Are you an individual with an amazing product idea? A person stuck in a 9-5 job and want to quit it to become an entrepreneur? Someone who wants to experiment with a hobby and convert it into a business?
Entrepreneurship is not easy but not impossible too. The decision to start your own business is a big one and needs careful consideration. There are exceptional examples of successful accidental business. But they are few. It takes months of research, investment, and hard work before launching any business, yet success is not guaranteed.
Hence here few organized ways on how you can go about starting your own business.
Identify your niche
The first and most important step is to identify your niche in the business. For example, if you are planning to sail shoes, then what is unique in it? Some uniqueness, either in product or service or location of the business, is necessary for business success.
Secondly, you must consider whether you will sell a product of your own, a service, or a franchise?
If you want to invent a product of your own first, find a problem. Make sure its real problem and solution will have sizable takers. Once you have identified the problem, all you need to do is find a solution to it.
Conduct market research
Market research is critical to know whether your business will sustain or not. You need to see if people are willing to purchase your product before you invest too much money into it. It's essential to validate your idea.
To do that, you can set up an online website and take preorders!
Research about similar products and services that means your competitors. Research about the pricing, features, and brand name of your competitors. This will give you an idea about the demand for your product in the market.
Find your ideal business location
If you plan to buy or rent a shop to conduct your business, select an ideal location. While conducting your market research, see in which area the demand for your product is the most.
Name your business
The name of your business and brand is very vital. Work on your name. It should be short, catchy, and easy to remember. It should reflect your company vision. Avoid similar sounding names like your competing brands; create an original name with a memorable tagline.
There are various name generators online that can help you name your business, such as Namelix, Wordoid, and NameStation.
Plan your business model
Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.
Many entrepreneurs have a good business plan but make the mistake of overlooking their business planning. It's a mistake. Planning can streamline the business creation process and helps you think methodically. Planing makes plans successful.
Plan out how you are going to conduct your business. From a brick and mortar shop, online website store, wholesaling, retail shops or supermarkets. Plan out your manufacturing, transportation, and storage of your product. Try to minimize your cost as much as possible.
Get funds
For starting any business, you need to make investments. You need to put in your own money to start it and to maintain it. If you feel you need the support of other people, get investors to invest in your company.
Investors not only provide you with funds but also guide you on how to go about conducting business. You can also take loans from the bank.
But if you get investors or take bank loans, you have to repay it on time with interest. Hence, it would help if you plan a financial model. In case if anything goes wrong, you should have enough funds to pay the loans back or else you'll be in debt.
You can also sell shares of your company to the masses to gather funds. This will also make people aware of your business.
Patent and its importance
If you are going to launch your original product, get a patent done first. A patent is a right granted to an inventor by the government that permits the inventor to exclude others from making, selling, or using the invention for a period of time. It can be a national or international patent, depending on your needs.
Hence, nobody can make your product's knockoffs and sell in the market if you have a patent. Even if they do, you can sue them in the court of law.
Hire people
You can't run the business alone. You need skilled people to help you. From manufacturing, marketing, transportation to sales, and delivery, you need a well-organized staff to help you out.
Hence hire people who will form your workforce and help in building your business. But go slow in the beginning, hire if it is a must. Save money.
Launch your business
When all your plans are in place, and your product/service is ready, you should launch your business.
It is preferred that you do a soft launch. For example, if you are launching a store, invite a few influencers, eminent people, and friends for a soft launch. People who are invited attend the soft opening and promote your brand. Their feedback will help you improve before you enter the market.
You can also launch your business via an online website store. Give special discounts for the first few customers to create a buzz about your company.
Then you can finally launch your company to the public.
I hope this blog will help you get started on your Entrepreneur dream. Let us know how you feel about this article, and share your ideas in the comments section below.