a moment that was long enough to border on uncomfortable. “Maybe that’s why it’s felt so important to me, over the past few days especially, that I discuss something with you.” She chuckled. “Maggie too, if I can ever pin the woman down long enough.”

“Oi’ve gotten tricksier an’ softer footed’ve late. Harder an’ harder to pin me down, seems.” The knight seemed to have found just the right moment to wander into the kitchen to hear something she could respond to. She had such a crooked smile.

“Wo’s on your mind, Larks?”

Penny looked over, smiling shyly as she got out another tea cup.

A hint of a smile mirrored Maggie’s. “Your entrances may have gotten less brazen, but your timing remains perfect.” Lark visibly relaxed in her chair. “Still in the habit of showing up right when I need you, it seems.”

The chief looked from one woman to the next and took a deep breath. “I need your opinions, possibly a dose of good sense too. Aside from Wieda, I trust no one more, so…”

Larkin’s attention turned to Penny again. “Have some of that cooking sherry around?” As she posed the question, she made a mental note to stock the kitchen with some real booze.

Penny nodded and opened a cupboard. In the back, all tucked away, was the bottle.

“Umm you want..a…a drink?”

“Couldn’t hurt.” Lark chuckled softly.

Penny got out the older tea cups that she sometimes used and poured three glasses for them.

As soon as one of the cups was placed in front of her, the chief lifted it to her lips and downed half of the liquid in one go. She exhaled over a quiet ‘ugh’ and wrinkled her nose. The dry bitterness was unexpected, a necessary evil she’d have to take along with the effects of the alcohol.

Penny tilted her head a bit. “Y…you don’t like it?” she looked at the bottle as if something is wrong with it.

“It’ll do,” Larkin replied with an amused grin. As if to emphasize her point, the chief raised the teacup again and drained it. Though she did much better with schooling her reaction that time, she couldn’t help the momentary shiver that coursed over her. She took a long, deep breath, and then another. A third inhale, and as she breathed out- “I’d like to ask Wieda to marry me.”

Lark moved to take up her cup once again, but realized it was empty. Without missing a beat, she reached across the table and grabbed Maggie’s. “Light help me,” she muttered as she downed that one as well.

Penny stopped and stared at her then smiled a little, looking at her own feet for a second. “Oh…” That smile stayed on her lips, though.

Maggie settled in near the table, near the two of them, though she didn’t take a seat. At the query, at the offered thought, she grinned. It was such a broad, wild grin. “Isn’ tha’ a thing.”

“I….umm wait a second.” Penny got a step stool and moved a few more things, pulling out a second bottle and stepping down. “I…I was umm saving this….” She opened that bottle and, after draining her cup and going flush, poured from it for them all. It was also cooking sherry.

Larkin sat up a little straighter. “I just want to do this right, but Loch…” She quieted, sighed. “So I’m asking you formally. I need to know that you both, as Wieda’s family, give your blessing.”

“Family? Loch… Oh.” Maggie let out a long, slow sigh then tipped back the cup Penny had poured for her. Sipping it, sort of savouring it, and sort of not.

She thought about it for a moment, but only to ensure that her answer was real and true. Double-checking instinct. She raised her empty glass in a toast before setting it next to Penny for a refill. “You’ve my blessing.”

It was that simple, for the rebel-turned-maid-turned-knight.

“A…ask us… you don’t need to…” Penny sat also.

“I wanted to. It’s important to me, and I know it will be to Wieda as well. It matters, Penny.”

“Y..yes….I mean….of course I…” Penny smiled so big and raised her cup.

“On the ship…” Maggie sort of quietly looked to Penny, a question in her eyes. “Would you have it on the Wolfheart?” She looked to Larkin. “Thousan’ feet inna air, that’s a day to remember.” She grinned.

Larkin smiled in kind, but it dimmed almost as quick as it had appeared. “That’s Wieda’s call as much as mine.” Her gaze flooded with worry. “And that’s if she says yes to begin with.”

Maggie sort of glanced off into the distance for a moment, nowhere in particular, then smiled a little. She looked back at Larkin. “Buttons to buttons, she does.”

“C…cake will you let….me make it as a gift?”

The chief laughed and her smile returned. “Could I stop you?”

Maggie grinned at that. “Not safely.”

Though her mouth was still bowed, Lark leveled a serious gaze at Maggie. “Will you stand up for me, be at my side for the ceremony?”

Penny smiled at that and sipped her sherry.

Maggie blinked, and kind of started a bit. You could almost see the gears slowly chugging to work it through, she had a slow, almost ponderous way of working through some kinds of things.

She eventually let out a breath, then nodded. “I’ll be your secon’, Larks.”

She said it like Larkin was setting up for a duel. Nevermind that she was intending to propose to a noblewoman, and it wasn’t entirely unheard of for the best (person) to end up as a second in a duel.

The chief blew out a breath, clearly relieved. “Thanks, Maggie. I can think of none better.”

“S…she’ll do you proud.”

"Already does,” Lark countered Penny without hesitation. “The whole pack does.”

Penny goes a touch flush, but it might be the drink.

“Thank you both.” Lark pressed her right hand to her heart, gratitude and happiness so clear in her expression. “So much.” She smiled at the maid-turned-lady. “You’ve done many great things, Penny, but none as important as starting and nurturing this family we’ve got.”

Penny isn’t sure what to say to that. “J…just what what had to be done. G…glad you…stayed with us.”

Larkin gave her a wink and a warm smile. “Smartest thing I’ve done thus far.”

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fearlesslyforeverand · 6 years

Text

Cushions

On AO3 | FF.net | Wattpad

Summary: Kurt and Blaine discuss the need of new furniture - along with memories and sex. Season 6 Spoilers. Post!Season 6.

Warnings: bit angst, but mostly fluff. Fellatio, Frottage, Prostate Massage, Married Sex.

Words: 2352.

MASTERLIST | AO3

“What was that for?” Kurt chuckles, eyes not bothering to open as his arms drape over Blaine’s shoulder once they part from their sudden kiss.

“To cherish you,” Blaine answers, “Our marriage, our new lifes in the city of our dreams.”

Kurt observes his golden eyes for a moment then cradles the back of his neck and pulls him to lock their lips. They’re breathing hard and their foreheads are touching when they pull back, but he chases his husband’s lips and they kiss lazily, sweetly and a little bit dirty again before pulling back to breathe.

“New lives as a married couple,” Kurt says softly, a smile taking his lips. “Good thing our apartment is mostly finished, huh?” Kurt opens his eyes and looks around them, his arms still encircling Blaine as Blaine doesn’t let him go either.

“Just missing a toaster, thanks to Rachel, but I think we can consider it done.

“She just had to drop it, didn’t she?” Kurt sighs and drops his head on his husband’s shoulder – a shoulder shaking with laughter that incites one from Kurt himself. “Anyway, there’s the toaster and the new couch.”

“A couch?” Blaine inquires. “But you said the one we got matches the living room patters.”

“Yeah, but…” Kurt trails off.

Once upon a time, Blane would have faced Kurt’s hesitance as lack of trust, as him not being enough for Kurt. Blaine knows better now. So he patiently awaits as his husband chooses his words.

“After we,” Kurt eventually says, waiving his hand, hoping his husband understands. As usual, Blaine does.

“Broke up,” he supplies.

“Yeah,” Kurt takes Blaine’s hand in his and threads their fingers. Both he and Blaine feel better with physical reassurance when talking about that subject. “After that, I had some trouble with the bed. As in, sleeping on it.”

Blaine furrows his eyebrows in a silent question.

If it were anyone else, Kurt would think the person was judging him. But this is Blaine, his best friend, his husband. Kurt knows Blaine is only trying to understand him better.

“I couldn’t sleep on the bed,” Kurt continues, “Memories of us would come to me, both before and during sleep. And… And when I turned around, you weren’t there,” he says. His hands tremble and Blaine grips it tighter. “I was the one who broke our engagement, I know that. But it was only a more painful because the way I felt, alone, unworthy, selfish, stupid,” Kurt closes his eyes, letting the memories of long cold – both outside and inside his body – filled his mind, “I just wanted you back, to feel your body against mine but I couldn’t. So I started sleeping on the couch.”

Blaine strokes his cheek gently with his thumb, gathering the audacious tears that escaped Kurt’s glass eyes. That is enough to ground them both.

Kurt opens his eyes and stares at melted gold.

“And I learned the importance of a comfortable couch after too many yoga sessions focused on getting rid of back kinks.”

Blaine chuckles at that.

“Let me get this straight: we’ve barely moved into our new apartment and you’re already planning of one of us sleeping on the couch?” Blaine smiles teasingly at him.

“No, of course not,” Kurt shakes his head. “I mean, I know we’ll fight and that’s completely normal.”

“It is,” Blane agrees, nodding once.

“But I also know we’ll come through it, together.” There’s a fire in Kurt’s eyes as he pronounces the words that warm Blaine’s heart.

“Stronger.”

Kurt leans in and captures his husband’s lips in a tender kiss, with threaded hands and cradled faces.

“What I want to do in the couch is something else we already do on the bedroom,” Kurt tells him.

“After all, what we do in the bedroom is great,” Blaine compliments.

Kurt’s mind goes back to this morning. Of how he was laid on the mattress with Blaine kneeling on top of him, all flustered cheeks, long eyelashes framing warm golden orbs, his sweaty, firm chest taking deep breaths, following broad shoulders attached to muscular arms with hands splayed across Kurt’s chest, who is breathing just as heavily as Blaine uses his powerful thighs to work his body up and down and up and down as Kurt holds him by his slim waist and the sounds of moaning and skin slapping against skin and lips fill the room and-

“Indeed,” Kurt focuses back on the moment he lives now.

Of course Blaine knows what his husband was thinking and laughs.

Kurt remembers where he left off.

“And as we christened every surface in this apartment, we had a bit of a problem when we did it on the couch.”

“But it’s our first couch,” Blaine says.

“And its colors do match the pattern we chose,” Kurt muses, “But please don’t tell me you’re attached to the couch because of that,” Kurt admonishes. Blaine opens his mouth to speak, but Kurt beats him to it. “Nor because we had sex in it.”

“We tried having sex on it, Kurt,” Blaine counters. “We had to move from it because it’s too narrow.”

“What I was gonna say before,” Blaine fires back with no heat, making Kurt blush, “Is that I might know the perfect place to get a new couch.”

Kurt grins at his husband.

“I knew I married a smart man. Lead the way, Mr. Anderson-Hummel.”

***

They don’t bother closing the front door once they step inside the apartment.

Instead, Kurt grabs Blaine and maneuvers his body to press against the wooden door and close it with a thump.

Their lips attach and hands grope and roam and they kick off their shoes. Blaine tugs his husband’s shirt up, freeing it from his pants – that make Kurt’s legs look like they run for miles and miles – and Blaine is already so hard, oh God.

The dark haired man sends his hands to the smooth skin on Kurt’s back. Blaine’s lips trails down to his jaw, under his ear, his neck. He sucks on the skin there.

Kurt moans loudly and reaches down to undo Blaine’s fly. He shoves Blaine’s pants and underwear down in one go. Then he does the same with his own clothing, yanking his skin-tight pants to the ground and kicking them the rest of the way. Blaine is already naked from the waist down.

He reaches out and grabs handfuls of Blaine’s ass, kneading the muscular flesh, and pulls him closer. Both men release groans when their hard erections press together.

They make quick work of buttons in shirts. Kurt has the time of his life by undoing Blaine’s bowtie and draping the soft fabric on a nearby shelf. Blaine tugs Kurt’s askot from his neck and hangs the piece of cloth where they usually keep their coats.

They’ll deal with astray clothes later.

For now, they waddle to the living room, bypassing the coffee table almost entirely – Kurt kicks it but Blaine’s strong hold maintains him upright. Kurt however uses said excuse to press his husband’s body closer to his own.

They end up falling on the couch, naked and hard and tangled and breathless.

Blaine tugs on Kurt’s leg until he straddles the shorter man, both already humping and hissing at the friction – too much but not even close enough. Not yet. Soon.

“Please tell me there’s lube on the bottom drawer,” Kurt mumbles, only parting his lips from Blaine’s to proffer the words.

Blaine reaches out and all but yanks the last drawer from the furniture standing next to the couch out. His fingers soon close around the bottle and he thrusts it up in triumph.

Kurt laughs and pulls his husband’s body so that they switch places, this time with Kurt underneath.

Blaine presses his hips down into Kurt’s. The taller man closes his eyes and moans loudly once again, until Blaine closes his lips with his own.

“Blaine, oh, oh,” Kurt breathes.

“What do you want, Kurt?” Blaine trails his lips down to his husband’s collarbone.

“I need… You.”

Kurt crosses his legs over Blaine’s waist, his feet to his butt and his knees to his lower back.

Blaine in return trails a hand down and thumbs at Kurt’s nipple, twirling it around, pressing and scratching. Kurt writhes on the couch. His other hand slots the bottle in between the couch cushions and uncaps it. He gathers some lube on his hand and rubs his fingers on his palms to warm the product.

Kurt catches a glimpse of his actions and throws his head back.

“Yes, yes, God, yes,” he says, rather desperately.

Blaine can’t help himself when a trail of smooth, pale, beautiful flesh of Kurt is on display like that. So he starts mouthing at his husband’s neck.

Blaine reaches his hand down, in between their bodies and Kurt’s legs. The auburn haired man doesn’t want to let the friction he has going on from their cocks rubbing together but he spreads his legs further to allow his husband better access.

Warm, lubed fingers touch his hole, teasing, and his legs just drop by his side.

Fuck his cock right now, he need Blaine in him. Now.

But Blaine doesn’t let his cock free. Just as he backs away a couple of inches to have a better range of motion, the hand previously playing with Kurt’s nipple fists his cock and starts stroking Kurt’s length slowly.

At the same time, Blaine presses his index finger in Kurt’s hole, pumping it in and out, timed out with his other hand.

Kurt’s hands grip his husband’s shoulder.

“More,” he whimpers.

Blaine retreats his finger but comes back with two. Kurt sighs, happy and smiling.

“More,” he demands again.

“Not yet,” Blaine disagrees.

Blaine scissors his fingers inside Kurt, stretching his tight asshole.

Kurt shudders when Blaine brushes his prostate.

“Blaine, please.”

“Just a little bit more, sweetheart,” Blaine tried. But Kurt doesn’t want to wait. He shoves his ass down, burying Blaine’s fingers inside him.

Blaine keeps scissoring him open and kissing his neck, but he stills the hand on Kurt’s cock.

“C’mo-oh-on,” Kurt complains, squeezing his shoulders.

Blaine only smirks and makes a path of wet, open-mouthed kisses down Kurt’s chest, hips and thighs. His lips completely avoid his pre-come-dripping dick, but Blaine gives an experimental lick at the sensitive skin of his balls.

“Oh, oh, oh, Blai-ine,” Kurt mumbles.

“Blaine,” Kurt almost begs, almost undone just by his husband’s hands and lips – and how talented are those, “Oh, now. Humph,’ he shoves his face in a throw pillow.

He needs more.

Blaine understands.

He adds a third digit and pumps his cock harder, slower.

Kurt moves his hips, but lingers when he doesn’t know where to press harder. Up means giving his cock the friction it seeks with Blaine’s hand. Down means Blaine’s fingers stimulating his prostate.

So he simply stars going up and down, seeking both sources of pleasure, fucking Blaine’s fist and fucking himself on Blaine’s fingers.

A couple of minutes into it and Blaine retreats his hands, making Kurt open his eyes and glare at Blaine. The dark haired man gathers more lube on his hands and lathers his own hard, leaking cock before lining it with Kurt’s hole, straighten up now so they are face to face.

He begins slowly, But Kurt moves his legs to properly pull Blaine toward him in one quick go. Both men groan as Blaine bottoms out.

His long length makes Kurt feel full, completely filled, perfect.

That is… Until a couple of seconds pass and he demands movement. They settle a rhythm only long-term lovers know, passionate but still fast enough to satisfy them both. Caring, yet completely pleasurable.

It doesn’t take long for them to become whimpering messes.

Between foreplay from before they arrived home and prepping Kurt – which is on its own a hue turn on – they are quick to hump and fuck and grab and sigh and moan and hold until Kurt’s almost, almost there.

He reaches down to touch his cock, but Blaine beats him to it. He squeezes his length, amazing, beautiful length, and starts pumping it once again timed with their movements. Kurt feels a boiling sensation on his stomach and his balls tighten and he screams as he comes, white liquid shooting up to mark his chest and Blaine’s hand.

Kurt manages to lube one finger up and he presses the tip against Blaine’s asshole. He waits for his husband’s moan before shoving the finger inside until the knuckle.

The sight of his husband completely undone, his cock disappearing between Kurt’s legs and a finger shoving his prostate, Blaine comes.

They hold each other, without moving, for a few minutes. Blaine eventually pulls out, Kurt smiling lazily as he feels Blaine’s come dripping from him, and they snuggle on the new couch.

“You were right,” Blaine says after they come down from their hypes, “The new couch was a great idea.”

Kurt grins at him. “Told you. But I still think we need to test it more.”

Then he launches to capture his husband’s lips.

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mlmcompanies · 5 years

Link

I’m guessing you landed on this page because you’ve been scheming up ideas for starting a business.

You’re on the right track in life.

Since I’ve built a couple 6-figure businesses in my day, I figured I could drop some intel for y’all.

There’s no better feeling than quitting your day job and building something that’s 100% for you. Coming up with business ideas for your business is the easy part.

The hard part is deciding which ideas are worthwhile, and then actually acting on them.

Although I’m a bit biased towards digital businesses, these tips will work for any type of business.

Let’s go.

30. Elect your LLC as an S-corp

When you file your taxes, you can elect to be taxed as an s-corporation instead of an LLC, even if you are an LLC.

They’re pretty similar, but an s-corp filing looks at you (the owner) as an employee of your business rather than a partner and pays you a salary. The salary you pay yourself is the only part of your earnings subject to Social Security and Medicare taxes, whereas without the s-corp status, you’d be paying that on all your profits. (1)

29. Solve a pain point

If your business idea does one thing, make sure that it fills a market need. Basically, look for a market first before you create a product (too many people do this the other way around).

How do you know if your idea does solve a pain-point in society?

Test it. Spend $100 on Facebook ads and target your product to your audience. Decent sales means you might be on to something.

According to Fortune Magazine, 42% of failed start-ups said that a lack of market need for their product was the reason they failed. [2]

28. Stop chasing shiny objects

Once you pick a business model, commit to it. Dropping your business 3 months in to chase the next hot business model will just lead to failure after failure.

Truth is, you can succeed with nearly any business model. When you’re deep into business model X and not seeing results, it might look like business model Y works better, but chances are your situation would be the same if you had started out with business model Y.

You just have to stick with it for the long term and block out any “grass is greener” thoughts.

27. Set specific short and long-term goals

Long-term goals are the big wins you’re going for, while short-term goals are the day-to-day or week-to-week accomplishments that keep the motivational fire burning.

It’s important that your goals are more specific than “make a lot of money” too. For example, say you want to make $100,000 in revenue this year. Break that down to a daily revenue amount (about $274) and strive to hit that amount each day.

26. Sharpen your sales skills

At its core, business is just selling. Brush up on your sales skills, but also your copywriting skills. Take courses, read books, etc.

Also, if you’re afraid of selling, now’s the time to squash that fear and get over it.

25. Outsource

You should outsource two different kinds of work:

1) Low-value, time-consuming work

2) Work you’re not good at

The former type of work is usually filled by virtual assistants, while the latter might entail functions like accounting, content marketing, or legal stuff.

Websites like Fiverr, PeoplePerHour, and Upwork are good for outsourcing one-time jobs you don’t want to do at a low cost.

24. Start a low-cost business

The second reason start-ups fail? Lack of sufficient capital. Nearly 30% of failed start-ups have cited this as the reason their business went south. [3]

Starting a business with a low budget, or even no budget, is possible, especially nowadays with the internet. Dropshipping, blogging, affiliate marketing, and info products are all great examples.

23. Bootstrap

Bootstrapping is the way of the future. Plenty of today’s biggest companies started out bootstrapping, or completely funding themselves rather than accepting outside funding and venture capital at early stages.

This gives you full control over your business, teaches you to be scrappy in times of hardship, and according to the Harvard Business Review, bootstrapped companies actually attract better talent.

Dell, Facebook, Apple, Coca Cola, eBay, Microsoft, and plenty more were all bootstrapped. [4]

22. Start while you’re still employed

Have a job? Stick with the job, save some emergency cash, and pour your spare time and money into your business until it’s making a steady income. When the timing’s right, jump ship and go into full-time business mode.

Some might actually fare better jumping ship early to get that “I need to succeed” psychological boost (the “back against the wall” method), but don’t do it that way unless you’re fine with the risk.

21. Take consistent action

Reading every business book on earth won’t earn you anything if you don’t take action. Neither will overthinking your business idea for months.

Obvious enough, but many people either say they’ll start a business and never do or give up after the initial rush of starting something new fades.

Don’t give up and quit overthinking. Act. Working on your business consistently every day is what brings results.

20. Don’t fixate on mistakes

Fixating on your mistakes too long can demoralize you into working less on your business.

Instead of wasting your time freaking out about something you did wrong, learn what you can from your mistakes and apply your knowledge moving forward.

After all, failure is a necessary part of success. Just search the internet for “famous failures” and you’ll see.

19. Manage your finances correctly

Mixing your personal and business finances is a big no-no. It makes it hard to keep track of things for taxes, but the law will also determine there’s no legal separation between you and your business by “piercing the corporate veil” and then strip away your LLC protections.

Get separate business checking and savings accounts and perhaps a business credit card for your business revenues and expenses. Unless you’re paying yourself, don’t draw on business funds for personal use.

18. Learn digital skillsets

I know I’ve said I’m digitally-biased, but this is important for all businesses nowadays. It doesn’t matter what kind of business you’re starting: the internet is how you spread the word, even if you’re in the brick-and-mortar game.

According to Forbes, these are the 7 most important digital marketing skills right now: analytics, SEO, HTML, WordPress, video, basic design skills, and SQL. [5]

Remember, you can outsource these… and if you want to take it all on yourself, there are plenty of trainings and software programs out there to help you out.

Learn the basics so you have the digital literacy to build your business.

17. Never stop marketing

Especially in the early stages of your business, you always should be marketing, even if you run a client service business and your client roster is full.

Because if 2 clients suddenly fire you tomorrow, you’ll be left out to dry unless you were looking for more clients.

16. Get good at time management

As an entrepreneur, time management means two things:

1) Focusing on the highest-ROI tasks first (selling, growing the business) and proceeding from there until you reach the lowest-ROI tasks.

2) Actually making time to get each task done throughout the day.

Try something like the Pomodoro technique. You’re “on” for 25 minutes, “off” for 5, rinse and repeat. Take a longer break every 4 Pomodoro sessions. (6)

15. Create multiple streams

I’m a big believer in diversifying and multiplying your income streams.

As a business owner or self-employed entrepreneur, not creating multiple income streams and sales channels is akin to an investor investing all their money in one company. What happens if that one company’s stock plummets? The same thing could happen to your income if you don’t multiply your streams.

Start with one, pour your time and resources into it, but then branch out from there when it’s finally bringing in decent cash — this will help you grow, and it’s the only way to achieve a sense of stability. Trying to build several new streams at the same time will only waste your money and burn you out.

14. Learn to pivot

If something isn’t working, don’t continue to beat a dead horse. Try something new instead.

Starting a new business is all about experimentation. If something isn’t working for you, just drop it and move on.

In the beginning, Dropbox, now a $1 billion tech company, tried again and again to explain their product to people via text, but no one was buying in. So instead, they decided to switch it up and make a funny video, almost as a joke, to describe their product instead.

What happened?

They went from 5,000 wait list sign ups to 75,000… overnight. [7]

13. Start with a minimum viable product

Don’t delay your launch. All you need to get started is an MVP (minimum viable product).

Once you’ve got that out on the market, you can tweak and improve until you’re raking in the cash.

Groupon started out as a group of friends and entrepreneurs who wanted to score discounts by buying things as a group. They made an app that allowed them to coordinate a group of 20 people (yep, just 20) who all wanted to buy the same thing, and then struck a deal with a local business. After realizing the power of group buying, Groupon was born. [8]

12. Start your business in Wyoming

You want to start up in a place that has a history of entrepreneurial success and a large pool of talented employees, but also (and more importantly), a good business tax climate and low costs.

Wyoming hits a home run on all these fronts, especially tax climate: they don’t have a corporate income tax, individual income tax, or gross receipts tax. They also have one of the lowest sales tax rates in the country. [9]

You can also consider Delaware or Puerto Rico (6% flat tax!) if your business is digital and you’re feeling alpha.

11. Don’t be afraid to experiment

Entrepreneurship = experimentation. Drill that into your head.

There’s a really good chance that your original idea to what you’re trying to do will evolve into something completely different, and that’s ok.

In fact, economists from the Harvard Business School published a study asserting that experimentation is not just key to, but in fact IS, entrepreneurship. [10]

10. Get some productivity apps

Todoist for organizing your work and keeping your to-do lists, Evernote for storing ideas or writing things down, Quickbooks for accounting/bookkeeping, etc.

Those aren’t your only options for those functions, so look around if you prefer something else.

Don’t go overboard on productivity apps. At some point, you’ll spend more time managing them than the time you saved using them in the first place.

9. Scout your competition

Know what they’re selling and for how much.

Know their conversion rates and their traffic analytics (Ahrefs, Alexa).

Read what people are saying about them. Read the reviews. Study their social media interactions. Check out news about the company and your industry in general.

What PPC keywords are they bidding on? (Spyfu)

What are they blogging about? If their SEO game is strong, how are they getting their links? (Ahrefs, Majestic)

8. Find a mentor

Get yourself a mentor. Forget originality — there’s nothing wrong with a copycat if they’re living a life you admire.

Do some googling, and find yourself an influencer in your industry. LinkedIn is a great place to do this if your niche is technical or business related, or if you’re more into something creative or visual do some searching on Instagram. Find their blog. Follow them on Twitter.

Read everything they put out, but more importantly, seek ways to serve them and expect nothing in return.

7. Build your network

“Your network is your net worth.” #truth

In the book Neighbor Networks by Ronald Burt, it’s shown that networking with a bunch of different people can boost your cognitive abilities and emotional intelligence.

And of course, networking can land you more clients and customers for your business. You might even meet a future business partner.

Thanks to the internet, networks are everywhere.

Facebook groups, sub-Reddits, and LinkedIn are probably the best places to start.

6. Use crowdfunding

82% of businesses fail to bring in enough cash to sustain themselves. Basically, there’s a good chance you’ll run out of money and flop early on. [11]

It’s not that hard to get funding for your business nowadays if you know a thing or two about PR and digital marketing.

Enter: crowdfunding. Websites like Kickstarter and GoFundMe have made it super easy to raise money for your idea, and you can still call yourself self-funded this way because it doesn’t count as venture capital.

5. Track everything

Remember how I said experimentation is at the core of entrepreneurship?

Well, experiments are about more than just trying a bunch of new stuff. You also have to track the success and failure of each thing you try in order to know what works and what doesn’t.

Test your ideas. Run polls, do A/B testing, track when something is doing well and figure out why. Then scale it.

4. Start a blog

Why do I have this blog?

I could just do my own thing, bring in my money and end it there. So why do I go through the trouble of spending 20+ hours on posts like this?

Because I think it’s important as an entrepreneur and business owner to share the knowledge and expertise you gain along the way.

Starting a blog that helps others offers them value, which is one of the best ways to get people to trust you and come back for more. It builds your cred and reputation, and it’s one of the best marketing tools out there.

Not to mention that constantly pumping out blog content means you’ll start to rank for certain keywords in internet searches.

3. Learn SEO

Imagine a successful business without Google involved.

It’s hard. Without traffic, (which is mostly Google, Facebook or YouTube) you’ve got nothing.

Lack of SEO is a big reason why businesses fail.

What really is search engine optimization??

1) Build out baller, organized content going after keywords….like this post… “how to start a business”, which gets searched 39,000 times per month

2) Get other people to mention or link to your articles

That’s 80% of SEO. Congrats.

2. Build time wealth

There’s a lot of talk nowadays about following your passions, finding your dream job, and turning what you love into a career.

Why not just make a ton of money and build a business that allows you to have time wealth?

Once you have an online business making $10,000 per month, you’ve built a lifestyle that allows you to follow your passions.

You don’t even need to be passionate about your business, although it definitely helps.

1. Help local businesses

Here’s the thing: there’s no more predictable path to building a profitable business than focusing on local services.

Competition isn’t there.

Instead of trying to start your own local business – which would require inventory, start-up capital, a storefront – you can help these businesses by providing them with leads to build their business.

Local lead generation provides more value to local businesses than just about anything else.

What business will tell you, “No thanks, we’re good, not interested in more leads..”

1) Build out websites that go after local niches, like pest control in a big city or a personal injury lawyer

2) Collect leads through email opt-ins or a phone number that you rent so you can listen to the calls

3) Collect money either through a pay-per-lead model or pay-per-sale, depending on what you negotiate with the business owner

Leads are the superpower of the Internet. Few people understand this.

Recap

There’s really been no better time to start a business.

There are some key takeaways when it comes to starting your own business that I want you to remember from this article:

1. Do something digital

Why? Low start-up costs and quick feedback loops, which validates your idea without spending more than $500.

Freedom to work from wherever you want, whenever you want.

2. Do something that can be automated

There’s no sweeter feeling than going to bed at night knowing that the paychecks you’re making will keep rolling in, even in your sleep.

Time is your most precious resource. Figure out which of your business ideas you can automate, and go with those.

3. Do something local

You may have dreams of going global, but start local first. Narrowing your focus and targeting a specific area will give you a huge competitive advantage.

4. Do something scaleable

Being able to reel in passive income is sweet, but it’s a little underwhelming when you’re reeling in $2.03 a month from your Amazon affiliate account.

It’s gotta scale.

—

Whatever you do, the most important advice of all is this: start your business.

Start something, because more than likely, your business will evolve anyway as you work on it daily.

Stop sitting around scrolling through articles.

I wasn’t shy about my #1 recommendation (local lead generation) because I’ve seen it work for many, many people.

I’ll Paypal you $500 if you show me a better business to start than our method.

#MLM companies #network marketing companies

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