Starting your own business: What you need to know

To create a successful business you need – a good plan, a good product or service that people actually want, good people that can make things happen and most importantly a good supply of money.  There is no secret formula to start a business. All you have to do is make something that people want, take their money in exchange for your product or service, ensure your product/service costs less to make than you charge for it, so you earn a profit and start the cycle again. An entrepreneur’s life can be a roller coaster, there’s no doubt that great changes comes great opportunities. If you want to be entrepreneur, here are a few tips to help you start your business.

Draw up a business plan

Good business plans do not have to be 100 pages long with endless details.  If you can visualise your goals then there is a strong probability that you can achieve them. Every plan should start out with basic list of aims and a reasonable idea about how to achieve those aims.  In order to do this, work backwards, visualise your goals and break them into small achievable tasks.

Will people buy my product or service?

It’s simple. Ask them! This will help you to understand what might make them buy your product/service from you instead of other competitors. Understand everything you can about your customers.

Who are these good people?

As your business grows you will have to employ people.  You will need employees who also share your passion and ambition, who are goal orientated and will go the extra mile to get things done. Quite often it is natural to think of hiring your family and friends.  You may possibly consider this as a positive trait, while you look for the best and brightest employees for your company. However, hiring friends and or family can be detrimental.  If you have to let your family or friends go, it’s likely you’ll have an awkward relationship after.  Also, your family and friends may undermine your leadership with other employees by not taking you seriously.  This might seem like a great idea to make your work day fly by and have fun in your workplace, but for start-ups, one bad hire can be the difference between success and failure.

Cash is King

Starting business requires cash or credit.  Plain and simple, your business needs capital. While investing more money in your business can’t guarantee its success, you can pretty much guarantee one of the many failures of a business is usually because of the lack of funding. To avoid this situation, you will have to review how much finance you need to start your business, remember to take everything into account including a few basic business expenses such as business cards, accounting software, website etc.   Simply put, without reviewing your cash flow there is no business.  Maintaining cash flow will be an ongoing challenge, but it’s possibly one of the most important things for start-ups.  Look to see if there are grants available in your area to help get your business off the ground.  Take advantage of all the available ‘free money’ to save your own cash for later.

Seek professional advice

Starting your own business can sometimes be little bumpy, full of ups and downs.  It easy to get stressed, you cannot let fear from preventing you pursue your dreams and goals.  Seeking professional financial advice can help you both in the short term and the future.  An adviser will able to steer you in the right direction, and help with any tax and budget issues as well if the arise.

Starting and running a business can provide a lot of satisfaction but it’s not for everyone.  It can be time consuming and expensive.  A lot of people don’t understand how much effort and commitment you have to create to a successful business.  If you are up for the journey, you may possibly find years of happiness and joy launching and owning your own business.