You want to start a Business

  You Want to Start a Business: 9 Steps to Get You Started

Starting your own business can be an exciting and potentially lucrative venture, but it also comes with a lot of stress and uncertainty. Where do you begin? How do you develop the right kind of business plan? What’s the best way to start promoting your new business? This 10-step guide on how to start a business will help guide you through the process of turning your entrepreneurial aspirations into reality.

1) Why do you want to start a business?

Before you create your business, make sure you really want to start one. Make sure it’s something you really want and enjoy doing, not just because everyone else is doing it or it seems like an easy way to make money. Remember that if you don’t love what you do for a living, there will be serious consequences—and not just for your work ethic.

2) What skills do you have?

It is important to consider which skills you have that can make your business profitable. These are often referred to as transferable skills, and they include things like communication (both written and verbal), planning and problem solving. Once you identify what your transferable skills are, you should consider how you might use them in your new venture.

3) Do you like working by yourself?

If you plan on starting your own business, you’ll need to be comfortable being alone. Many entrepreneurs say they work best in solitude and will often have days when they spend hours without human interaction. If that doesn’t sound like something you can handle, working for yourself may not be right for you.

4 .who are your competitors?

A good place to start when creating any new business is by figuring out who you’re going up against. If you already have an idea of what you want your business to be, take some time to do some research on other businesses in your area that are similar, and learn from their successes and mistakes. This can provide valuable insight into where there might be opportunities for your business, as well as help you avoid potential pitfalls along the way.

5) What are your values?

The first step in starting a business is finding your personal motivation. This is often referred to as defining your values, but it goes much deeper than that. Knowing what you value, and how important those values are to you, can determine whether or not you’re pursuing an idea for all of the right reasons. Have a clear vision for why you want to start your own business and make sure it matches up with why you started working in marketing or digital media in the first place.

6) Have you done market research?

It’s one thing to have an idea for a product or service and another thing entirely to create it. There’s no doubt about it: Researching your market is vital if you want your business plan (and, by extension, your business) to stand any chance of succeeding. It may be tempting at first glance to simply say, If I build it, they will come—but that’s not how things work in real life.

7) Do you have an exit strategy?

Starting and running a business is hard work. With so much on your plate, it’s easy to let your exit strategy go out of sight and mind. But you should be constantly thinking about your get-out plan—no matter how small or large it is. It could save you time, money, and grief in the long run. An exit strategy includes figuring out who will take over if you suddenly can’t run your company anymore.

8) What is your timeline for success?

This one is hard to answer. It will depend on what kind of business you want to start and how much capital you’re willing or able to put into it.

9) Are you comfortable with risk?

Starting your own business is one of the riskiest things you can do. Don’t go into it thinking that you are going to get rich overnight and never have to work again. The fact is, 9 out of 10 businesses fail within their first year. Be sure that you are prepared for failure. Understand how hard work and dedication really pay off, and that being an entrepreneur isn’t all fun and games...it takes hard work!