First Steps Starting Your Own Business
Are you thinking of starting your own business? Great move! I can highly recommend it.
Having your own business gives you so much joy, a sense of achievement, as well as time freedom and flexibility. You also get to write your own cheque every month.
It’s not instant of course. In most businesses, you’ll generally need to put in a good couple of year’s hard work before you start reaping the rewards. So it behoves you to find something you’re passionate about. Your passion is what will keep you committed long enough to see dividends.
I just received the excellent guest post below outlining your very first steps. Take heed – this is great advice.
8 Things You Need to Start Your First Business
When it comes to starting your first business, there are some things that you will need. These are all vital steps that you will go through as you develop your business strategy and determine exactly what and how you are going to sell to your customers. These are the eight absolutely essential things that you need to start your first business.
1. An Idea
The first thing that you are going to need is an idea. You cannot start a business unless you know what you are going to sell. If you do not have any ideas at the moment, try looking at your current passions and make a list of all of the products and services that are related to those passions.
2. A Business Plan
You are definitely going to need a business plan. Most people create the business plan when they are ready to think about financing their business. However, a business plan is essential even if you already have the money to start your company. You need to know where you want to be and how you are going to get there.
3. An Angle
You are also going to need an angle. You need to be able to offer something that no one else is offering, or offer it in such a way that you can distinguish yourself from the competition. You need to find a niche that is not being served or come up with a way to serve customers with the products and services that they need that makes you different and more appealing than your competition.
4. A Marketing Strategy
You are also going to need a marketing strategy. Even if you know what products and services you’re going to sell, you found the perfect niche that no one else is catering to and you have an incredible angle, none of that is going to do any good unless customers know that you are out there. Your marketing plan is the way that you will let them know.
5. Some Help
Businesses are never started by one person alone. Even if you are starting a service-based business online, such as a graphic designer, you still are going to get advice from other people, outsource some tasks and in general, get help from someone. Depending upon your business, you may also have to hire employees or independent contractors.
6. A Location
You obviously do not need a physical location for an online business, but even if you are not starting a brick-and-mortar business you still have a location where customers can find you. For online companies, this is obviously your website or your social media profiles. You have to have a home base where people can find out about your company.
7. An Online Presence
if you are starting a brick-and-mortar business, you may think that you do not need a website, social media platforms or any other sort of online presence. But this is how businesses fail in today’s world. You absolutely cannot survive without getting online. People use the Internet like a telephone directory these days. Can you imagine thirty years ago refusing to have your number published in the telephone directory?
8. Capital
Finally, if you need capital, there are a lot of options out there. There are companies catering to small business loans, investors looking for a solid return and banks that will be happy to finance your business. Making sure that you have your finances in order is the last step in the process, but it is also probably the most important. A huge number of businesses go under within a year of starting up because they did not have a proper financial plan.
Are you stuck on any of these points? Feel free to leave a comment below and I’ll see if I can point you in the right direction. Looking forward to meeting a new Entrepreneur.
