I’ve always felt excited by the idea of starting a business. My uncle was CEO of a major paper-making company. My father-in-law, now retired, owned a bank and a sock-making mill. Sears was a client. My three brothers-in-law construct, flip, rent and/or invest in residential and commercial real estate properties. One of them also owns and operates a yogurt franchise. My sister-in-law started her own practice as a therapist. A friend in Chapel Hill started Chartreuse Design with another friend. So there’s plenty of inspiration to initiate my own small business.

But, here’s the thing, I don’t have an idea to sell. And when I do a quick inventory of my assets, I deflate like a balloon: “I don’t have the cash.” Then there are the fears: “I’m too old” and “I don’t have the time.” There’s the exasperation: “Oh, for crying out loud, get on with it!” And there’s the frustration with the job search. “I worry that you’re overqualified,” says a potential employer.

So, where do I begin? Where do you begin if you don’t have an idea?

“You begin where you are, with who you are,” Julia Cameron tells us in Walking in This World. “There’s room for art [small business] in any life we have—-any life, no matter how crowded or overstuffed, no matter how arid or empty,” says Cameron. “We are the “block” we perceive.”

Begin with where you are, with who you are.  Unblock. Take baby steps. I’ll begin with this blog.