STARTING A BUSINESS

To be a successful entrepreneur is the dream of every business owner, but do you really have all it takes to stand firm and be successful? This article is going to crystalize the intricacies to setting up a business and being a successful entrepreneur.

Steps in starting up a business:

1. Conduct a personal evaluation

Begin by identifying yourself and your situation:

• Why do you want to start a business? Is it money, freedom and flexibility, to solve a problem, or some other reason?
• What are your skills?
• What industries do you know about?
• Do you want to provide a service or a product?
• What do you like to do?
• How much capital do you have to risk?
• Will it be a full-time or short time?

The answers to this question would help you focus

This step is not supposed to discourage you from starting your own business. Rather, it’s here to get you thinking and planning. In order to start a successful business, passion alone isn’t enough.

You need to perform a SWOT analysis on yourself, i.e. know your strength, weakness, opportunities and threats.

2. Research your industry

Having made up your mind on a business that fits your goals and lifestyle, examine your idea. Who will buy your product or service? Who will your competitors be? At this stage, you also need to figure out how much capital you need.

3. Evaluate your target audience

Examine how valid your idea is by creating a pitch page. You therefore need to do a market analysis as it would guide your research as you think about it:

• How urgently do people need the thing you’re selling or offering right now?
• What’s the market size? Are there already a lot of people paying for products or services similar to yours? Have you honed in on who exactly your target market is? Being specific will help you focus your marketing message and investment.
• How easy is it (and how much will it cost you) to acquire a customer? If you’re selling enterprise software, this may require a significantly larger investment than a coffee shop.
• How much money and effort will it cost to deliver the value you would like to be offering?
• How long will it take to get to market? A month? A year? Three years?
• How much up-front investment will you need before you can begin?
• Will your business continue to be relevant as time passes? A business that repairs Nokia screens will only remain relevant so long as the Nokia sticks around. If your business is only relevant for a specific period of time, you will also want to consider your future plans.

You can take things a step further and consider the consumer needs currently not being met by businesses in the industry. This is a good time to take a look at potential competitors. And remember, the presence of competitors is oftentimes a good sign! It means that the market for your product or service already exists, so you know that you have potential customers who are willing to spend money on your product or service.

You also need to learn everything about your competitor, about what they provide to their customers, how they attract attention, and whether or not their customers are happy. If you can figure out what’s missing before you even get started, your job will be made that much easier when you eventually set up store.

4. Set up your business

Working towards setting up requires you to register your business. However, as with the personal evaluation step, take your time to get to know the dos and don’ts of different business entities.     

If at all possible, work with a lawyer to clarify the details. This is not an area you want to get wrong. You will also need to get the proper business licenses and permits. Depending upon the business, there may be city, county, or state regulations as well. Likewise you need to check into insurance and to find a good accountant.

Types of business formations include:

•           Sole proprietorship

•           Partnership,

•           Corporation

•           Limited Liability Company (LLC)

You also need to consider your business name as it would become your new name and face.

5. Begin the planning process

Outsourcing finance requires a business plan. But, even if you are going to finance the venture yourself nevertheless a business plan is still needed to help you figure out how much money you will need to get started, what it will take to make your business profitable, what needs to get done when, and where you are headed.

If you aren’t presenting to investors, don’t think of this as a formal pitch presentation, but instead a high-level overview of who you are, the problem you are solving, your solution to the problem, your target market and the key tactics you will use to achieve your goals.

Your business plan should contain the following break down

The standard business plan includes nine parts:

•           The Executive Summary

•           Target Market

•           Products and Services

•           Marketing and Sales Plan

•           Milestones and Metrics

•           Company Overview

•           Management Team

•           Financial Plan

•           Appendix

6. Funding Plan

Dependent on the size and goals of your business, you may need to seek financing from an investor except you are considering small scale. I have analyzed some investment and lending options that could help support your business:

7. Space Setup

Also if you successful follow the above listed steps, business plan has been laid out, the money is in the bank, and you’re ready to go. Except your business is online and you won’t need a storefront, you’re probably looking at building your website and choosing a shopping cart solution. And you should be able to work from home and not need to rent a space. However if your business needs a dedicated brick and mortar location, there are many considerations.  

There are numerous important factors to consider before picking a space for business. As you’re thinking about where you want to set up shop (including the city and state), consider the following:

• Space Rent: Can you realistically afford to be where you want to be? If not, or if you’re cutting it fine, keep looking.
• Space Visibility: Will people easily be able to find you? Will they see your promotions and offers? Are you in the center of town or further out? How will this affect you?
• Accessibility to parking or public transportation: You need to ask can people easily find you from available parking options and transportation routes. And if they have to look too hard, they may give up.
• Location of competitors: Are there many competitors close to you? If there are, this may be a sign that the location is premium for the clientele you wish to attract. And it may also mean you do no business. You need to consider carefully how you wish to approach this type of situation as it would determine your success
• Rules and regulation of location: You need to look into regulations, as areas may be more stringent than others. Ensure there are no restrictions that will limit your operations or that will act as barriers to your store.

8. Trial Mindset

Doesn’t matter whether you are starting your first or your third business, so you must anticipate making mistakes as it is normal. This is natural all that matters are learning from them, also beneficial.

Finally everyone falls at a particular time its only normal so don’t get worked up even if you don’t get it right the first time.