What advice do you have for starting a business?
I want to start a business but I'm not sure where to begin. I have taken courses on Coursera and read many business books such as Michael T. Porter's "Competitive Strategy" and Robert T. Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad Poor Dad" but I still can't figure out where to begin with creating my business model/blueprint. I'm hoping the experts here on business.com can help provide me with suggestions. Thank you!
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Jan 16, 2020
Exploration and investigation are your best friends.
Here is a good article: Recommendations to CEO https://ivypanda.com/essays/recommendations-to-ceo/
you could find useful tips and ideas. Plus I would recommend reading business strategy analysis of successful companies.
Dec 30, 2019
You need to do a business plan. The research you do will help you to work out if the business is viable. There is absolutely no use starting a business that will not make you money! You have to research the local market or demand, then you have to research your competition, then come up with some strategies about how are you going to enter the market - what can you do or offer to get a share of the market? Then you have to figure out the numbers and your money. Are you going to be able to back it or will you need finance? A business plan done the right way we help you when you apply for credit.
My business advisor has a great business plan template: https://aureliusadvisory.com.au/business-tools/business-plan-template/
Dec 20, 2019
Need to make a plan. Then the legal aspects. But the main thing is to decide what kind of business you want.
Dec 19, 2019
One of the main concerns to take care of is the legal aspects. Starting your own business is a serious matter and there are many important legal steps you must cover before you get going. Feel free to contact us.
Dec 19, 2019
Starting a business isn't rocket science. First, figure out what you are good at? Oh, sorry, I think you aren't able to find out your best area of expertise. Right? Well, It happens. Don't worry. If you made your mind to start a new business, then first do your complete research on it. Employing comprehensive analysis, do A-Z study of the market, competitors, their strategies and also the worst-case scenarios as well.
Business is all about passion. It may generate decent revenue at starting or nothing too. It depends how passionate you are. Forget rest, forget about labor. It would be best if you managed all the things on your own. You can't do your business in full automation at the starting phase.
A few years back I started a digital marketing agency in India. At that time it wasn't an easy job to manage clients, and I ended up losing lots of work just because I didn't have much knowledge about management. I know how to develop things, how to market products but the thing I lacked was Management skills. So I decided to learn people are managing, communication skills so that in the future whenever I start a new business, I have such powers to convince people easily. So I started a tech blog that taught me most of the things.
So basically don't worry about failures. But avoid making mistakes. Use your capital wisely. Take proper suggestions from the big players in the same category and learn, apply and share the things you know. Keep hustling and keep grinding.
Overnight success in any business is a myth.
I hope my short answer can give you enough ideas to start your business. Thanks. All the very best.
Dec 17, 2019
Most of the below answered your question with loads of good information. However, I feel like I can add the following.
- It is preferable you start with a business in a field you are experienced with.
- However, if you decide to start a business which you aren't familiar with and then I strongly suggest you do lots and lots of research in that industry. Preferably seeking businessmen, employees, and people who are in the field.
You will need to sit with them and pick their brains on information such as:
a) Understanding Competition
b) Revenue Streams
c) Challenges faced by them in the industry (this will be very important to understand)
d) Seasons if applicable
e) And generally as much information as you can gather before jumping ship into a new industry
Dec 16, 2019
Do something you are good at and what you enjoy doing. Don't do something because you believe there's money in it. If you enjoy doing it, you will have more energy for it than 99 percent who try to enter the same industry. Well, obviously, there's much more to running a business than that, but that's a good start for narrowing down what to do.
Dec 9, 2019
Be nice to people on your way up. Remember birthdays and send gifts. It goes a long way.
Lastly, make yourself available and be clear on expectations up front. Don't wait to set rules for each business relationship and how it could work.
People appreciate these things.
Sep 16, 2019
Starting a business is a major venture, and there are several decisions to consider along the way. A colleague of mine wrote a step-by-step guide on how to start a business that you may find helpful: https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4686-how-to-start-a-business.html
To summarize his advice, these are the 10 steps you can take to turn your idea into a reality:
1. Refine your idea.
2. Write a business plan.
3. Assess your finances.
4. Determine your legal business structure.
5. Register with the government and IRS.
6. Purchase an insurance policy.
7. Build your team.
8. Choose your vendors.
9. Brand yourself and advertise.
10. Grow your business.
Best of luck to you on this exciting venture!
Sep 10, 2019
1. Before investing any time or resources, evaluate yourself and see if you have some of the typical traits of an entrepreneur. Are you motivated, able to adapt and confident? Are you resilient?
2. Develop a business concept that you're passionate about related to something that you have experience with. From there, come up with a product or service that you believe can enhance people's lives.
3. Once you start to develop your business idea, add up how much it will cost.
4. Look at your current sources of income. What do you earn from your current job? How long would your savings last if you quit? What unexpected things could mess up your plan (e.g., you wreck your car or your furnace breaks)? Prepare yourself for all the situations that could happen if the business idea doesn’t work out.
5. If you want to start a small business, don't quit your day job—yet. Launching a successful startup is a process. Build your business in stages and gradually transition from employee to entrepreneur.
6. It might slip your mind as something you'll "get around to" eventually, but purchasing the right insurance for your business is an important step that should happen before you officially launch. Dealing with such incidents as property damage, theft or even a customer lawsuit can be costly, and you need to be sure that you're properly protected.
Sep 10, 2019
Hi there,
If you are planning to start your own business, then having that passion for entrepreneurship is not enough. You need to have a great business idea that is not only in demand but unique too.
Nowadays the world moving towards the on-demand economy. According to the research, more than 80% of startups are started their entrepreneurial journey in the on-demand business platform and got a huge level of success.
The on-demand mobile apps are also the be a vital role in their success. There is plenty of on-demand business opportunities is available, only things you needed the perfect on-demand mobile app solution to instantly launch an on-demand business, So I would recommend you to utilize these golden opportunities with your own on-demand mobile app solution.
Aug 9, 2019
I think you can try some industries that are not very difficult to start a business or go to the right developing country, such as China.
Jul 17, 2019
Well, first I would like to congratulate you on the start of your own business. I have a cleaning business small but, working. I am my one and only employee for right now but, I will grow and hire people with a desire to clean. I am also taking classes at a community college. Trying to learn all that I can about the business world. I have found that word of mouth is the best way to start a business.
Jul 15, 2019
This question is too broad and too general. The environment you are in, the education background you have, your preference and interest, the money you or potential investors have, the skills set of the management team, and so on...
Having started more than 10 companies and help over 50 Startups, I will try to generalize some points for you to consider:
1. Find out what is the real intention to startup a business.
2. Do an entrepreneur readiness test to see whether you are ready.
3. Have a compelling idea(s).
4. Look for a few partners, there will be conflicts but if the team is genuine, benefits will be more than disadvantages.
5. You may kick start out of a passion with a product/ service or an idea or just wanted to be an entrepreneur, but recognize this will help you to understand what you lack.
6. Make sure you apply a proven protocol to startup - do remember self finance small startup and VC/angel injected startup will have a different protocol.
7. Always perform a product-market fit! Missing this part increases business risks by 99.9%.
8. Clearly articulate your startup and what you like to achieve - make necessary updating while you perform your product-market fit.
9. This is almost 90% of startups fail to do - ensure you build your startup appropriately and positioned well for the next grow. Most startups just proceed to grow with poorly built startups.
10. Although I am in Singapore, I set up businesses in Vietnam before - so please remember to adjust your startup according to Vietnam environment, reframe to fully adopt an approach to startup, you need to customize to your needs and environment.
11. At all time, read a lot, go training a lot, get a world-class mentor, and so on... because the beginner as an entrepreneur or CEO is just like a little child going into the kindergarten.
All the best and wish prosperity,
JC
Jul 10, 2019
I love being an entrepreneur even though I still work at a full-time job and do this on the side. I would rather be working on my business doing any other job. With that being said, I just want to make sure you are ready for what owning your own business actually entails. Here are some pointers to consider
1. You have no life for a while. You are married to your business and its all on your shoulders now. No life, no life and oh yeah, no life!!
2. The buck stops with you. You think your boss is bad, every customer is now your boss. They only care about what you can do them and they can be unreasonable as all get out.
3. Your business may fail, you have to be willing to take a massive risk and be able to sleep at night knowing it is on you. You also might not get a good night's sleep at all for a while. Just a heads up on that.
Now, if you still want to be your own boss after what I just said, awesome sauce!! The best business to go into would be an online business. The cost of entry is lower and the risk can be greatly minimized. You could even do it part-time and still work full time. You can do everything from flipping products on Amazon and eBay to selling courses online to creating your own YouTube channel on something you like and create value for those who watch it. The web is truly the great equalizer and untold riches can be untapped. Check out YouTube and Vimeo for free courses on how to start these businesses online. These are great starting points and it will help you get your feet wet in owning your own business.
Good luck and God Bless,
Zuraida Oen
Owner of Excavation Dayton Ohio
Jul 10, 2019
The best approach is to start with a problem. This problem should be:
* worth to solve (not just minor),
* affect a number of people, and
* clearly defined.
Very often people prefer problems which are also something they are passionate about. You will work many hours without much a return on your business, so being passionate about the idea helps a lot to stick through the pain.
Jul 6, 2019
Analyze some relevant business and there strength and week point. Then think about your business what is your strength and week point and take a decision. Its called SWAT.
Jul 6, 2019
When it comes to starting a business, understanding the pulse of the market, the target audience, business activity, location, government regulations, logistics, export/import, talent pool, support infrastructure, there is a lot of checks.
In the real world, the management concepts and marketing, the business strategy might not be applied directly, each business is different and has to be taken forward that way. Understand the competition, demand for your product, use digital marketing to analyze your audience response to your services, become a thought-leader in your domain
Apply strategies and management concepts with real-life experiences and always do a test phase before you set out something large.
For business setup requirements, paperwork, admin tasks, it best to go ahead with a business service consultant to save time, effort and costs. You would be surprised by the amount of documentation and clearances required to set up your dream company.
Jul 3, 2019
It's alright to be overwhelmed - starting a business from scratch and making sure it stays profitable, isn't something that one master overnight, or through completing courses. Think of it as a journey or process of sorts, instead.
My advice is to do more research and identify gaps in the market that you could fill in. Focus on the value that you'd like to deliver to the people around you.
In my experience, that's ultimately what a successful business comes down to.
Jul 1, 2019
The very first thing I would ask you is - why you want to start a business and are you aware of the life you will live and sacrifices you will make? I know it all sounds great, and there are plenty of references to success in the world, but it comes at a cost. Are you risk-averse? Do you have a high sense of urgency? Are you social? Are you a more big picture or a detail-oriented person? If you don’t fit the model of an entrepreneur, you will shave years off your lifespan. It's only for a small group of people. Keep in mind that lots of people get rich, selling the dream of being your own boss.
Realize that the percentage of financially successful businesses is extremely small. A sad fact is that in ten years, a whopping 96% of companies fail – and it continues to go down from there.
For a viable business, you must solve a problem. I know it sounds simple, but it’s not. Are people willing to line up and pay you money for your solution?
Ask yourself, can you scale the business? If so, what would that look like and what would be required, from people, talent, space, locations, and capital. BTW, it's not necessary to scale; you can make a conscious decision to stay small – growth for the sale of growth is foolish.
How do you get out of the business and when do you get out. Please don’t laugh; this is as important as solving a problem and far too many people never think about this question until its too late. What would a buyer look like and what might they pay for your business.
What does your daily life look like? Are you hands-on 16 hours a day, seven days a week? If so, for how long? What are the steps required to change that, and at what point in revenue would that be ideally done?
Ponder the pros and cons of a service business, recurring revenue model, luxury market, commodity markets as well as B2B and B2C scenarios. Each model has as many cons as they have pros.