Things to Consider When Starting a Business
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Starting a business isn’t as easy as 1-2-3; there are many steps to consider before getting there. The most important aspect is to realize the time and patience it will take to get where you want to be. But if you are willing to dedicate most of your time to the process, then it will be the most accomplishing and satisfying achievement you’ve ever fulfilled. Want to start a business? Keep on reading on what important things you must consider before jumping the gun.
1) The Idea
While you may have many, many ideas lined up as to why you want to start your business to begin with – have you rethought it multiple times? Some things to ask yourself are:
- Does your idea already exist?
- How unique and worthy is it?
- How useful is this idea?
- Is the market for your idea niche enough or too niche?
- Will it sell?
These are just some simple questions to think about before deciding to move forward with your plan. It’s always a great idea to do some research and investigate the economics of the idea.
2) The Legal Aspects
When you start your business, one of the first steps is deciding on its legal structure. Choosing the route of a limited liability company (LLC) is the most common structure because of its flexibility and the protection it provides owners from personal liability.
It’s also recommended to take proper registration from the government to open your business. In this process, the entrepreneur will need to create the articles of incorporation, obtain an employer identification number and apply for necessary licenses.
If you are completely clueless about this part of the business, it’s best to talk to your lawyer or CPA to decide which is right for you.
3) Creating a Plan
While this may seem obvious, it’s common for people to skip right past this step and end up backtracking. Having a game plan from the get-go will help to guide your vision and direction as you continue along your entrepreneurial journey.
Take some time to sit down and brainstorm the basics.
4) Targeting Your Market
In addition to creating a plan, it’s time also to start thinking about your target audience. It’s easy to say your target market is young adults in America. But let’s be real, that target is way too general and too big. It’s the same as saying, “the target is anyone interested in my services.”
If you think that way, you will not have the resources to market your new and improved idea or product to everyone in the world. That is why it’s necessary to define your target market. Not everyone is the same and is likely not to buy your product. So what do you do now? The best way to approach this is to think about which markets and people are most likely to be receptive to your message and buy your product.
Once you have some idea of your demographic, it’s also best to research what your competitors in the market are doing and to recognize what they might be missing. It’s also important to ask yourself how your idea or product differs from other already made products, what new features you can bring to the table, etc. These are all the factors you need to help you define your target market.
5) Figuring Out Finances
If you didn’t know by now, starting a business requires money – so how will you fund this business of yours? How much money do you need to start this business? This part of the business can be found to be the most tedious and intimidating aspect of running your business. Most entrepreneurs begin a business with a very limited amount of capital. However, there are plenty of ways to seek capital as a business owner.
You can seek capital with friends and family or do your research for angel investors and venture capitalists. And if that is not enough, think about applying for business loans through banks and small business associations.
It’s important that when you start your business, you do not have poor credit and that your score is as high as possible. Having a higher score will also increase your chances of borrowing as much as you need.
6) Your Online Presence
It’s 2018, and if you’re an entrepreneur with no plans to have a website or social media presence, then you must plan on failing. Having an online presence is essential when you have a business.
There are millions of people actively online; if you are not one of them, you could be losing a lot of business. When you start a business, creating a website should be one of the top things on your list. A website gives the opportunity for your business to grow and give you the business you want massively.
Make sure you are representing your brand as accurately as possible.
7) Business Partners
So you created an idea but thought about bringing on more business partners to help you out – no problem. Having a business partner or multiple is a good thing. But it can’t just be anyone, before making fast decisions, here are some things to consider:
- What is the role that each person will have?
- How will you share profits and losses?
- Have you talked about the day-to-day operations of the business with your prospective partners?
- Have you discussed the capital investments made by each partner?
8) Educate Yourself
When you start a business, it’s always great to be reading up on how to become a better entrepreneur, manage people, control your finances, etc. A real entrepreneur is always wanting to better themselves, and that can be done by reading books, attending seminars, and seeking advice from others. It’s always great to be knowledgeable and educated with your specific expertise as well as to prevent basic mistakes from occurring.
9) Focus on Important Tasks
Clearly, we know that starting a business is a handful and can be complicated. While most entrepreneurs are known to be perfectionists and tend to obsess over every detail; we know it’s not practical to be perfect. Because let’s face it, there will always be something you could do that would make it better.
Instead of wasting time on the little details such as designing a logo, picking out stationary, and writing blog posts, as a business owner it’s best to focus as much of your attention on the top, money worthy tasks. You can easily outsource the little tasks and hire a freelancer to help you out while you concentrate on the bigger picture.
