Are you an artist, a writer, a professional cook or maybe you have a talent that can save people time and money? If you’ve been thinking about selling your creativity as a product, now is the time to take your talent to the business level.
Does the thought of being your own boss make your heart beat faster? Whether you dream of starting the next McDonald’s, starting a family business to pass on to your children, or simply making a living doing something you love, starting a business has never been easier than it is today.
You don’t need an office – you can work from home and use technology to serve clients across the country. You don’t need an expensive physical store – you can set up a website and sell your products worldwide. You don’t need a massive advertising and marketing budget; you can use social media and search engine optimization to attract low volume customers. You don’t need employees – you can hire independent contractors as needed and grow a thriving business on your own.
But while starting a business is easier than ever in many ways, the foundation of any profitable business remains what it always has been: determination, drive and hard work. As you begin your entrepreneurial journey, use this chapter to lay the foundation for success.
Here are a couple of steps to start your process.
First, determine why you want to start a business. Why do you think now is the time to do it? Why do you want to pursue your specific idea? Answering these questions will help you feel confident that you are starting a business for the right reasons.
If you’ve dreamed of starting a business since you ran a lemonade stand at age 6, this is probably a good reason to start a business. If you argued with your boss on Friday morning and decided on Friday afternoon that you want to start your own business, that’s not a good reason.
Successful small business owners are passionate about what they do. Passion gives you the energy to tackle the hard work of startup. Passion for your product or service gets potential customers excited about what you’re selling. Passion for the potential of your business helps convince employees to work for you and bankers to lend you money. Passion will take you a long way if you have it.
Also, evaluate why now is the right time to start this particular business. Do you see an unmet need and significant demand for what you plan to sell? Do you want to be the first to market a product or service that no one else offers?
Second, assess your preparation, skills, and experience. Do you know what it takes to be a business owner? Do you have the necessary skills, perseverance and resilience? Running a small business is challenging, and it’s important to know exactly what you’re getting into. Successful entrepreneurs have several things in common:
Successful entrepreneurs can look at the market and see a need they can fill. They don’t plan their business based on the product or service they want to offer; they plan based on what potential customers want to buy. There is risk in starting and growing any business. Smart entrepreneurs limit their exposure to risk through planning and preparation. But if the mere thought of taking a risk makes your stomach knot up, you probably need to get more comfortable with risk before you launch your business. Starting and running a business is full of choices, from how to name your business to how much to charge for your product and where to locate your office. You have to be able to make your own decisions. As an entrepreneur, you won’t have one job, you’ll have many. If you love to bake cakes and want to open a cake shop, you know that in addition to making cakes, you will probably be dealing with accounting, administration, sales and marketing, IT and more. The more experience you have in different roles, the better. Every small business owner is a salesperson to some degree, especially in the startup stage. If you enjoy talking to people, helping people, and learning from people, if you’re a “people person,” you have a great start to success. Know that long hours are part of the business. Most entrepreneurs work more than 50 hours a week; 25% work more than 60 hours a week. In addition, 89% work at weekends and 81% at night. The good news: All that hard work will build something that belongs to you, not your boss. Just make sure you have the energy and strength to put in long days and nights. The road to business ownership is full of ups and downs. You will hear many rejections and encounter many obstacles. Can you persevere through these challenges?
Dean Swanson is a SCORE Volunteer Mentor and former SCORE Chapter President, District Director, and Regional Vice President for the Northwest Region.
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