Nov 5, 2019
Why would someone with a very successful and profitable business sell out to become an entrepreneurial ghostwriter? And what huge mistake did she make sure not to make again?
Pat Iyer shares some very insightful lessons learned, like hiring those with experience and maturity. Also to minimize risk by being conservative—not totally quitting a job and jumping full into starting a company. You will hear why she chooses to self-fund her business because of a huge financial risk gone bad. Pat has now written, coauthored or edited 48 books and she did this even while working in a current business as a legal nurse consultant, which made her full transition even easier.
Pat started her legal nurse business when she was in her early forties. (halftime!) After being asked to write a book for staff development on nursing diagnosis, she and two others wrote a self-learning module that was very well-accepted. After being convinced to turn it into a textbook, Pat then gained the courage to approach attorneys to offer to review cases as an expert witness. That provided the seeds of her business. Pat then connected her network of trusted contacts with attorneys and the business was launched. She ended up having 200 expert witnesses under contract to review cases. That was one of her biggest takeaways—to create a business that doesn’t rely solely on one person to create billable time. She was able to make money while others worked and she slept! Notice also that she developed a very good network.
Because all the individuals generating income for her were creating over $1 million sales per year, she was able to sell the business and spend her winters in Florida and summers in New Jersey. She wanted that freedom and merely then expanded her ghostwriting and editing to be her full time business. She can do her work anywhere in the world. Also, the audience is far larger in the writing field than the legal nurse consultant, as a very focused niche.
A great takeaway here is not to be afraid to go for making a change. When at halftime, you feel like people that are younger than you have an automatic advantage because they are more familiar with technology. They might be more familiar, but you can hire that out. Something they may not have is experience and developed skills and yours are extremely valuable! Take it slow, build your business right along-side of your current work and put a strong foundation and structure in place. Make sure you get today's free quiz & download on Transferable Skills!