Business Startup Guide
Starting or building up your business? Do it right and make money.
Do you have this really amazing idea in mind. The interesting thing is that within our mind, businesses take shape rapidly and money flows in quickly thereafter. Stop! This is all in our mind, remember. Now you need to transfer those dreams flying in your mind to something that is stable and has feet to sit on the ground. In my experiences as an out of the box Marketing Consultant, I encounter many budding entrepreneurs that have grand visions that blossom like a balloon. I feel like a sharp pin sometimes, by lending a voice of reason and reality to their delicate dreams. But it has to be done. I know this, because I am a creative dreamer, with many grand visions that I would love to implement right now! I have learnt though that we all need to take a step back and think things through logically and then and only then to fly with your dreams, in a way that will make sure that your business and dreams will not crash and burn.
How to get started? I have assembled here a Business Startup Guide.
Part 1: Research
This is a very crucial part of starting a business. So what are some things you should research?
1. Has this business idea been tried before? A person contacted me in order to have a website created for them by one of our students who have taken our Web Design Comprehensive course. Before I referred him to a student, I asked him some simple questions such as what kind of business is this for. He mentioned to me that he actually has several business ideas. He started with the first idea, which sounded familiar because several years ago, somebody had attempted a very similar concept, targeting the same clientele I told him that it is very important for him to research the Why. Why did this business not succeed. Once he finds out the reasons, he has 2 choices: 1. He can either test the market with his improvement on where the previous business failed, or he can decide that there was a reason why the previous business failed, and it is not worth starting his business at all.
2. Who will be your competition. Unless you are bringing a totally new product or service to market, there is a big chance that there will be a competitor in place. The interesting thing is, even if you come up with something totally innovative, there is a big chance that you will have a competitor hot on your heels. How to work with the inevitable competition? Seek out your strengths and your competition’s weaknesses. What is unique about your company, why is your product and/or service so amazing and different from those around you. This is a crucially important piece of information to know, since any prospective client or customer will want to know in brief the whys of why they should deal with your business. Also it will give you more confidence in business, since you know your strengths. Now automatically, your competition’s weaknesses are your strengths. Make a listing of your strengths and your competition’s weaknesses and see how you can strengthen your strengths even further. If you do not see any differences between you and your competition, make sure to create it, give your company a unique twist and keep on innovating to stay 2 steps ahead. Never be content to stay in one place.
3. What are you really selling? Let say you sell umbrellas, when I ask you what are you selling you will tell me, of course I know what I am selling, that’s easy, I am selling umbrellas. Wrong. People are not coming to you to buy umbrellas, they are buying protection, security, comfort. That is what you are really selling. Focus on what psychological benefits you are giving, because that is what really matters to people.
4. Who is your target market? In other words who will want to buy your product or sign up for your service? Now that you know what you are really selling, it is important to sit down and make a list of who you are really selling to. You are not selling to everyone (unless you are selling milk maybe, and even then, not everybody likes milk) You will need to perfect your business plan (more about that in a future installment of the Business Startup Guide) to make sure the message you broadcast will reach the people who are ready and willing to buy your product.
