Business Basics: Starting A Business
So you want to start a business? Once you have decided to embark on starting a business some fundamentals are needed to start and run a successful business. Once you have in place this path you can vastly improve your chances of success. Regardless of the type of business, you decide to embark on, these characteristics have a common thread that will help guide you. You may wonder what these fundamental values are which we will cover in further detail in this article.
WHY DO I WANT TO START A BUSINESS?
It is likely that you have been interested in starting a business and have an idea of what that would entail. Whether you are looking to sell services or merchandise it is a good idea to do a quick search regarding your chosen industry to understand more about these brand leaders and how you will fit into your chosen industry. If your idea is a product it is a good idea as well to find any products that are similar to what you would like to offer as well.
When you start on the journey of opening your own business it is important, to begin with, the question “why.” Whether you are looking to provide services as a business or supply products it is important to define if this business will serve a personal “why” or a marketplace “why.” A personal reason may be for you to be your boss while a marketplace reason will fill a need to the public. When you look at a marketplace need this will widen your scope for business allowing widespread growth.
We know you understand that starting and running a business will take a large commitment. Before beginning we suggest asking yourself a few questions such as:
What do I want to offer with my product/services?
What is my plan and vision for the business?
How much time can I devote to starting, establishing, and growing this business?
Am I prepared for possible setbacks?
Once you have asked yourselves these questions and have answered them thoughtfully and truthfully you can begin the process of building your business.
WHERE DO I START?
The first step is building a product that makes an impact. When establishing your “why” you honed in on what you would like to be the basis of your business, now it is time to build that product, whether it is services or a good, you want to build it to the best of your ability capitalizing on your strengths. Your unique spin on the product will help to differentiate from the competition in a meaningful and important way. Once you have these principles in place it is important to launch sooner rather than later. This is an important time, you do not want to procrastinate getting your product out to the public. When your product is available this will lead to early feedback from customers which will help you to refine and strengthen your product by focusing on any bugs or changes that need to happen. In the words of Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg, “Done is better than perfect.” What this means is don’t drag your feet when it comes to launching your product because you feel it isn’t perfect. After all, this will cause significant delays in launching and advancing your business.
It is always important that you understand the value of what your business can and will offer. Establishing a value to your business allows you to explore what your business does for people and why people want your product. Does your business value stem from what you can offer to customers that other competitors cannot? To have a successful business your product must alleviate a certain pain point for the consumer and it is important to show them how. Defining why your product is unique coupled with your company voice will help you find a market for your product which helps appeal to more people increasing the chances of a sale.
Once you have a product, you may be asking “what now?” While having your own business can be freeing it is also important to establish a path. It’s a great idea to ask yourself where you want to go with your company, why you want to get there, and how you will achieve this. This may seem obvious but having a roadmap and a vision allows you to stay motivated and on your chosen path. Opening and running your business is quite an undertaking but having a bigger vision overall will help keep you motivated when times get tough and assist you in establishing business goals, actions, and tasks. Not only will this help you accomplish goals by being able to separate them into several smaller tasks to accomplish but it will allow you to work at your pace every day and keep you from being overwhelmed.
There is no doubt at times you will feel overwhelmed by choosing to embark on this path of entrepreneurship. However do not shy away from asking for help from professionals, mentors, or other successful entrepreneurs. A community exists to help strengthen your business foundation that ranges from financial and consultancy to your local Chamber of Commerce. Look to local small businesses as well who have found success and build a rapport as well as observe and learn from their successes as well as failures. Being able to establish these relationships can lead to other opportunities that can aid in the growth of your business.
In the end, we can look at the Nike slogan, “Just Do It.” To open a business you have to get started, and as mentioned previously by Sheryl Sandberg getting started is better than being perfect. That will be your first step and is the hardest hurdle to overcome at first until you start pursuing your business. As you and your business continue to develop and work towards creating success it is important to examine the direction you are moving and how to improve. This can arise in the form of possible deficiencies and how you address these components that may be missing or need to be improved. Knowing what needs work and implementing change only helps your business to succeed.
Success isn’t only found in the product you are offering but in the relationship, you have with your customer base. It is important to think about longevity when you develop your business. When we look to the future of business it can be easy to fantasize about success, but it is also important to think short-term and long-term, where will you be in six months. To be successful it is important to not chase what may be “new and hot” but to grow incrementally and apply basic principles that will continue to help you strengthen your business to ensure long-term success.