You have to find answer to many questions. You will have different operations to perform like selecting the business, the industry, ownership form, finance, business plan, tax related issues, business process, site selection, licenses, registration and so on. The list is very big.
ou have to not only perform these; but have to perform them fine. You have to prioritize the activities and perform them accordingly. For an inexperienced entrepreneur, the tasks become more needed.
Starting a small business may be divided into two stages: one is pre-startup stage, and the other is post startup stage.
Pre-startup Stage:
This stage is actually a planning stage. You have to plan your activities and act accordingly. This stage is very crucial as you plan out your whole business here only.
In this stage you will decide about the idea of business. The idea development will take sometime. Idea generation depends on many factors like your exposure, background, family, education, psychological state, prior experience, cultural background etc. Business ideas will vary from person to person. Your previous experiences will decide what you will do.
After you decide the idea, you will have to prepare a business plan. A business plan contains everything about the business idea like idea, market, process of producing or developing it, finance needed and finance sources, financial projection etc. You can make it yourself or you can delegate it to experts.
You have to arrange for the finance for your small business in this stage. Finance source may be different for you. You have to complete the entire certificate and license related works. You will need to find out the location and start the structure for future processing.
Post startup stage:
This is the implementation of the idea and plans. The entire plan that you have for your small business is to be done practically.
You have to mage the business in this stage. Already you have started the small business. Now you have to manage it daily. You have to mange the customer related issues, employee related issues, inventory and supply chain related issues, and production related issues.
Starting a small business can happen in three ways. You can start a new business, you can acquire already existing business, or you can start a franchisee of a reputed organization.
Starting a New Business:
You will start a new enterprise from scratch. This is a long term process and is really tough. You have to start and build all the systems in a business.
Acquiring a existing business:
If you want to acquire an already existing business, then it is a little easier for you than starting a new business. Here you get some of the systems of the business pre built. This will help you to start the business fast. You can select a business that you want to start. You can design it accordingly after you take it over. You will get customers existing already.
Today after putting together a successful business, I often wonder if I'd do things differently if I have to start again. Of course there are tons of things but I am going to highlight most important ones here. I know these are going to help you a lot.
I don't know why you are starting out? may be you don't like your boss or may be you think it's better to work yourself and make all the money. Regardless of your reasons, you'll find this list helpful. Don't forget you can use these techniques on internet too.
# 1. Have More confidence in Your Skill : No matter who you meet, be it an expert businessman or an authority figure in your niche. Have more confidence. I cannot stress this enough. If you have worked hard to learn a skill then I can bet, there are only a few people better than you.
I was a programmer and I understood this unknowingly to the extent I was arrogant about it. I have met many highly paid programmers and knew their skills weren't at my level. If I start again, I'd not mind crossing the arrogance line once again.
Why? If you are confident in your skill, that'll come across in your communication and will help you land a client or two regardless of your experience. I had more than few HR managers of big firms looking to hire me.
# 2. No More Free Work : I'd do no work which doesn't get me paid right now. Nope, never. I did this mistake to ?build my portfolio?. And trust me not many people trust your skills if you are working for free.
If you like doing charity work, then I can show you tons of guys who'll squeeze every drop of blood out of you before you say ?Hi?.
# 3. Give discounts or Free for promise of more work: Now my first client was like ?If you work for me, I'll get you this guy, that guy and that guy's account and more over you guys aren't even experienced, nobody will pay you a single dime?.
If that happens to you. Find a better client. Trust me? This client was big headache. I had a bad hunch, but my partner told me to go ahead. Now this client would change his requirements of this project every day and then later cut down the deadline from 90 days to 50 days.
If you have been in programming, then you know it's not easy at all. From coding, to testing and debugging. We worked like maniacs? and what we got? Nothing, Nada, zippo.
No more price cutting or competing on price. You'll always end up on losing side.
Well the only good thing we got out of this client was understanding how to deal with people like him. That's it. Never got paid for this project. My finger tips still hurt after working for him day in day out. I might talk more about dealing with guys like him in another post.
You'll read 4 more tips in my next part of this series.
Both Zach Thompson & Varun Pratap are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Zach Thompson has sinced written about articles on various topics from Business Loans, Nutrition and Tax Software. Zach Thompson is a 23 year-old network marketer & marketing consultant. Why ?. Zach Thompson's top article generates over 49500 views. to your Favourites.
Varun Pratap has sinced written about articles on various topics from Writing, Lose Weight and Health. Read My blog on Freelancing and .These tips will help you launch your freelance career or your small business with more confidence and surety. Varun Pratap's top article generates over 33100 views. to your Favourites.