18.10.2021
ENTREPRENEURSHIP: 7 STEPS TO REALIZING YOUR BUSINESS IDEA
You have an idea for your own company. You think you have a chance to succeed and you want to start a business.
How to do it, however? See the following 7 steps you can take:
Here are 3 main things to look for:
- the market;
- potential competitors;
- the audience to which you will sell.
Because if there is no market for your idea and products, your business will not arouse interest, and thus you will not generate sales. You will not generate them if there are not enough people to offer. If the competitors are too strong and you have nothing to differ from them, they will overshadow you from the very beginning. It is a good idea here to do a SWOT analysis to look at your own strengths and weaknesses, as well as the opportunities and threats of the environment in which you want to grow your business.
This means creating a profile that is met by the customers in front of whom you will place your goods. To do this, you should do:
- Market research;
- analysis of competitors;
- review of trends;
- Analysis of demographic data and all other surveys and surveys that can help you get to know the people to whom you will offer your product.
In this way you will learn how to advertise to your real audience, in "their language".
No matter how much money you have to start a business, they are limited. That's why it's important to plan how you spend them. What expenses will you make at the start, what expenses will you make weekly, monthly, annually. Here is the place of the forecasts for your income and the time it will take you to pay off your investment. You need to predict in general terms how long your company will need an infusion of funds to survive until the time comes when it will be able to cover its costs.
It usually includes the following components:
- description of the company;
- Market Analysis;
- organization and management;
- product lines;
- marketing and sales;
- financing;
- financial forecasts.
Even if you are not looking for external funding, this plan will help you clarify many important points before you start. This will allow you to prepare for them in advance so that once you open the business, you can focus on managing it, rather than just building its structure and figuring out how to advertise it.
No matter what you offer on the market, it should arouse the interest of customers and be good enough for them to buy it. To make sure this applies to your products, you need to test them among real consumers. An option is to ask friends and acquaintances to help you. You can also consult users on social networks. An option is to provide a prototype of your product for free use to individual target customers against their opinions about it.
Here is the place to answer the question of what you want to achieve with your business. Your answers must be achievable on the one hand, and traceable on the other. This is not about "being independent" goals. These are goals such as "X sales by the end of the year", "Regular customers in the first 6 months". These are goals that you can monitor and review.
- Register your business.
- Provide a location from which to develop it.
- Create your own website.
- Advertise your products.
- Hire the employees you need.
- Select external service providers (accounting for example), etc.
The seven steps seem a little scary (and maybe not a little) at first glance. Keep in mind, however, that each step can be divided into smaller, easier-to-perform steps. And so to be realized. Success!
