Can you start your new business?
Some people choose to work under a company.
Some people choose to start a business by themselves, and we know that they’re called entrepreneurs.
There are many reasons people want to be entrepreneurs.
Statistics list out that the reasons people start their business are: to be their own boss, to pursue their passion, for the self-presented opportunity, dissatisfaction with organizations in their country, being outsourced, and others.
This leads to a big number of entrepreneurs.
In fact, the numbers of existing entrepreneurs in this world are 582 million people.
But schools don’t teach people how to start a new business even though people are more eager to do so.
So if you’re an entrepreneur ready to start a business, do you know the basics steps to do it?
Are you ready with your plan? Do you think you have what it takes to build a company from scratch?
If you think you still want to know more about the basic steps of starting a business, we’ve provided you a list of steps below.
Here are some tips on how to start a new business:
- Clarify your business idea
- Conduct a market research
- Compose a business plan
- Get to know finance
- Choose the right tools
- Set your business in motion
1. Clarify your business idea
Start with the why
Define your purpose in choosing a certain business idea.
Do you have a personal reason to open a new business?
You need to start with the why first, as Simon Sinek, an author/motivational speaker said.
Your reason can be anything as long as it is significant and relevant to the business idea.
For example, you want to start a for-profit organization that sells books out of recycled paper because you want to be more eco-friendly.
Or you want to sell shoes for children because you see that shoes on the market don’t prioritize comfort.
If you have a clear reason for why you’re starting your new business, you can see your business further and can appeal to the public.
Follow the trend that lasts longer
If you’ve browsed Tiktok or other social media before, you’ll notice that as time passes, a trend becomes out-of-date so quickly.
This is because there’s the rise of micro-trends or fad that appears in many sides of social media.
What happens is that oversaturation of the product in social media creates a dislike for the product.
This causes the product to be thrown out quickly and becomes the “old rag” within weeks or even days.
That’s why you need to observe what trend do people stick to. It needs to be a general trend that people are always looking for and lasts for a long period of time.
Target customers
In marketing, you need to specify your target customers.
Is your business idea more suited to people with older age?
Is it for Gen Z or millennials? What is your location range for selling your product (is it just your city or do you want to expand further?)
By considering your target customers, you can refine your business idea and product more easily.
Moreover, you can save money by marketing it to the correct, specific demographics instead of aiming for everyone.
2. Conduct a market research
When you’ve decided on the shape of your business idea, you can start conducting research.
Market research is important and it can determine your chance of succeeding in your new business.
When doing market research, you can consider doing these three things:
Look for potential competitors
If you’ve specified your business idea and target customers, you can see that there are probably people who are working on the same product as you are.
If they’ve been doing it for longer, they’re more experienced and already have customers who will come back to them.
What you need to do is research and list out your competitors.
By knowing your competitors, you can learn how they run their business and best them at a more improved version of the same product.
Think from a customer’s perspective
Research shows that one main reason businesses fail is that because there’s no market need for the product they serve.
You need to place yourself in the customers’ shoes and think “would I buy this product?” or “what do I look for when I want to buy this product?”
By placing yourself as a customer, you can gain additional information on how you can improve your product.
Often times when you’re selling a product, you become too biased on it and cannot see what it’s lacking.
That’s why you need to be the customer first before selling your product to the actual customers.
Conduct surveys to potential customers
If you think that thinking like a customer isn’t enough, you can ask directly to your potential customers of what they think.
You can set the surveys to be done by people on your target customers so you can get specific results.
You can also give them samples of your product to test out and see their opinion on it.
Collecting opinions and reviews and filtering them out can bring your business a clearer starting point.
3. Compose a business plan
A business plan is basically a written plan that consists of what does your company does, your company’s objectives, and plans to achieve your goals.
When starting a new business, it’s important to solidify your ground with a business plan.
In your business plan, you’d want components such as an executive summary, products and services, marketing strategy and analysis, financial planning, and a budget. (Investopedia)
If you’re confused about how to write a business plan, there are free business plan templates that are simple and easy to use for you.
With a business plan, your business idea can be more organized and clear.
4. Get to know finance
When you want to start a new business, you have to have to think of the startup costs and learn how to manage your money. Research shows that 82% of the time business fails because of the cash flow problems.
Startup costs
Try to calculate your startup costs. Most of the small businesses start with less than $25,000.
Starting a business costs more than you think, and people don’t feel that they have enough money for it.
When you need funds for your business, you can consider taking out a business loan or grants to expand your business.
There’s also the option of crowdfunding, which works as a way to gain customers and to cover the fund needed for starting your business.
On managing your money
People often don’t know how much is too much for business expenses.
After all, you need to have marketing, design, inventory, and so on for your business. That’s why people tend to overspend and don’t gain profit in their business.
In fact, 30% of companies in America keep losing money.
If you can’t calculate your expenses, try hiring an accountant for your company and use the accounting tools that are available online.
5. Choose the right tools
If you already have the product and the plan, what you need next is the right tools for your business.
You can consider the tools for these categories:
- Online-store: You can use websites that focus on selling products online. Sites such as Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and Shopee are popular to use as an extension of stores. If you’d like to make your own website, you can also develop one yourself easily with a setup tool like Square or Squarespace.
- Accounting tools: Accounting tools should have all the features needed for your business such as basic accounting, payroll, time tracking, expense and income tracking, creating invoices, and tax tracking. There are many options like Gusto or Expensify to do the job for you.
- Tasks management: Projects for business can go out of hand very quickly. That’s why you need tasks management tools for it. Tools like Trello or Proofhub are great for project management.
6. Set your business in motion
No matter how much you plan to start a new business, it won’t start until you sell your product.
Thus you need to start selling to generate profits and see if your business plan works or not.
When starting a new business, you can try to do these things:
Pre-orders and discounts
To attract customers, you can offer a special limited discount for customers who come early to buy your product.
That way, they’ll feel special and are more likely to come back.
You can also try to set up pre-orders for your product to gauge how many people are willing to buy your product.
This way, you’ll be able to minimize your losses too.
Promotion outside the marketing campaign
Sometimes, promotion from ads and your marketing campaign isn’t enough to get the word out there. Another effective way to spread your business is through promotion on social media by your friends and family.
Ask them to promote on their platform, especially if their platform has many target customers. It won’t hurt to get more exposure after all.
And that’s the basic steps to start a new business.
Of course, there are times when your business will not go as smoothly as your plan no matter how much you’ve researched for it.
But as long as you have the basics, you can always modify and enhance your new business with each failure that comes.
By starting a new business, you’re changing the world around you by providing more jobs to people and reviving the stagnant economy during the pandemic.
If you’d like to start a new business and employ the right people for it, you can go to our career platform: 9cv9.
You might also want to read:
The Ultimate Guide to Hiring an Intern
Overcoming Fear on Starting a New Business
Building Customer Loyalty for Your Business
