How To Start A Business? – The Most Valued Question Budding Entrepreneurs Ask
How you live your life is up to you. While some of us love to swim through the chains of regulations and norms, some want to break free. Most of the start-up owners are those who want to break free and do something for a change. At some crucial points in their life, this strange question dawned on them is How to start a Business? So Let’s Understand –
How To Start A Business?
You are in the right spot if the same questions are dawning on you. Starting a business is not easy. You need to consider different things. Your business plan, process, funding, inventory, a roadmap to success, taxes, and the chances of success.
Where Are You At?
The most valued question when you start a business is not always your plan or what the market has in store for your business. The most valued question here, sometimes, is, “Where are you in life?” are you still doing your job? Do you have the time, patience, financial and personal liberty to start a business? What are your current commitments? Can you constantly shift your attention between your current commitments and the business you want to start?
Grab a cup of coffee or whatever you want and kick back and think about all of these questions. No, I am not saying that you have to nail everything, but you should have some resolution and the liberty to make time for your new venture. You can start a blog or a small business from which (which still requires some level of commitment). So, ask yourself, are you ready? If so, let’s go ahead.
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Start Mining For Business Ideas
Entrepreneurs often take time-tested approaches to determine which business they want to get into. So, how do you find your business idea?
Look Inside; What Are Your Points Of Interest?
Well, it can start with a hobby or a personal interest. Entrepreneurs often start a business to solve some common frustration millions of people struggle with.
Research Existing Products
There are preexisting solutions to some problems in the market. It could be some services or some products. But are they good enough? Some of these products and solutions might have many complaints from users.
Find out what works for them and what does not. You can also find the gaps in the market and fulfill the different spaces businesses left empty or unattended.
Generate An Idea Or Go With The Flow
A good business idea can also come from you finding an idea yourself. You can create a fancy product that solves a problem people never realized could be made easy. Or you can go with the trend and create a trending product and make it better than the competitors (even an upgraded version of the classic fidget spinner works.)
Test And Validate Your Idea
The unique and the perfect of ideas fail. Yes, testing and validating your idea is the hardest part. Does the market want what you have to offer? How will the customers receive it? Will the customers want to pay for your products or services?
See? There are still too many questions you need to answer yourself. Do not pour money and time into an idea before testing its validity and requirement in the market. Just minding your own business is not doing business enough. You can take several different trials. Here are a few pointers –
- Try setting up a store and taking preorders.
- Run a crowdfunding camp.
- Create a beta testing sample for your service or product.
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Name Your Business
This can be quick and easy or take longer and make you scratch your head… a lot. How to start a business? This question brings you to another question – what business name to choose? For starters, think of your offering, use your imagination, and take inspiration from the industry.
But there is more to it than just waiting for divine inspiration. Here are some pointers to get you going –
Keep It Short, Keep It Simple
Your customer needs to remember your business like it is their second nature. So look for something that is short, quirky, and memorable. But also make sure the industry has not used it yet. This will take some effort and imagination on your part. But you will get there, eventually.
The ideal way to go about here is to keep the name short (unlike this article).
Stand Out
When doing market research, you will come across different brands that use similar elements for the names or similar names. If that is the case, then try something different. Do something different (avoid the stereotypes) and stand out.
Be Original
You thought coming up with a unique business name was hard? Well, guess what? Someone else’s business might already have the same name you are thinking of unique. That is why I suggest you run a trademark search in the countries where you will be operating. Also, while you’re at it, check on social media and Google as well. Who knows, your business name might or might not be too original.
Even if no business is registered under that name, some jurisdictions allow businesses to legally challenge other businesses for using their name in the same industry. The best course of action during complex situations like this would be to seek help from legal counsel for advice.
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Write Your Business Plan
A business plan is a roadmap that gets you going. Even though you might never look back on the plan once you start, it is still of some value. It gives you an idea of how much you can achieve and how much you have to do in order to achieve as much as you want to. Pun aside, the executive summary, company descriptions, and market analysis included in the business plan are crucial for the business.
Executive Summary
The business plan has an executive summary. Although it is the first priority, it is written at last. The executive summary highlights the business’s different goals and the process they need to rely on to get there
Company Description
The company description includes the product your business has to offer. Also, you need to include why your business is the best and add the necessary credentials.
Market Analysis
How does your business stand against the current dominators in the market? This is a tricky and crucial part of starting and running your business. This analysis should include what your target market is. What is the size of the targeted market? What is the growth rate? What is the target market?
Also, the SWOT analysis of the business you are about to start is an important part of the business.
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Understand Your Business Finances
You need proper funding to finance your business. This is where knowing about finances becomes crucial. No, I am not suggesting that you become a finance guru overnight. But some basic things need immediate attention.
You can start some businesses with a simple amount of investment. However, some require inventory, equipment, labor, and physical space in some cases. That is why you need to get the calculator right about your funding and ROI., so you need to be clear about some basic business terms. Based on your needs, you can also go for crowdfunding campaigns or even opt for small business loans.
Keep a record of the cash inflow and outflow. The best action here would be to create a separate bank account for your business and keep your personal and business finances separate.
Get Down To Business
Since you have checked and marked all the boxes of the plan, validating your ideas and finances, it is time to get down to business really. This is one of the key aspects of getting your business on track.
If you have a product drive business, then you need to start producing what you want to sell to your customer. Usually, small businesses take one among three of these different approaches –
Create Their Own Products
One of many unique approaches to creating your products is by creating themselves. Different businesses often sourced products from different manufacturers or handcrafted them on their own. This way, you may not be able to create much initially, but this will get you started in the market.
Customize Existing Products
No, essentially don’t need to create your own product to start a business. So how to start a business without creating any products? Well, the answer lies in customization. You can customize different products such as leggings, towels, t-shirts, backpacks, and more.
Curate Some Products
Drop shipping is a business model that lets you sell a selected range of products without creating them yourself or having any inventory. The product will be sold to the customer without ever reaching your door. Once you have a product in your store, the drop shipper can deliver it to the customer directly from the seller.
The business product development stage is a crucial moment for the business. Doing this right will let you read the pricing for your products. Profitable pricing can lead your business to generate the profit you aim to get.
Structure Your Business
Done with the products? Well, it is time to structure your business now. But, you must know that the structure you choose might vary based on your business location.
Sole Proprietorship
You can become the sole proprietor of a small business that you are starting. Yes, that will make you liable for all the activities done within the business.
This is the most hassle-free structure and really does not take much effort on your part. Sole proprietors can also hire employees. But that will require you to have an employer identification number. Yes, this means that you need to register your business.
Partnership
If you are ready to share the stake and the burden of the business, then you can go ahead and bring in some partners into the hassle. A partnership business structure allows you to share your business liabilities and bring more than two people to operate the business alongside you.
Corporation
The corporation structure of a business lets you share the liabilities while also adding in the necessity for more paperwork. When a business has established itself with medium to high-risk level businesses, you can take a corporate structure and raise funds. The corporation-level business structure gives your business protection against liability crises. The owners can keep their business and personal finances separate.
LLC
Or you can opt for the LLC structure, where the owner’s personal liability and the business debt and liabilities remain separate. If you are starting a small or medium-level business on your own, then going with the LLC structure is the best decision.
This is quite a popular business structure in the US. The LLC stricture brings the best of both worlds and gives you the benefits of both corporate and sole proprietorship structures.
Get Those Software Systems Ready
Businesses require lots of productivity-related software that helps them streamline and automate their processes. You need to set up your accounting, email marketing, ads, and project management tools ready. If you are planning to run a business online, get your website and social media pages ready for the business.
Find A Location
Indeed you do not need a space or a location for some specific small businesses like blogging, bookkeeping, or drop shipping. But, if you are into product-related businesses and if you are making them, then space is essential.
This might require you to get an office, desks, and laptops. If it is a retail business, then a brick-and-mortar store can also cost you a hefty amount.
So, first, consider the scale of your business and determine the space accordingly. You can start by how much you will produce and store. The manufacturing space and inventory need to be set accordingly. Starting from your home or garage can definitely be an option to begin with. But if the divine inspiration (read customer) is on your side, you might have to consider a larger space.
Market Your Business
You did all of it right, but you slacked off on the marketing part! Why? Don’t you want all of your products to sell out? Marketing gives your business the impact it needs. It is a process of taking your business out there in the market.
There are different steps you can take for the marketing part. You can run paid ads through different channels. Go to social media and also get your business listed on Google. Your product and niche have a lot to do with what is the best marketing channel for your brand.
The Big Launch
When you are also ready with your marketing channels, it is time to partner with a shipping company and ready the shipment processes for all those online orders. Now, you are ready to launch your business. While you are at it, offer some discounts to your customers during the launch. Leveraging from the network around you can also give you quick early exposure in the marke
I hope that this article was helpful. Please let us know if we missed out on something important. We will try to help you as soon as possible.
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Shahnawaz Alam
Shahnawaz is a passionate and professional Content writer. He loves to read, write, draw and share his knowledge in different niches like Technology, Cryptocurrency, Travel,Social Media, Social Media Marketing, and Healthcare.
