Starting your own business can be a daunting task. At the same time, the chance to be our own boss is a major embodiment of the American Dream. At the same time, in the modern age, starting a business can be easier and less involved than people might think. Still, starting a business is not easy. It takes planning, preparation, and a great deal of dedication and patience. It can be rewarding, but also stressful. Knowing the right way to start a new business and to make sure it survives the pivotal first stages is essential.
- Have a Plan
Having a business plan is the most basic start when it comes to creating your own business. To have a solid business plan requires a great deal of research. When starting a new business, you need to examine the market to understand the viability of your potential enterprise. This applies if you plant o be entirely virtual or have a physical store.
Once you’ve completed your research, setting up the business plan is key. A business plan is basically a roadmap for how you plan to start, operate, and build your business. The more detailed and prepared the business plan is, the better your start when it comes time to finally open the doors.
Knowing how to make a proper business plan is essential to starting your business. Make sure to research how to properly draft a business plan as well as commencing research for your future business enterprise as well.
It’s also important during your research to investigate legal requirements for any potential business efforts. The laws for businesses vary by state and the businesses themselves. It can be very difficult to start a pawn shop, for example, but an online only graphic design business is relatively easy if you have the skills. Knowing your business and its place in your community is one of the most basic, most vital aspects of research any potential entrepreneur can take.
- Start a Foundation
While a business plan and the research required to properly prepare one are essential starts, they are but the first step in the forming of a small business. Another important step is to gather resources and a home for your business. This can be considerably easier if your business is going to be exclusively online, but that still has its challenges.
To properly start a business, you’re going to need money and a location. If you’re business is entirely online, this usually means all you need is a website and potentially a logistical network to handle product, if you’re selling physical products and not services. Online startups generally require less upfront costs and fewer overall costs, but that doesn’t make them any easier to operate.
As for physical stores, obtaining property is obviously an important step as well. The adage location, location, location is just as important today as it used to be, perhaps even more so. That’s just one more bit of research to be done while working on a business plan.
- Are You Hiring?
Is your business enterprise going to be a one man operation, or will you need to hire employees? If you’re going to have people working under you, whether physically or digitally, make sure to start looking for employees once you’re website and/or property is well underway in the development process.
For hiring, it might not be a bad idea to consult an expert, especially if you’ve never had employees before. Adding more people to the enterprise can complicate matters greatly, but in order for a small business, at least a physical one, to truly stand on its own as an institution, it needs other people to help manage and operate. As much as you might want to handle everything yourself, and early on you likely will, at some point you have to learn to let go of the reins.
- Plan for Hardship
The custom is it’s a good idea to have six months of backup funding to support yourself. You may also want to consider a year’s worth of savings for the business itself, as that’s when the vast majority of small businesses first fail. Regardless, plan ahead financially to make sure you can afford the possibility of failure as much as you can success.
It can be hard to face the fact that your business might fail. Unfortunately, even in a strong economy most small business startups will fail. To not plan for failure is a failure to plan, as the saying goes. If your business does fail, make sure your prepared how to handle that, whether it be trying to reform your current model into a more viable option, trying again from scratch, or taking time off to mull over your options.
- Advertise!
Once you’re close to opening, make sure to advertise! Advertising has changed drastically in the digital age, so make sure to do your research on this field before shelling out big bucks for commercials or flyers.
For example, California Movers is a moving company, so our ads are geared towards the moving of people and things. This puts our business close to realtors and landscapers, so we work with them because before people move they need a real estate agent, and after the move they may need landscapers to spruce up the property. Knowing affiliated companies makes for easier advertising and social networking.
Starting and running a small business is full of risks and rewards. Whether that small business is an online storefront or service provider, a stand at the local mall, or a new restaurant or boutique, nothing is guaranteed for entrepreneurs. The best way to mitigate risk is to be as prepared for failure and success in each turn as possible. Know your market, know your area, know what your business goals are, how to achieve them, and, above all, make sure you have the finances and determination to see it all through. Starting a new business is full of risk, but those who succeed can find a fun and fulfilling life they could never enjoy any other way. If you think you have what it takes, make sure you’re prepared every step of the way.
