How to Start Your Astrology Business

Monday, March 30, 2015

How to Start Your Astrology Business

Advocates have defined astrology as a symbolic language, an art form, a science, and a method of divination. Though most cultural astrology systems share common roots in ancient philosophies that influenced each other, many use methods that differ from those in the West. These include Hindu astrology (also known as "Indian astrology" and in modern times referred to as "Vedic astrology") and Chinese astrology, both of which have influenced the world's cultural history. Growing an astrology business requires many of the same techniques people use to grow most home-based businesses that provide personalized services to clients. As with growing any business, if you look to the tactics used by other successful astrologers -- and business owners more generally -- you can gain valuable insights for increasing your customer base.

Astrology Business Instruction

Finding a Niche

Astrology businesses are numerous and competitive. The American Federation of Astrologers, founded in 1938, is now a global organization. Astrologers intent on thriving in a crowded field frequently select a narrow niche and mine it for clients. One example is the field of business astrology, which specializes in helping a business choose good astrological days to begin new projects and take other crucial actions, treating the business as if it were a person, and using a natal chart based on the day the business was started.

Studying Successful Astrologers

To draw potential customers, successful astrologers often develop an online presence, give interviews and write articles about the systems they use. Susan Miller's Astrology Zone website attracts an estimated 6 million visitors each month. Miller recommends writing e-books on astrological topics as a good promotional tool. Another successful astrologer, Rob Brezsny, noticed that many astrological forecasts were somewhat depressing and deterministic. His well-known "Free Will Astrology" website and email newsletter have attracted many clients, because Brezsny specializes in finding the most optimistic spin on weekly astrological trends, encouraging clients to view themselves as free agents in the universe.

Free Services

Some astrologers suggest providing a modest amount of free astrological services to draw clients into exploring more complex paid options. Fei Cochrane, founder of an astrology teaching program and an astrology software company, suggests in an online essay, "How to Run an Astrological Business," that astrologers offer a free reading to their friends and free lectures to community groups. Cochrane notes that new astrologers are sometimes obsessively afraid of donating any services, but she has found that giving a few free services is one reliable way to expand her paid customer base through word-of-mouth referrals.

Spin-off Projects

The spread of the Internet has enabled astrologers to find more clients by branching out into spin-off projects. Prior to the growth of the Internet in the late 1990s, many astrologers could interpret charts, write astrology books, produce astrological software, design sun sign jewelry and create other products, but few attempted to do more than one thing because of the burdens imposed by expensive computer technology and costly print media advertising. The Internet has made it much easier for astrologers create spin-off products and market them from a central website. Astrologers who lack the skills to produce a particular product can partner with other astrologers to offer it through affiliate links on their respective websites. For example, Llewellyn, one of the oldest metaphysical publishing companies in the United States, now provides an affiliate program which gives astrologers commissions in exchange for links to Llewellyn products placed on their websites.

References

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Easy Tips and Ideas to Start Business

Although anyone can start a business, many people fail because of a bad product or improper research. If you want to start your own business, you can improve your chances for success before you even begin. In order to make your business successful, start strong and make sure that your idea will hold out for the long haul.

Have a Good Product

Ensure that you plan to sell something useful. Although you may think that your product is important or special, that doesn't mean the general public will agree. Ask friends, family and strangers what they think of your product. If they don't seem that interested, ask them why. With their suggestions, you can either improve the product or scrap the idea completely. According to Brad Sugars of Entrepreneur magazine, most small businesses fail because they sold a product that didn't have an adequate market. This also applies to small businesses that provide a service. A lawn-care business might be useful for part of the year in a northern state, but it is in-demand year-round in the south. Consider whether people will actually want to use your service and get constructive advice from those not afraid to give their opinion.

Research Local Businesses

Research local companies before starting up your own business. This will not only give you an idea of the amount of competition you will have, but it will also help you price your product or service. If you're looking to start a wedding photography business, you may find during your research that the market is over-saturated in your area. If not over-saturated, you should contact each business and ask them for a price list. Alter your prices so you can stay competitive with the competition in town. Researching similar local businesses will also help you decide where to locate your business location. Try not to start up a store or office close to another business of your type. If your small business is located away from similar business types, this will cause locals to choose you over businesses that are farther away from where they live.

Get Professional Advice

You may know someone who has started their own successful business. Ask him for advice and listen to his stories of how he started his company. You may gain useful advice on the good and bad ways to start a business. Local entrepreneurs can also introduce you to local product providers or advertisers that you may not have met without their help. Accept any advice with open arms, especially if the advice is coming from someone successful in the area.

How to Calculate Business Start Up Costs

Starting a business in no easy endeavor. It takes a great deal of research, perseverance and hard work. While sweat equity will make your small business more successful, you will most likely need real capital to get the business started. Before you start raising capital and/or investing your own funds, the first thing you need to do is determine the total start-up costs.

Step 1

Determine your costs of sales. For most small businesses this means inventory, the cost of raw materials, manufacturing equipment, shipping, packaging, and warehousing. However, not all businesses sell products. In this case, the cost of sales is primarily the direct labor involved in making the sale. For example, to open a small shoe business entails purchasing enough inventory ($10,000) to stock the store.

Step 2

Determine professional fees. Planning your business structure, i.e., limited liability corporation or general partnership, means hiring an attorney. There may also be the need to pay an attorney for help with establishing trademarks, copyrights, and patents. In this scenario, that puts total professional fees at an estimated $20,000.

Step 3

Determine technology costs. Technology can greatly reduce the cost of labor for small business if used effectively. Most small businesses require computers, printers, cell phones, website development, Internet access, software applications, information security, data storage, and outsourced information technology (IT) consulting. If the cost of technology is $10,000 to start, add an additional $5,000 a year for maintenance (hint: maintenance is not included in start-up costs).

Step 4

Determine administrative costs. This varies with business types and may include items such as business insurance, office supplies, product packaging, parking, rent, express shipping, desks, chairs, fax machines, phones, or anything else necessary to operate the business daily. A good estimate for start-up administrative costs would be $5,000 for the first six months.

Step 5

Determine initial sales and marketing costs. Now that you have your product, you need to let folks know about it. Sales and marketing costs generally include marketing materials for presentations, printing stationery, business cards, advertising, trade show events, and public relations. These initial sales and marketing costs can add up to $3,000.

Step 6

Determine the wages and benefits needed to secure a staff. This includes employee salaries, benefits, workers compensation, and payroll taxes. Let's put the cost of wages and benefits estimated at $20,000 for the first three months of business.

Step 7

Add all costs associated with starting the business for a total. Be sure to only include business start-up costs that will be incurred in the first three to six months of operations. For this example, the calculation is: $10,000 + $20,000 + $10,000 + $5,000 + $3,000 + $20,000 = $68,000.

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Monday, March 30, 2015