If one of your goals is to start your own business once and for all. Here we leave you basic tips that will help you start a business from scratch to make it a success.
There are many factors that influence when building, growing and maintaining a company, and many times even the most experienced get uncertain results. It doesn’t matter if you’re wrong, the important thing is that you move on and learn from your mistakes, because at the end, entrepreneurship is about learning and leading your business successfully.
Starting a business requires not only financial planning but also structural calculations, this is because the needs of the spaces and money will not be the same for each entrepreneur.
Starting your own business from scratch can have many rewards, such as the freedom to be creative and innovative; but it also carries responsibilities in all decision making, responsibilities to yourself as well as to your clients, and in most cases to your employees.
Without further ado, here is the step-by-step guide for aspiring entrepreneurs on how to start the business of your dreams:
Start with a Business Idea
When formulating a business idea, start by determining your strengths, skills, and interests. Choose something that you are passionate about, passion drives you to success because it allows you to fully commit to your goals despite the obstacles you may encounter on the business path.
Is there something you like to do or something you want to specialize in? In general, most people who want to start a business, often they already have an idea in mind and just need to give it shape.
If this is the case, define to which category your idea belongs and the type of business you want to start, if on the contrary, you want to start now, but you do not have an idea in mind, you can look around you and try to find solutions to existing problems in the market.
Observing different businesses around you can help you find solutions to the problems that these businesses face, so try to find a product or service that is necessary or lacking in the market.
Good business ideas are usually those that provide a solution that greatly benefits the consumer and is willing to pay a fair price for it.
Trending products can help you determine if it is a sustainable business idea over time, the idea of improving an existing product on the market can also help you.
You can also use tools like google trend, to see what products consumers are looking for online. Or you can see the best-selling products on Amazon, to see if you can find a product that you can improve and be sustainable over time.
Test Your Idea and Analyze the Market
Whether you start as an independent or generating a business idea, you have to validate its potential as quickly as possible to make the decision whether or not to invest your time and money.
Once you have specific products or services in mind, choose the sector you want to address and research the existing companies, what their products are and why the consumer buys them and most importantly what is the target market, who is the customer.
Validating your idea is nothing more than finding out if your solution is attractive to your potential customers.
For this you can create a prototype version of any idea you can think of. Even if you have a fairly complex idea to prototype, you can be creative and ask yourself what feature of your solution you want to know if it satisfies your customers.
The most economical way to validate your idea is by speaking directly with your potential clients, contact those who may be your clients and ask them directly what if they would pay for a solution (either product or service), like the one you are offering. The feedback that you will receive is extremely valuable because it would not only validate your idea, but it could also improve it.
Market research at this stage is essential, as it provides information on competitor practices, potential customer preferences, market trends, year-round consumer behavior, and demographics.
Know your competition, what are its main strengths, but above all, study the weak points, because that is where you can improve your products or services.
Once you have a clear picture of your target audience, it’s time to learn about their real characteristics, their challenges, and their buying habits.
Knowing the conditions of the market that you want to enter with your business is very important and you need to understand both the historical movement and the competitors that you are going to face and the best way to generate strategies. For this reason, we recommend that you do a good market study defining your objectives before starting your sales strategy.
Prepare a Business Plan
Once you have validated your idea and are clear about the service or product that your ideal client needs, it is time to thoroughly plan your business.
The business plan is a written document that you must have at any stage of your business, there is a misconception, especially in small businesses or those entrepreneurs who are starting their business, that the business plan is only necessary to request a bank loan, and the reality is that no, the reality is that you must have it for your daily use in the company, it is something that you should have on hand, to see if it is possible on a daily basis.
This will undoubtedly bring more benefits to your business than any other business tool. So the business plan is basically a manual that will give you clarity, it will give you commitment to your business with your clients and it will also inspire you to achieve those goals.
A business plan can change over time and with the interests of your company, it is not a rigid document. Within the business plan you will detail, not only the name of your company, but also the type of company, although it is an LLC or Corporation, what is your target client, production costs, suppliers, sales channels, prices, competitiveness, financial statements, return on investment (ROI), required employees and any other details that will help you understand your business and how it will operate in the near future.
If you’re looking for investors, explain why your products are valuable to your clearly defined target market.
Then, briefly comment on what you are aiming to achieve in a certain amount of time, whether it is maintaining profits or increasing market share.
The important thing in this step of the business plan is that you do it for yourself, so that it serves as a guide when you start your business and do not get off track, do not do it thinking that it is a tool to borrow money.
Get Capital or Financing
An essential element for the success of your startup is obtaining enough capital to launch and grow the business.
Most people finance their new business venture with their own capital or borrow money from family or friends and sometimes even worse from the bank.
However, there are many other options, such as state loans through private banks, angel investment, crowdfunding, small business credit cards, venture capital, and investment partners.
Be very careful with debts, undertaking is about being creative and reacting with opportunity, if it is not necessary Do not get into debt, you do not need it until you are in a consolidated stage or at least with sales. Be careful when financing yourself, since the last thing you want is to start a business with debts and without growth security.
A good way to get the capital you need is by doing a pre-sale, if as you hear it, you can get money directly from your customers just by postponing the delivery date of the product, this is just an example of how not to get into debt and still get money.
Another way to capitalize is, by talking to your suppliers, call them and ask if they can send you the products on consignment, or if they can send you samples, so you can sell without having to buy bundles and bundles of merchandise.
Do a search in your area of foundations, banking and government that help new entrepreneurs, you will be surprised how much help you can get, in any area of your business.
Even though having capital to start your business is critical, remember that not all capital is cash.
Bring Your Business to Life
Once you are clear where you will obtain the capital, the next step is to register your business, obtain permits if necessary, some companies may require the application for federal, state or local licenses and permits to operate, you must also include your company with the collector tax, register patents or trademark rights or copyrights, in short, all the legal paperwork.
Register your company. The business structure influences your daily operations, your tax obligations and your personal assets, consult a good business lawyer and your accountant.
Having business insurance helps you manage risks and protect losses as your business grows. All small businesses and large corporations should apply to be fully prepared.
The most common types of business insurance for a new business are workers’ compensation, professional liability, and general liability insurance.
This is also the time to open a bank account for your business. Opening a business bank account can help you control cash flow by separating your business finances from your personal money.
Although some banks offer free services, be sure to check their transaction fees. Some banks may waive specific fees if you maintain a minimum balance, limit transactions, and use the bill pay option.
Create Your Team
Many entrepreneurs can start their company alone, but even alone, they must always have a team, from your accountant, your banker, your family, through your employees and cleaning staff, to your suppliers, they are your team.
All these people, who in one way or another give you support, are part of your team, but they won’t be a team if you don’t lead them.
So, creating your team is talking to all the people in your business, explaining to them where you want to take the business and what you want their relationship with the business to be. Be a Leader.
Companies have a better chance of succeeding if they hire the right people. To create a balanced team, first analyze your strengths and weaknesses. Look for employees who can complement the skills you bring to the table.
The ideal is to anticipate in advance what help you will need before seeing yourself overwhelmed by the demand for work. If not, you will include profiles in your team that are not exactly what you need, that will not solve the tasks as you expect and that will add concerns.
The smarter the people on your team, the better for everyone. Your job is to coordinate them and set the company line, not compete with them. You are the reference, the leader, but the team is the one who gets the job done. Establish Ranks, each team member must know who to turn to and for what. There should always be an established pecking order.
Launch Your Business
Once your product, your business plan and your winning team are ready, it is time to launch your business to the public, at this stage is where you will put into action the marketing and sales strategies that you have previously planned in your business plan.
It is not enough to encourage people to buy. They have to remain loyal customers to your brand despite your competitors. Only if you offer excellent services and assistance will you be able to retain your customers. Remember to differentiate yourself.
The success of a business does not come overnight. It takes time and effort for the benefits to increase through actions.
Learn daily from your customer, ask for constructive feedback, and continue to improve your products and services.
To ensure that your business continues to grow, you may need to consider a change of course. When the progress of your business slows down or you have too much competition, the most sensible thing to do is to refocus your products. This change allows you to compete with other companies that market and sell the same products as your business.
For your brand to prosper, it is necessary to spend a great deal of effort and time to analyze the needs of the customers, offer them a good service and build their loyalty.
