Many people think that starting a business is easy. I know for a fact that it is far from easy.
Before starting out it is important to list your reasons for wanting to go into business. Having a mentor to help guide you through the steps to starting a business is invaluable. Every little bit of advice helps when you're starting a business - provided it's good advice.
Before you start your business you need to ask yourself some serious questions:
(1) Can I handle the difficulties and challenges that come with starting a business? (2) Who is my audience/or business aimed at? (3) Where is my business to be located? (4) Am I starting full-time or part-time?
Starting a business requires determination, motivation, and knowledge. Starting a business can be a complicated and daunting experience. Not everyone has what it takes to be successful in business. A lot of people fail because they jumped into business without honestly appraising their lifestyle to know if it fits in with running a business. It could also be possible that they underestimated the amount of effort involved in starting or running a business.
It is very important to discuss your intention of starting a business with your close family (and friends). Many a relationship has been broken because the 'other half' could not understand why all the attention seemed to switch from them to starting and nurturing a new business. In my opinion close friends and family need to be put in the picture regarding what to expect when you're starting a new business
Have you got a good business idea? You would think this an obvious question anyone thinking of starting a business will ask themselves this question. Many people seemingly run with the first business idea that comes to their mind. They seldom pause to investigate the viability of their business idea. A good business idea is one that meets a customer's need, fills an empty niche, solves someone's problem or answers someone's question(s).
A good way to generate good business ideas is to look inwards. What do you enjoy doing? What hobby or hobbies do you regularly indulge in? This may hold the key to your business idea. Unless you are a serial entrepreneur with a proven track record you may struggle badly if you venture into a business you do not have background knowledge of or one without any bearings to your previous experience(s) in life.
Location, location, location. Except when setting up an online business, the location is of great importance for your new business. You need to think very carefully about the location of your business. The over-riding factor in deciding the location for your business should be customers. After all the whole point of starting a business is to serve customers (and also make money, of course). As such the business should be located where the customers are located. You also need to think about the amenities available in the area such as bus, tube, train etc.
Not everyone has the confidence to go full hog into business. You may decide to continue with your day job while building your business part-time. Although this may mean taking more time to build your business to its full potential it nevertheless reduces the risk of loss of income if you were to pack in your day job to concentrate solely on building your business.
Once you've answered the pertinent questions enumerated above you then need to add the necessary ingredient of a successful business namely: A Business Plan. Many people often skip this very important step, thinking they are saving time. In the long run it costs them time if not money as well. This, I believe, is because working through a business plan will tell you whether or not your idea for starting a business is viable. A business plan may also be necessary for securing funding. A business plan explains your business concept, highlights the details of your business and generally helps you focus the direction of your business, amongst other things. Not giving these factors proper consideration may cost you time and or money in the future.
A well prepared business plan can help you secure funding for your business. In that wise money/funding is not as important as putting together a good business plan for your proposed business.
If you are not experienced in writing a business plan you can get someone else to write it for you. A good place to look is elance website. You can also try ebay website. Another good source of help is friends and family. Inform your friends and family about your intention of starting a business and ask if they can or know anyone who can be of help in putting together a business plan.
Now you've decided on a business idea and you've put a business plan together, what next? You need to source the funding for your business. The following, not an exhaustive list by any means, are sources of funding you may consider:
(1) personal savings (2) loans from friends and family (3) loan from a bank/building society/other financial institution
Running your own business is one of the most rewarding but challenging things you can do.
Starting a business is an exciting and sometimes confusing endeavour. The toughest part of starting a business is, in fact, making a start - going from your passion to the reality of running a business that fulfils your hopes and aspirations. Starting a business is incredibly hard work. Starting a business is a big step and it takes planning.
If you are thinking of starting a business my advice to you is to go for it - it's very rewarding to create something from nothing.
Remember: "The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing, and becomes nothing. He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn and feel and change and grow and love and live." - Anon.
Making the shift from employee to entrepreneur can be a daunting task. The changes necessary to master entrepreneurial skill sets, habits, and paradigms can be overwhelming. "Do I have what it takes to become an entrepreneur?" you ask yourself for the tenth, twentieth, or even fiftieth time. Setbacks and frustrations come with the territory, and eventually many budding entrepreneurs believe that they have made a huge mistake and go back to the familiar, with their tails tucked between their legs and a massive failure hangover.
The good news is that you do not have to master everything. I know you don't believe it, so let me say it again: You don't have to master every attitude, skill set, technique, and body of knowledge to successfully start your own business. It is impossible for you to do so, being human. Cut yourself some slack. Those who have successfully made the transition will freely tell you that they are not fluent in all the necessary entrepreneurial skills. Even Bill Gates will tell you that!
More good news: Entrepreneurs are made, not born. If you are willing, you can acquire many of the attitudes and skills of an entrepreneur. If there is one quality that is paramount in your quest to start your own business, it is the willingness and desire to learn, change, and grow. If you are not interested in learning new things, changing yourself, and experiencing personal growth, you will find having your own business and making it prosper very difficult. Let's face it; you know the old paradigms aren't working, or else you wouldn't be interested in making such a radical change in your life.
Here is a non-exhaustive list of characteristics of successful entrepreneurs (Let me encourage you to read it dispassionately, without measuring yourself against each one right now):
* Self-motivating; able to take independent action
* A commitment to personal and business integrity
* A capacity for hard work with little to no feedback
* Problem-solving skills
* People skills - among them toleration, the ability to listen, encourage, and mediate
* Stubborn, persistent, able to tolerate frustration and failure
* Self-aware with the ability to modify your own behavior
* Reliability - a person who keeps commitments
* The ability to seize the moment and take risks
* Creativity - a "big-picture" thinker, innovative, visionary
* Strong capability to organize self, people, and resources
* Good self-esteem with positive self-talk
* Able to say "no" and set boundaries
* Adaptable
* Tolerance for ambivalence, uncertainty, and ambiguity
* A burning desire to achieve and succeed
* A wealthy, rather than middle-class, understanding of money
* An openness to ideas and inspiration from unfamiliar sources
* The ability to delegate and to ask for help
* Proficiency in communicating and getting your ideas across
* Able to learn from mistakes, criticism, and feedback
Here is an exercise that is very important in assessing your strengths and where you are right now. Take a piece of paper, draw a line down the middle, and label the right column "strengths." Label the left column "liabilities" as opposed to "weaknesses." Words are important! Now give yourself a block of quiet time without interruptions or distracting stimuli to take an inventory of your strengths and liabilities. Since we humans often have large blind spots about ourselves, it would be valuable to seek information from someone who knows you well and who will be supportive. Please note, that person being supportive is crucial! Don't ask critical, unsupportive people for feedback about your strengths and liabilities. This is akin to throwing your pearls before swine.
Don't look at the liabilities column right now. Also, don't be discouraged if the liabilities column is longer than the strengths column. You should have at least seven to ten strengths listed. If not, keep asking supportive people (or yourself) until you can come up with them. Once you have them, that is the time to look at the list above and see where your strengths dovetail with the entrepreneurial qualities listed.
I would lay a wager that if you took the necessary time, and were able to ask for help, you were amazed at the list of strengths you finally came up with. You were also astonished at how many of the qualities on the list you actually had. Here's where the fun part comes in. Take each of your strengths, and envision yourself in a business-related scenario using that strength successfully. Here are a couple of examples.
If you are a creative visionary, imagine yourself seeing the future of your business, and successfully planning to get it there. Don't be brief with this vision, but play it out. What obstacles do you see that others are oblivious to? What trends in the marketplace do you see that would provide a niche for your business, and how to you set yourself up to capitalize on this information? How do you capture your visions? Do you write them down? Dictate them? Draw them? Where are you when you do so?
If you are skilled at communicating and getting your ideas across, picture yourself communicating to a group of people your understanding of the benefits of your product or service. Do you write them down? Or do you make a PowerPoint and show it to them? You don't have to be physically present with them to communicate. How would you do so, if that were the case? Make sure you picture your success in the endeavor. If thoughts of failure or humiliation cross your mind, capture them quickly and get rid of them.
What about that list of liabilities? Glance through it briefly, then put it aside for the future. When you start focusing on and utilizing your strengths, you will gain self-confidence. As that confidence grows, and you start seeing success in your business, you can pull that list out to start working on one or two liabilities at a time.
The secret? Always operate from your strengths. As you learn, grow, prosper, succeed, and overcome challenges, you will see that list of liabilities grow smaller and smaller.
Both Jimi Adeboyejo & Suzanne Thomas 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.
Jimi Adeboyejo has sinced written about articles on various topics from Web Development, Education and Debt Consolidation. J.A. is a budding Internet Marketer. Visit his business-related sites at; . Jimi Adeboyejo's top article generates over 12100 views. to your Favourites.
Suzanne Thomas has sinced written about articles on various topics from Web Development. Suzanne Thomas is a psychiatric RN with 28 years of experience. During her nursing career, she acquired many skills that easily transferred to entrepreneurship, she was delighted to discover. She is now. Suzanne Thomas's top article generates over 12100 views. to your Favourites.