At first, starting a business can be an amazing journey to some people, or a stressful long path to others. But there are some things you need to put in mind before starting a business. We all have ideas in mind of how we want our business to structure but we find it very difficult to channel all our thoughts and plans and make it go as we like.
Well i will give you some tips and be sure to read till the end and know the principles. It will interest you to know that the selection of the products to its distribution channels, every decision you make will affect the success and growth rate of your business. So, it’s good to take your time, research and analyze in any way you can so as to make the right choice and also do market research to follow up with new trends
1. Know why you want to start a business.
Many people don’t have reasons why they do want to start a business; hence they have no proper goals to work towards. I’m the kind of ambitious fellow, i had different reasons why i wanted to start my own business. some may be as follows
* I love the laptop lifestyle and the boss’s lifestyle. I don’t want to live by any person’s rule all in the name of being an employee. I needed to choose my own work schedules, career paths, and the environments in which i work from. Trust me, doing your own thing has many benefits, including being able to make your own schedule and not being answerable to anyone.
* I thought i could make a lot of money from home to cater for myself and family as I live in a third- world country.
* I wanted to follow my passion and what i loved doing
I needed not to be scared of thoughts about being jobless or fired or being employed as I would always have something to look at, and give me satisfaction. The people who lost their jobs due to covid 19 can relate with this right? People also prefer a kind of life with few restrictions. Bear in mind the purpose of starting your business. It will be motivating to you even when things are not going well.
2. Nature or type of business
Now we need to put in mind what we are going to offer out. We also need to find out the problems it can solve. We should put in mind if people are going to be in need of it. Starting a business with more supply can be really hard if you are new in it and would require something unique of you to prosper in that niche. So, my suggestion is to go for a niche that is balanced in supply and demand. What are you going to sell in your business? You can choose to provide the following:
Service rendering: It can either be selling time and expertise, such as professionals, event organizers, IT, marketing, etc. Freelancing can fall in this category
Merchandising – also referred to as retail, wholesale, trading or distribution. Buy-and-sell of goods. Examples are grocery and department stores, retail outlets, online resellers. Drop shipping can fall in this category and also with affiliate marketing. It won’t cost much since you are not the owner of the products, you will just need to find potential buyers and you may need extra work marketing the products
Manufacturing: combining raw materials, labor and use of equipment, then turn it into a saleable product. Example are manufacturers of cars, gadgets, clothing, bags, daily essentials, etc. Here you will need lots of money to produce the products, but it depends on the type of products. So, you need to put in mind what category your business will fall in.
3. By hiring the right people
Well, we all know we cannot do a big task all by ourselves. It’s either it will take us a long time or we will want to save time by hiring others to make it faster. It may also be that we don’t have proper knowledge in a particular field and this is where we would need people to help us. Trust me, there are a lot of intelligent people whose knowledge would leave you surprised. So having them in your team will be a big boost. You may also need some freelancing jobs and you can hire some freelancers. You may have a problem with a website, then you will need a web developer. So, you cannot do everything by yourself.
4. Branding
While many people won’t know about branding, its relevance cannot be underrated due to the fact that so many businesses, big or small, use this. So, I will emphasize a little on this.
Cambridge Dictionary defines branding as “the act of giving a company or business a particular design or symbol in order to advertise its products and services”. For many, whether specialists or not, branding is still just about the visual identity – name, logo, design, packaging.
Branding is important because it allows your customers and clients to know what to expect from your company. It is a way of distinguishing yourself from the competitors and clarifying what it is you offer that makes you the better choice. What makes you unique? Your brand is built to be a true representation of who you are as a business, and how you wish to be seen as.
HubSpot also identifies 7 components all brand strategies must contain:
Purpose: State your company’s vision.
Consistency
Emotion: What is the tone of voice for your brand? How should your brand convey emotion?
Flexibility: Identify how and when to pivot, if necessary.
Employee Involvement: Describe how employees can best represent and promote the brand.
Loyalty: Discuss how to recognize and appreciate your loyal customers.
Competitive Awareness: Analyze your competitors and determine how to differentiate your brand.
Branding is absolutely impactful to a business because of the overall impact it makes on your company. Branding can change how people see your brand, it can drive new business, and increase brand value but it can also do the opposite if done wrongly or not at all.
“A good definition of brand strategy is the considered intent for the positive role a company wants to play in the lives of the people it serves and the communities around it.” — Neil Parker
You will want to seem unique and want to be perceived as a reliable business. So, when starting a business, you should ensure you work for a good and unique branding.
If you want to create a website for your business then read this Tutorial
5. Engagement is important
Engagement is really an important thing in business. You can form a kind of survey to know what people really think about your business or any other thing in relation to your business to know how you can improve it to suit them. Before starting your business, the engagements can help make you know the customers and marketers’ behavior.
It’s important to engage your audience or customers and have a relationship with them. Make your social media platforms, blogs, websites, etc. as engaging as possible and ensure that all questions and answered and all problems are resolved and responded to promptly. Through this, you can get direct feedback from customers, and it establishes you as an authority figure. You can also visit neighboring businesses and speak to owners. Ask questions like: How’s business? Do you like this area? I was thinking of opening a business, what do you think? You’d be surprised at how friendly and accommodating your neighbors can be. Engagement like this will help your decisions and spread about your business.
Conclusion
Making plans for business is sometimes a hard thing to achieve, but there should be determination and commitment involved, so that success can be the next thing you will see. Here are some helpful additional tips.
- Cashflow is important: Manage your finances well
- Be passionate about it
- Know your strengths and weaknesses so you can help find solutions to problems you cannot solve
- Be sure to work with partners and keep a good relationship with them so as to make it more effective
I just wrote another article on the top 10 skills to be a successful entrepreneur please read it
