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If you want to take a step away from the daily grind that is your usual nine to five, why not start your own business venture? There are many benefits to being your own boss, including setting your own hours and wages. This is very beneficial, especially if you have a family that you need to work around. You even have the option to stay home, work from there, and just be a phone call or video chat away from whoever needs you at work.
Setting up a business can seem like an impossible task, but if it is done right, then it can be the easiest thing. However, do be aware that not all new businesses survive. Around 90% of businesses will fail to make it to their first year of trading. This can be due to several things, not getting the right product, so nothing sells, and they have to close. It could also be that they haven’t made a conscious effort with the general public. This helpful guide makes sure your business doesn’t go down the pan.
Know Who You Are
The first step when it comes to starting a new business has nothing to do with businesses. It is about knowing who you are and what you want to come out of this experience. How will you manage your strengths and weaknesses in a business environment if you can’t accept or acknowledge them? Knowing yourself and what you are good at will eventually help you to create an amazing business idea. There is no point thinking of a business you know nothing about, so harness those strengths and get your thinking cap on.
Why Do You Want This?
When starting a business, you need to figure out your reasoning. This may seem obvious, but if you aren’t motivated to start your business and succeed, it will most likely fail before you even get it off the ground. There must be a reason why you want to leave your existing career and with it, job security. Four of the most common reasons to start your own business include one or a mixture of these, fame, money, saving the world, or power. Of course, many entrepreneurs won’t admit to that. So figure out what you want from your new business, and away you go.
Have An Idea
Now you have an idea of who you are and what you want from your business it is time to get some ideas down on paper. No matter how small or irrelevant you think an idea is, it is better to have something rather than nothing. The biggest business can come from the smallest idea, so don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. Knowing which direction you want to head in will give you an idea of what to write down. For example, you might want to start a counseling business, a nursery, or a shop. Each of these things will need different approaches, so knowing what you want is important. You may wish to start a joint venture, which is where two parties have an agreement to share their resources to complete tasks and help the business thrive. You can check Joint Venture Examples from Simply Docs if you are planning to enter a joint business activity for a new project.
Carry Out Market Research
When you know what route you are going down, you will need to conduct market research to ensure your idea is foolproof. Market research will assist you in knowing if a product or service similar to yours has previously done well or is still doing well. The last thing you want is to invest in something that doesn’t sell. You can approach your competition and make friends with them. You could even start a joint venture if you get along well enough. This is not uncommon and has resulted in some fantastic partnerships.
When it comes to your general public, you could conduct your research using polls online or on social media. You could also approach them in the street and explain a little about who you are and what you plan on doing. Something else that is quite popular in market research is using email marketing techniques. So an email pops into the recipients’ inbox and asks for their views on your products. Conducting thorough market research ensures you do your homework rather than just jumping into the unknown.
Hobby Or Full-Time
Not many people realise that starting a business isn’t an overnight thing. It can sometimes take months to launch a great business. First, you need to decide if your new business venture will be a hobby to do on the side or a full-time job. If it’s a hobby, it may take longer to get off the ground depending on how many hours you work at your main job. You could treat them like two part-time jobs if you felt you could make it work that way. A lot of people panic about leaving the security of their existing job so it is not uncommon for people to start a business while still working in their current position.
What’s Your Budget
Now you need to work out how much you will need in total for this to work out. Many businesses fail because they run out of money before setting everything up. Their calculations were off and they missed something vital, such as wages for staff members or vital equipment for the product. This is why you need to invest in some notebooks, to make sure that everything is written down. It is nearly impossible to remember everything you need for your business as things come and go quickly from your head. When you think of something, write it down straight away. This will help you when the time comes to work everything out that you need to cover with your budget. You need to have enough to possibly rent somewhere, buy all your products, have enough to cover wages before profits start coming in, and anything else that you may need.
Home Or Office Based
Will your business be based in an office block, or will you work from home? This all comes down to the type of business you are running. If you need everyone under one roof to ensure the smooth running of things, then an office block will be much better for you. This will need to be kitted out using money from your budget. You will need desks, chairs, phones, computers, and potentially a boardroom table for big important meetings.
Working from home is much simpler as everyone involved has fewer expenses. You may never consider things like having a nice suit or money for transport to get to work. Working from home or even having a hybrid working system means your employees will be better off mentally.
Hire The Best Team
Finally, when it comes to running your business, it will only ever be as strong as the people holding it up. These are the employees you hire, so you must get it right from the start. Unfortunately, if you get it wrong, then you may end up with a high churn rate. This means the rate at which employees come and go from your workplace. This can slow things down and end up costing you money in the long run. If you are not sure where to start or worry about hiring the wrong people then think about using a recruitment agency. They will look through their books and find the perfect employees for you.
You may also like: 4 Things to Do Before You Launch Your Startup
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