10 Steps to starting a Business as a Startup
Starting
a business is not as hard as it is made out to
be, but it is no walk in the park either. Many entrepreneurs still struggle
with different challenges relating to this. It is similar with starting a
business in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, or anywhere else
on earth: it all begins with an idea, an idea which is born out of a need or
lack and an attempt to satisfy said need. As an entrepreneur, you must develop
the right mindset needed to operate and learn the act of selling in an already
crowded Market.
Your chances of
business success or failure depends on the market need that your business is
trying to solve and the target market (demographics and economic power of that
market segment). For an entrepreneur to start a business, he or she must have
the ability to identify opportunities where others feel discomfort. It must be
stated that though entrepreneurship always seems a better way to financial
success, there is not much of a guarantee of success. Basically, you must
understand that entrepreneurs go through hard times and the survival of their
businesses depend to a large extent on how far they are willing to go and how
well they can handle losses and setbacks.
There are a lot
of measures that need to be put in place when starting a business, a business
plan is one of them. Without a good business plan, investments going into your
business may end up getting wasted. When you’re serious about taking your
business to the next level, having a partner that treats your business the way
that you would is the next thing that matters. The following are ten steps
involved in starting a business.
1: Get Prepared
The first step to
starting a business is to adequately prepare yourself. This is very essential
as adequate preparation or the lack thereof can be the thin line between
success and failure. Running a business is strenuous but, in the end, highly
profitable, so to survive, you have to be willing to work through the stress. How
do you prepare yourself? You can do this by attending a seminar on the chosen
line of business you wish to venture in and getting all the necessary
information available to you. Any idea you think of, chances are someone has
information on it, so you have to get all the information possible and add your
twist to make it stand out. Understand that the reality is you can fail
tomorrow so increase your risk bearing capacity. Make up your mind to keep
trying despite the odds and competition and find what makes your business
special and different from the norm.
2: Have a Good Business idea
To start a
successful business, you must first come up with a good business idea. Any idea
or business opportunity would pass unless it’s a novel idea or invention.
Having said idea is just the beginning in the entire process of bulking a
business even though it is important, it doesn’t matter how good your
idea/ideas are, having that alone wouldn’t guarantee the success of your business;
having good business etiquette and understanding how to make use of
opportunities would. You don’t need to rack your brains to create something
new, just find a proven business line and learn the fundamentals. You could
look for business plans that have already been written and use article spinner to
edit them and make them yours. The best part about starting a business is that
the needed population to absorb any product that is backed by a strong business
sense and good knowledge of business fundamentals already exists.
3: Do a Feasibility study
The next step to
starting a business is to do a thorough feasibility study before investing in
any business opportunity. This is basically where a lot of entrepreneurs tend
to fail. People invest in business opportunities because of sentiments or
because “someone” said was profitable and this ought not to be. Jumping into an
industry blindly without having the necessary information needed is setting
yourself up for disaster. Entrepreneurship is about taking risks but not the
ones that can be avoided. It is better to know what you’re getting yourself
into. A few of the factors you need to look into before kick starting your
business includes; Human Capacity Building and Job creation, Social policies
and corporate social responsibility initiative.
4: Understand your Market
Before going into
any business or industry, make sure you have thorough understanding of its
fundamentals. Every business has an inside secret and if you must succeed in
your chosen field, a firsthand knowledge of this secret is essential.
Understanding the market of the industry you are going into will increase your
chances of success. Begin by asking yourself the questions below:
• Who are the
customers for the intended business?
• How do they
want to be served?
• Who are your
major competitors?
• Who is the
market leader?
• Do you have a
chance for survival?
• What am I
bringing to the table that’s different from what my competitors are bringing or
have already brought?
• Do you see
yourself getting your own customers in this proposed business industry?
These are the
questions you must answer before starting a small business in any industry.
5: Write a simple Business Plan
A lot of people
do not write business plans, they think of an idea and assume said idea is
enough to start a business and make it work and this is where a lot of
entrepreneurs get it all wrong. Apart from it being professional to have a
business plan, it is a lot better for you to be able to see what exactly you’re
getting yourself into and everything you would possibly need and all of this is
contained in the plan. Imagine you were an investor and two people wanted you
to invest, one comes with a business idea and word of mouth while the other
comes with a well written business plan, who are you most likely to invest in?
Writing a
business plan is a competitive advantage for your business and even if you
cannot write it, you could hire
a writer that would do it for you, that way it
comes out more professional or as earlier stated you could use article spinner to
edit an already existing plan and make it yours. Article spinners according to
Wikipedia are writing techniques used in search engine optimization (SEO),
and other applications, which creates what appears to be new content from what
already exists.
6: Find a Good Location
There are some
questions that needed to be answered if you want to start a business, one of
this includes;
• Where are you
going to locate your business?
• Are you going
to site your business within your neighborhood or are you going to site your business
in an industrial area?
• Are you going
to separate yourself from the crowd by building your own brand in a specially
selected location?
• Or you are
going to operate from the center of trade or commerce?
Whatever location
you choose, be ready to take on the challenges of the terrain. Thankfully,
because of globalization it has become easier for people to start businesses
and watch them thrive without having an actual location. Take advantage of the
internet which is basically the location of the present and the future, get
good knowledge of how to use social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook
and take your business to the next level. You get to meet and interact with
customers all over the world and reach out to your target market.
7: Obtain the necessary Licenses and permits
Make sure you
obtain the necessary licenses and permits needed to operate your line of
business in order to avoid issues with the government and law enforcement
agents. Every industry has regulatory bodies governing it; make sure you check
their operational policies to be on the safe side of the law. Also remember
that you may need licenses and permits from both the local, state and federal
government. So, make sure you factor their costs in your budget, this is
another reason a business plan is important. Without these licenses you risk
being disturbed or even shut down by the authorities involved in the execution
of business laws.
8: Register your company
Most businesses
operate as sole proprietorships; you can choose to do that and bear the entire
risks involved in your business. If you really want to build a successful
business that will stand the test of time; I will advise you register a
business name or add it to the list of things you need to do in your short term
plan. You can choose between the sole proprietorship; limited liability or
public liability form of entity. After choosing your business entity, you can
get your business name registered at the Corporate Affairs Commission’s office
in Abuja, Lagos or anywhere nearest to your domicile. Go through a lawyer to
avoid unnecessary mistakes.
9: Raise Capital
Before making up
your mind to start a business, you should have capital at hand for the said
business or have investors or potential for investors that would be interested
in funding the business. Hire
a writer to help you write proposals that you
can send to potential investors.
10: Start the business
After going
through all the processes above; this is where the real work begins; starting
the business. Most people hire
a writer to make good plans, do feasibility
research for said business and even get the needed capital to start a business,
but for one reason or the other; they just fail to start. The success or
failure of the business depends on how much you know about it and how much risk
you’re willing to take; this is true, however, it isn’t meant to discourage you.
Start that business today and do it the right way and you just might thrive!
