My recent trek to central Mexico and the monarch butterfly’s winter roosting/migration grounds was simply magical.  Virtual snowstorms of hundreds of millions fluttering jewels.

What these amazing little creatures endure to travel to their ancestral home is nothing short of miraculous.  Especially given the fact that they had never set a single delicate leg in Central America prior to their landing.  You just have to admire that fierce drive and determination.

Even without this migration miracle, the monarch’s life cycle is awe-inspiring.  From its initial stage as an eating-machine caterpillar to the strangely beautiful chrysalis, the monarch emerges as nature’s iconic beauty.

The concept of metamorphosis, the act of transforming oneself into something new, came up at the last meeting of the Free Birds.  Armed with enthusiasm and a marketing plan, one member of our flock shared her vision of a totally new career for herself that would take her from the confines of her office and out into the street.  Another chick is considering repackaging her experience and knowledge into a new identity and business model.  What is old is new again.

In both cases, the need for market research, competitive analysis and planning is mandatory when contemplating a career shift; some deep soul-searching won’t hurt either.  The Small Business Administration website offers some tools for new business ventures, especially their Write a Business Plan outline complete with sample business plans.  And the site even has a section called Getting Out should your venture go south with the monarchs.