Do you want to be a business owner?
You want to know the process to start a small business
This article will lead you down the process of starting a new, small business.This article is centered on showing you how to begin a business in a simple way, allowing time to focus on it wholly and make the business a success with as little capital as possible.
What are you gone do?
You’ll need to embark on the act of starting a business on what is important and making it a success. It is all about creating value to solve a need or add value to people’s life/career.
First you’ll need to come up with a business idea which is profitable and able to solve a need or add value, and then you build a business plan, and finally follow the steps to business creation.
BUSINESS IDEA
A business idea is a concept that can be used for financial gain and is usually centered on a product or service that generate income. When it comes to business as a whole, an idea is the base of the pyramid. For an idea to be termed promising, realizable and successful it should be;
- Innovative: means business idea should be new or improve quality of existing products or services. If the idea is based on innovation, the business will be efficient, cost effective and productive once created.
- Unique: the idea should be unique in that the business should have a unique selling point which will make it standout to competitors.
- Problem solving: the idea should be fundamental in solving problems because such leads to the development of the business, community and the world at large.
- Profitable: this is the most important aspect of any business idea in the long run when the business is created and this element will make the business survive.
Now that we know the qualities of a good business idea and the features that make an idea realizable and long lasting, let’s talk on how to generate a drop-dead business idea.
Business Idea Generation
Here are some steps you can take to generate a drop-dead business idea:-
- Start with family by tapping everyone for great business ideas. It might not seem obvious but it’s important.
- Get help from friends; doing everything alone will severely limit you from new ideas and or improvement on your current idea. So talk with your friends and share ideas. If not of Steve Jobs good friend Steve Wozniak, there would be no Apple Computers today.
- Identify your biggest frustration; this may sound odd but it is a very fertile ground for great business ideas because in trying to solve your own problem, you get to solve for a lot of people around the globe.
- Identify your biggest source of satisfaction for thousands of people have turned up their hobbies into successful profitable businesses.
- Travel and keep your eyes open; when you see something new that piques your interest, ask yourself; ‘’What is it about it that’s so special?’’ Then narrow your focus on it so as to home in an idea on how you can use that in your environment. The processes of narrowing in special thing you see often bring up a niche market.
- Examine current situations and build up a better one; if a product or service does not meet up your high expectations, create a better one to satisfy your desires. By so doing, you will obviously be satisfying the desire of a good number of people.
- Think about your country or the world’s biggest challenge years from now and start working on it.
- Don’t sleep on your dreams; most people ignore their dreams while others don’t even remember what they dreamt. Sometimes, it pays to listen to those inner messages no matter how strange they might be. You never can tell you might just find the germ of one great idea.
- Go digital by checking online what’s new, trending and hot. It might just trigger an idea you never could have imagine.
- Start doing anything or unplug and do something different.
Great business ideas are all around you. Just open your mind to possibilities and you’re bound to find a Big Winning Idea.
BUSINESS CREATION PROCESS
You don’t know what it takes to create/build a successful business?
Take note once you take the plunge to ditch your day job and become a business owner, you will face real challenges. To set the foundation of success for your business, follow these steps below to business creation; to start, run and own a business.
- Carry Out Research
Though you have identified your business idea, it is fundamental you balance it with reality. This will be done via research to find out whether your idea;
- Solves a problem
- Fulfill a need
- Offer something of value the market needs
For your idea or business to be successful, it has to have any of the above features. In order to know whether it does fulfill it, you will have to carry out research on through focus groups, trial and error and will also have to run it through a validation process.
- Make a Business Plan
This is the blueprint that will guide you and your business from start-up through establishment phase and eventually growth stage. It is important and a must have for every business. There exist different types of business plan;
- Traditional business plan; this is a must have if you intend to seek financial assistance or investors. This plan is usually long, thorough and has common sectors which banks/investors look in order to validate your business and grant you support.
- A simple one-page business plan; if you don’t seek financial assistance. This clarifies what you hope to achieve and how you plan to do it.
The business plan is a guide to you, your business and your investors so you must have it.
- Plan Your Finance
Starting a small business doesn’t require a huge sum of money but will require some initial investment to cover ongoing expenses before the business starts making profit. You’ll need to estimate the one-time startup cost of your business which may include; legal fees, market research, inventory, rents, marketing and adverts, employee salaries, your own salary, supplies, etc…… These are some of the initial spending you’ll need to cover while setting up the business. However if your business is a sole proprietorship, you’ll need as little capital as possible to your business off ground and start making money.
- Choose a Business Structure
The business you intend to create can be a partnership, sole proprietorship, a corporation or a limited liability company [LLC]. Note that the business entity you choose will impact your business name, your liability, business location and your taxes. Nevertheless, you may choose an initial business structure and then reevaluate and change the structure as your business grows and needs change.
- Pick and Register Your Business Name
Your business name plays a very important role in every aspect of your business. So, you’ll want it to be good. Make sure to think through all potential implications as you explore options. Once you choose your business name, verify if it’s currently in use and then register it.
- Get Licenses and Permits
Paper work is a part of the process when you start your own business. There exist a variety of business licenses and permits that may apply to your form of business. You’ll have to research to know what type of license and permit apply to your business during the startup process depending on the location and other factors.
- Choose Your Accounting System
An accounting system is very important for small businesses in order to create and manage your budget, set your rates and prices, conduct business with others and file your taxes. If you decide to start the business alone, make sure to consider these questions because they are vital to the success of your business no matter how small it might be.
- Set-up Your Business Location
Your business location is ideal for the operation of the business. For your location, you may choose to have a home office, private office, shared office or a retail outlet. You will need to think about equipment and overall setup of the location thus, make sure the location you choose works for the type of business you’ll be investing on.
- Get Your Team Ready
You’ll need to hire employees and make sure to outline the positions and job responsibilities for each position if you think of opening a corporation, a LLC, or a partnership. However, if you want to be a solopreneur, you may not need employees but will need your own support team.
- Promote Your Business
Once your business is setup, launched and running, you’ll need to attract customers and new customers. This can be done through advertising and, the advertising could be traditional or digital or both. With traditional advertising of your business, which advertisement through the use of; billboards, events, radio, TV, caravan. Meanwhile, digital campaign is advertisement using all the mediums of communication in the internet such as;
- Social media advertisement
- Email advertisement
- Display and video advertisement
- Search engine
- Pay-per click
This form of digital advertising will permit build and manage good communication and customer relationship with your clients/customers in the long run.
Once you complete the steps and your business is setup and running, keep in mind that;
Success doesn’t happen overnight but through consistent work on the business.
Therefore, using your business plan and continuous work with a team to improve your business standard, you increase your chances of success and long term business survival.
