Tips For Starting a New Business - Basics That You Need To Know

Tips For Starting a New Business - Basics That You Need To Know
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Warming Up

Work bakeryYou want to start your own business but don’t know how to go about it? Perhaps you are surrounded by people who don’t think you have it in you. If you’re excited by the idea of making your own products or offering your services, perhaps you need to look further and actually move ahead. How? Check out these important points:

Choose a particular line you’re interested in. Once you do this, you’ll know which way you’re going and can work dedicatedly to make a success of it. Choose your business area based on your interests, your personality, your needs and your skills.

Understand the business. If you don’t understand the business before getting in to it, you might just end up wasting a lot of time and money.

Be zealous about the business you choose. If you have a passion for a particular niche area, you’ll make a commitment to it and will work hard and long. So, take your time to choose well. Whatever you decide, make it just one area. Don’t choose to do three different things altogether.

Explore and research that business area as much as you can. Find out all you can about your niche area from the Internet, people in the business, magazines, etc.

Get in touch with the professional associations of this field. Apart from locating and becoming a member of professional associations of your field, you can also spend time reading articles, magazines and blogs concerning this field so your knowledge is updated.

Introduce yourself to already established business people in this field. Locate the successful people of this field and get in touch with them so that you can learn from them. Network at social and professional events, seminars, online networks and at business associations.

Make a Business Plan

Among other tips for starting a new business would be creating a basic plan. I don’t say a formal business plan, but you will need a small plan at your end. The plan should answer the following questions:

  • What does your business do?
  • Who is your target audience?
  • How will it run on a day-to-day basis?
  • As a business owner, what are your duties?
  • What are the duties of your staff?
  • What will it cost to run the business in year 1?
  • How will you meet your expenses in the first year—from sales or any other source?

Improving the Business

Put a team of skilled people together. You need to build a team of skilled people together. They are professional consultants who will advise you on the reality of starting a business, how to get work, and where to set up shop. They include an accountant, insurance agent and a lawyer.

You must also create a board of directors comprising friends with expertise in business. They can act as business mentors to you. A third category of skilled people is your day-to-day staff who will be the core group of your business, who could perhaps be full time staff or part-time.

Go all out to develop your customer base. Market yourself in the best possible way to reach out to your customers. Word-of-mouth referrals are the best, so focus on that. If it means following up with your clients, stay in touch with them. Create a website for an online presence.

Before You Start

Make an at-a-glance picture of your financial condition. Let it contain the following facts:

  • How much money you owe
  • How much is really your own
  • How much do you spend per month, quarter and year?
  • How much do you earn?

Be debt-free. Before you think of launching your business, clear old debts. If you have anything to pay on your credit cards, clear that now. Then, ask for a credit report from all the agencies and get a FICO score from www.myfico.com. Now, stop using credit cards, instead use only cash.

Get yourself insurance. Get yourself insurance before you start out, and pack in disability insurance too. After all, if you fall sick, it’s your expense.

References

Image from Wikimedia Commons by USAID

ABC News, https://abcnews.go.com/Business/MellodyHobson/story?id=1126419&page=1

This post is part of the series: Top Business Startup Ideas

This series intends to offer you the best business startup ideas in different fields. For example, it gives the top business startup ideas in the fields of green computing, Internet based businesses, and more. It also provides information on the best places to start a business.

  1. Free Advertising Ideas for a Small Business during Economic Downturn
  2. What Are the Best Online Business Ideas with Minimum Investment?
  3. Top Five Green Business Startup Ideas
  4. Business Startup Assistance for People Without Experience
  5. How to Start and Run a Computer Repair Business