How Do Start My Own Business? – A complete guide for new entrepreneurs.
How Do Start My Own Business: Starting your own business can be a little scary, especially if you’ve never done it before. Luckily, plenty of other entrepreneurs have done this, and you can benefit from the wisdom they gleaned from their successes and their business mistakes.
How Do Start My Own Business?
This guide on how to start your own business will help you with everything from finding and validating your money-making idea to figuring out your shipping strategy to finally launching your product or service.
Step 1: Think of an idea
Once you’ve decided you want to start your own business, it’s important that you spend some time brainstorming. Write down as many different business ideas as possible (consider writing on a list of index cards), and then separate those ideas into two piles: low-risk and high-risk. This will help you determine what kind of business is most likely going to succeed; for example, if one of your low-risk ideas is creating an app for dog lovers, then that might be a good place to start.
If all of your ideas are high-risk, then consider finding another way to make money—for example, selling items online or doing freelance work. It may take some time before you find something that works for you. Don’t rush it! If at first, you don’t succeed… try again! After you’ve spent some time brainstorming, narrow down your idea by answering these questions: How big is my market? What’s my competitive advantage? How much will I need to invest? Can I afford to do so? Does my idea have longevity?
The best thing about starting a business from scratch is that there are no limitations – there are countless ways you can go about setting up shop and making yourself successful. Here’s how to get started… Choose your path wisely While it’s important not to let fear stand in your way, keep in mind that there’s no such thing as failure when starting a new business. Even if things don’t work out right away, just know that every small step along the way can lead to bigger and better things.
Step 2: Get feedback
Before you can commit yourself, take a close look at your idea from a few different angles. Ask others for their input and get advice from people who’ve been there before. Find out if others think your idea has potential, whether there’s enough market demand for it, what you might need in terms of resources, and more. And remember: when seeking advice on starting your own business, don’t rely on just one source—look for diverse feedback from friends, family members, and business experts.
What works best? A combination of formal surveys (like those offered by SBA) as well as informal polls of colleagues and other contacts who may be able to offer unique insight into your situation. The more perspectives you have, the better equipped you’ll be to make an informed decision about your future.
Step 3: Research other businesses like yours
Most successful entrepreneurs have experienced significant failures at some point during their careers. It’s not uncommon for small businesses to fail within a year of launching, while big businesses can experience abysmal failure rates of up to 90 percent before they turn a profit. That doesn’t mean you should get discouraged if your business idea doesn’t work out; rather, it means you should seek advice from those who have gone through similar experiences and ask them how they were able to bounce back.
By seeking support from peers and mentors, you can gain valuable insight into how to adjust your business idea moving forward. You may also want to research how other companies like yours operate so that you know what steps to take next. Remember: There is no such thing as a perfect plan, but that shouldn’t stop you from getting started! When it comes time to put together your own business plan, think about what has worked well for other companies with similar models and try incorporating those strategies into your own approach.
Step 4: Seek advice from peers and mentors
Having an outside perspective on your idea can help you see new angles, flaws, and opportunities. Your friends and family might not be capable of giving you a professional opinion, but they can tell you whether or not they think your idea is feasible. You may have heard that 90% of businesses fail within five years. The odds are stacked against you, so get honest feedback from those who have already been through it.
Meet with a mentor or peer group that has some experience in what you’re trying to do, and listen closely as they offer their insights (for free!). Check out SCORE’s mentoring services if you need someone to talk over your business ideas with; here’s their directory of local mentors across America. And, lastly, don’t forget about our community! Our readers are smart people and I’d love to hear what they think of your ideas. Leave a comment below!
The following step-by-step guide will show you how to start your own business in eight simple steps: #1 Identify the problem: What problems does your product solve? How big is the market for that problem? Be sure to validate both before proceeding further. #2 Validate solution: Have others had similar problems?
Is there a demand for solutions? Do customers know about these problems? If so, how many people search for them each month? Does anyone else sell products or services specifically targeting these problems/searches?
Step 5: Write a business plan
Once you have a general idea of your startup costs, it’s time to write a business plan. A business plan will help you organize your thoughts and identify potential pitfalls that could threaten your success. A good business plan will also demonstrate that you’ve done your homework and are serious about starting a business, which makes banks much more likely to lend you money. I don’t know where to start, check out our guide on how to write a business plan for step-by-step tips.
In addition to a formal business plan, be sure to keep an updated list of financial records (income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements) at all times. These documents will come in handy when preparing for bank meetings or tax season. And, of course, don’t forget to incorporate your business! If you need help getting started with incorporating, check out our guide on Incorporating Your Business: Everything You Need to Know.
If you want even more advice from real entrepreneurs who’ve been there before, we recommend checking out these sites: Entrepreneur’s Startup Advice: Some pretty solid advice from entrepreneurs who have already taken their own ideas from concept to reality. My Personal Finance Journey: This personal finance blogger has been writing about his journey towards financial independence since 2009 and is one of our favorite resources for inspiration.
Step 6: Register your business with the state
When it comes time to register your business with your state, you’ll have a variety of options. Choosing from these options is based on two things: how formal or informal you want your business to be and what tax and regulatory requirements are mandated by your state.
If you need help registering with your state, there are plenty of resources available, including free tutorials provided by companies like LegalZoom. com. You can also choose to hire an attorney or CPA to assist you if needed. This may cost more but will give you more peace of mind knowing that everything has been done correctly.
Step 7: Choose a bank account
While you can certainly establish a business with no bank account, it makes life easier if you have one. Many banks will let you open one for free as long as you have an active checking account or savings account there. The most important thing is to find an account that works for your needs—some allow only certain types of transactions, and others have low limits.
Keep track of what’s going on so you don’t get caught with too much money locked up and unable to use it. Most importantly, do not give your personal information out to any company unless you are absolutely sure they are legitimate. No reputable company will ask for personal information via email. If they need personal info such as SSN#, DOB, etc., they will always mail you paper forms requesting it and never over email.
This is a phishing scam and if you reply with your personal info, you are giving them access to your identity which could be used for credit card fraud or other types of identity theft. The IRS does not send out emails regarding tax refunds or audit notices either so do not respond to any emails claiming to be from them either. Do not click on links provided in these emails as they may contain viruses that can harm your computer or otherwise compromise your security.
Step 8. Build, Promote, Repeat
Now that you have a plan and a business model, all you need is customers. While it’s true that no matter how great your business model or marketing plan is, it will never succeed if your product or service doesn’t deliver as promised, at some point you’re going to have to let people know what you do. Get creative with your promotions.
If it helps, pretend that you’re starting from scratch—who would be interested in your services? Why? Where? How can you reach them? And on and on. Keep refining your approach until you’ve got something that works for you. Then get back to work! This is one of those cases where doing really is better than thinking about doing: You’ll always learn more by actually putting yourself out there and trying new things than by sitting around planning new things to try.
Also Read: Which Business Will Grow In Future In Pakistan?
Conclusion
Starting a business is no small feat. It can take months or even years of planning and preparation before you see your dream become a reality. You’ll have to put hours upon hours into building your website, crafting a marketing plan, establishing systems for customer service, etc.
For most people, it will require coming up with thousands of dollars on top of that. But at some point—hopefully soon—it will all be worth it as you open your doors to new customers and call yourself an entrepreneur.
