Please Help Me Start My Business

I need help starting my coaching business for authors and writers.

Why I'm Doing This

I'm 67, and I want to start over. I originally owned two businesses: one I started in 1994, a commercial art company and one I started in 1999, a video production company. Both were affected by the economic crash that started in 2008, and little by little they went out of business. The video business went first, and then the commercial art business died in 2012. I came close to losing everything.

There is a story that speaks to me–American Underdog, the Kurt Warner story about his struggle to play professional football. When he didn’t make the cut at the start of what he hoped would be a promising career, he did everything he could to keep pursuing his dream, even after humbling, failed attempts.

Age eventually became a serious factor, even though he was only in his late 20s. Nevertheless, he didn’t give up. When RAMS Coach Dick Vermeil finally signed Kurt as his new quarterback, Dick revealed to Warner that he’d chosen him because of his dogged determination–ultimately explaining to him that the coach had struggled, too. Coach Vermeil revealed that he’d gone through a tough period of time and decided to take the year off from coaching. That year turned into fifteen years. So when he returned to coaching, he struggled to find someone willing to hire him. He told Kurt that “fate favors the underdogs.”

Vermeil’s statement about fate spoke to me because of my own struggles. I too took a year off after losing my businesses, and that turned into over 14 years of struggling. I still believe… Dick Vermeil spoke the truth: fate favors the underdog, because fate is God. So, at 59 (Almost 60), I went back to school and earned an MFA in English narrative (fiction and non-fiction, with a strong focus on publishing).

I'm not done with life. This new venture combines my writing, my publishing knowledge, my earlier business experience, and a genuine desire to help other Writers– doing some good in the world.

About the Business

A professional website that serves as both my author platform (novels + audiobooks) and my writer’s coaching business.

Products & Services

Author side

1. My novels (print/ebook)
2. Professionally produced audiobook of each novel–preferably using live voice actors.

Coaching side

1. Coaching and feedback for short stories, novels, and screenplays
2. Help with graduate-level college papers.
3. Guidance informed by my MFA and publishing studies

Target Audience

1. Writers working on novels or screenplays
2. Graduate students who need help with academic papers
3. Readers interested in my books and audiobooks

Three-Year Staged Plan

It takes at least two to three years to build a serious business, so this is structured as a realistic three-year effort.

- Foundation

1. Create a clean, professional website with two clear sections:
2. Author page (books, bio, publishing background) and
3. Coaching page (services, approach, how to work with me)
4. The website is the main storefront and credibility tool.

- Product Expansion

1. Produce the audiobook versions of my novels.
2. Audiobooks expand reach and create a second revenue stream.

- Promotion

1. Run modest, targeted advertising to promote both the digital books, the audiobooks and the coaching services.
2. Advertising stays modest and starts only after the website and audiobooks are in place.

Money Notes

1. Main expenses cover: professional website, audiobook production and an advertising package.
2. Income will come from coaching packages/ sessions and book + audiobook sales.
3. I currently have a day job as a certified substitute in California. So my time is not costed into the business plan. I’m starting a secondary business to grow it in stages into a full-time business.

Strengths

1. Real experience starting and running businesses
2. Fully credentialed MFA Writing Coach with a focused study in publishing
3. Lived experience of loss and starting over (many writers will relate)
4. Clear, staged approach instead of trying to do everything at once
5. Existing manuscripts ready to become audiobooks.

Long-term goal: Within three years, pursue starting a publishing company.

Note: A percentage of revenue (or any fundraising) will go to GiveSendGo out of gratitude for the work they have done.