Learn how to start your own business. Here you’ll find resources to help you start a business, grow your business, and more.
How to Start Your Own Business: Starting your own business can be very rewarding, but also very challenging—especially if you’re brand new to the world of entrepreneurship. Businesses must be built from the ground up, and there are many moving parts that need to work together in order to make the business successful.
How to Start Your Own Business
Writing a business plan helps formalize your idea and can streamline the business-creation process by getting you to sit down and think things through methodically. And, yes, plans are (often) worthless, but planning is everything. Many entrepreneurs say they rarely look at their plan once they’ve launched—but they’ll also tell you there’s value in thinking through and researching your idea.
At the very least, you’ll quickly figure out what questions you don’t have answers to. Having a firm grasp of your known unknowns is important and writing a business plan is the perfect way to make sure that happens. Write it down: It’s not just about recording your ideas or rough sketches of how you want something to work—it’s about working out every detail of how it will work before moving forward.
If you’re not willing to put all of that effort into figuring it all out, why should anyone else? Doing so will help give clarity to everyone involved, which makes it easier for them to see if an idea has potential or if its time has come and gone. For example, when I started my first company, my co-founder and I worked on our business plan for six months before we even incorporated it.
We didn’t know what we were doing, but we knew we had to be thorough! Be realistic: When starting a new business or creating anything new, it’s easy to get caught up in your own excitement and lose sight of reality. But no matter how good an idea may seem on paper, reality will eventually set in if you aren’t realistic with yourself about whether or not you can actually do it.
Get An Idea
The best part about starting your own business is that you’re not beholden to anybody else’s idea of success. The only thing you need is an idea–maybe one you’ve already had or one that just came to you in a flash. If it’s an idea worth pursuing, there are lots of resources out there to help make it real.
For example, if you want to start a catering company, look into getting an accreditation (there are various options depending on your state and area) and consider taking classes at a culinary school or food-service program so that you can refine your skills. Having knowledge and experience could give your business an edge in a crowded market. In addition, try to think through how much money you’ll need to get started, what kind of marketing will be required, and what other factors might affect your success.
Then do some research: Consult with friends who have started their own businesses or talk with someone who works for a similar company. It’s also important to figure out how much time you’ll be able to devote to your new venture while still maintaining your current job. Once you know all these things, write them down—you’ll use them later when creating a business plan.
Build Your Skills
Whether you’re starting a brick-and-mortar business or an online business, your first step is creating value. Start by building skills that will allow you to differentiate yourself from your competition and find customers. Look for ways to serve those customers better, faster, and at lower costs than anyone else in your market. For example, if you plan to open a clothing store, learn how to sew so you can offer tailored services at a discount over competitors who send work out of town or overseas.
Or maybe you plan to offer consulting services; instead of competing with other professionals by trying to be cheaper or faster than them, look for niche markets where clients need someone with subject-matter experts who also speaks Spanish. The more unique your skillset, knowledge base, and experience are when you start your business, the easier it will be to stand out. And that means a higher chance of success.
To see if there’s already a demand for what you’re planning to sell, do some research on Google Trends and Keyword Planner. If people have been searching for information about your idea—or something similar—then there’s probably already a market for it. Learn more about setting up shop in our guide on How to Start a Business. To get started today, use Bplans’ free small business startup checklist, which walks you through all of these steps (and many more) one by one.
Gather Your Resources
Resources are what you need to start your business. Having capital is one of them. If you don’t have a large sum of money to invest, but still want to start your own business, that’s okay. You can get started with only a handful of items: a phone, desk and chair, computer or tablet, and an internet connection. You also need people in your corner who will support you along your journey and give constructive criticism when needed.
Find people like that, and they’ll be invaluable to helping you grow as an entrepreneur while building something from nothing. Lastly, make sure you’re protected by starting a business insurance policy before taking any risks. It may seem unnecessary at first because it adds another layer of expense to your budget, but it could end up saving you thousands down the road if something happens.
So instead of risking going without coverage for months or years, get covered right away so you can move forward confidently and focus on growing your business instead of worrying about being protected. Start-up resources include finding local events where entrepreneurs gather, applying for small-business grants and loans, joining networking groups, and attending seminars hosted by colleges and community organizations.
Launch it!
Launching your own business is a big decision and not one to be taken lightly. But it’s also an exciting move, one that can give you the freedom and flexibility to structure your work life in a way that suits you best. If you have decided to go ahead with starting your own business, here are some top tips for making sure it gets off to a flying start. (more…) 3 Things You Should Know Before Starting Your Own Business: (1) What do I want? (2) What will I do? (3) How will I make money?
Plan it!: A solid plan ensures you don’t waste time, money, or energy trying to tackle everything at once. Planning out your goals gives you something to focus on when times get tough and reminds you of what’s important when things get hectic. It also gives you a list of tasks that need doing so there’s no more time spent wondering where to start next! To create a great plan, follow these steps:
Create it!: Getting started isn’t as easy as just setting up shop—there’s still plenty of hard work ahead!
Enjoy Success.
One of my favorite pieces of advice for anyone about to embark on a new venture, whether it’s starting a business or something else, is to not be discouraged by failure. Failing means you’re experimenting and learning. Make sure you don’t fall into a loop of blaming yourself when things don’t go your way or spending time in self-doubt and depression. All that does is leave you paralyzed and mired in fear.
Instead, talk to people who have been there, learn from your mistakes and then get back out there. You never know what might work until you try it! In fact, sometimes you may even succeed at whatever it is you set out to do. Just remember that if it doesn’t work out right away, it doesn’t mean you should give up—it just means it wasn’t right for now. Stay positive and enjoy success when you do see results! It will all pay off in time.
Also Read: 8 Smart Ways To Finance Your Startup
Conclusion
A business plan helps you answer questions about your potential business idea. From marketing and financing to operations and profitability, creating a detailed business plan is key for determining whether or not your idea will work. If you don’t have enough information or knowledge about an area of your business, such as operations or finances, you may want to research it before committing too much time.
The same goes for anything new or unfamiliar; research it to see if it’s feasible. Writing a great business plan takes discipline but can pay off in spades when starting a new venture. In addition to answering many important questions, it also forces you to think critically about your idea and explore its flaws. With that said, planning out your business isn’t always easy. It requires careful consideration of everything from financial resources to competition analysis and market trends.
Don’t be discouraged if things seem overwhelming at first—take it one step at a time! Follow these five tips for writing a business plan that could help ensure success: 1) Start with Why – Having passion and vision are critical components of running any successful company or organization because they give us motivation, determination, purpose… all things necessary for long-term success.
