How to choose the best moment to start a small business and where to start
Miscellaneous / / January 20, 2022
To successfully launch your business, it is important to take into account many subtleties, even the time of year.
More than half of Russians wantedStudy: more than half of Russians would like to open their own business / RIA Novosti to open a business in the future. However, this is not so easy to do. Before launching, it is important to identify the key audience, draw up a business plan, and more.
In addition, ideas are rarely unique - the same idea may well come to the mind of several people. This means that the sooner you start acting, the greater the chance of success.
If you don't know how and when to start building your business, take a few simple steps.
Find and study your key audience
The heart of any business idea is the customers you plan to serve. The key audience consists of those people who like or need your product. It is their desire to receive it that makes the enterprise successful. A US study showedStartup Failure Rate: How Many Startups Fail and Why? /failorythat 90% of startups fail miserably. Among the main reasons is working on a product that is not suitable for the selected audience.
To understand whether there is any demand for your idea, you need to do a little research. The US Small Business Administration recommends:
- Research the market, including collecting potential customer demographics such as their age and income level.
- Analyze consumer behavior and trends in the economy.
However, the research should not end there. As you refine your business idea, check in with key audiences regularly. This will allow you to understand how best to solve problems and meet customer needs.
Use not only personal communication, but also social networks. You can, for example, create a community dedicated to your product, or poll the audience in existing groups.
Vegan hair care brand founder Jasmine Thompson decided to start a business when she couldn't find the right product for her daughter. After researching the issue, Thompson realized that other parents faced the same problem. For market research, she used parent groups on Facebook to communicate with potential key audiences and find out what product people want to see on the shelves.
Test your idea
If you have an interesting idea, but you are not sure if it will work, take a small test drive of a product or service.
In 2019, Tonita White had the idea to create a soy-based home scented candle brand. White assumed that urban residents would be interested in her product. She decided to test the market, created two scents and opened a temporary store. Experience showed that people like the product, so White went further: she created a website and social media pages for her project and expanded the brand line to include new smells.
Count your resources
To successfully launch a business, it will take time to keep track of each stage, and energy not to give up in difficult moments, as well as finances and connections that will support undertakings.
Time and energy
Despite the anxiety that often accompanies starting a business, the right time is an important factor to keep in mind. This applies not only to professional but also to personal life.
Let's say you're a housewife and a mom. Your children are still too young to be left alone, and it is not possible to hire a nanny or leave them with someone. In such a situation, it is unrealistic and difficult to open a business for which it is necessary to be available to customers 24 hours a day.
The same applies to a career that requires a lot of strength and energy. If you plan to build a business without quitting your job, this sort of juggling will quickly lead to burnout.
This does not mean that you need to abandon your idea. Think of a suitable way to do it. If you have a strict personal or work schedule, create a separate business development schedule. It will help you make time for all your responsibilities.
Be patient. Perhaps now is not the right time to launch, but someday it will definitely come. In the meantime, you can prepare well for this.
Finance
It is also important to understand how you plan to finance the business. To do this, you need to think over the budget, which often includes the costs of legal formalities, production needs, marketing, purchase of raw materials and other components.
The amount needed to start up will depend on the business itself. For example, an entrepreneur who plans to create and monetize a blog will have a small outlay. And if the idea involves its own production, the costs will be incomparably higher.
To understand whether you now have the financial opportunity to start your own business, answer a few questions:
- How much money have you already set aside to fund your business?
- What is your credit history? Will it help or rather hinder you in starting your own business?
- If your credit history is not the best, what can you do to fix it?
- What is the required start-up capital?
- What are the costs of your business?
- How will starting your own business affect your personal savings?
Connections
Finding work connections, whether online or in person, is equally important to success. Entrepreneurship is a process. Interacting or even collaborating with the right people will take your business to the next level.
Before launching, it is worth talking with a business consultant. It can be found at online seminars for entrepreneurs or in local business communities. Consultations will help to avoid rash decisions and common mistakes.
Find out more💼
- Who is a mentor and how can he help your business
Consider the change of seasons
Oddly enough, the time of year can also affect the success of a business. Many begin to put their ideas into practice at the beginning of the year. All because of the notorious "new year - a new start and a new me." However, it is much more rational to study the market and open an enterprise when goods and services are in maximum demand.
For example, you want to open a bakery. It is best to think over the idea and draw up a business plan in the summer. In autumn, you can announce your business for the first time and organize tastings for everyone to acquaint potential buyers with products. A full-fledged opening should be planned for the winter, just in time for the New Year holidays.
Make a plan
No matter what field you plan to work in, the best way to open a viable business - draw up a competent strategy and analyze how much you can follow it in reality. Your business requires dedication, understanding the desires and interests of the key audience, knowledge of the economic intricacies of the industry and financial investments.
No matter how strong and thoughtful your business plan is, do not forget about the analysis of the market and competitors. This will expand the horizons and help turn the idea into reality.
Read also🧐
- 9 steps to help start your business and make it successful
- What to do if you decide to start your own business without quitting your job
- Personal experience: 7 mistakes of a novice entrepreneur