HOW TO START BUSINESS
Entrepreneurship is an idea that appeals to many, but figuring out how to start a business can sometimes be so overwhelming it scares people away. What should you sell? Who should you sell to? How will you get customers?
If that’s not enough, every other week there seems to be a new business trend online. There’s chatbots, Facebook ads, Instagram influencers, and many more. What should you pay attention to? What actually matters?
If you’re serious about starting a business, stop overthinking and start putting in the work to make it happen.
In this article, we'll take you through how to start a business in 2021, step-by-step
Starting a business involves planning, making financial decisions, doing market research, and acquiring knowledge in areas you never thought you would learn about before. We created this 14 step guide to starting a business to help you put your best foot forward today.
It is important to note that there is no one size fits all model to starting a new business, but these steps will help you organize your thoughts, and iron out important details so when you launch your business you have answered all the important startup questions.
1. Find a Problem to Solve
When learning how to start an online business, it’s important to note one key thing: all businesses solve a problem.
Plumbers fix leaking pipes. Hollywood movies fulfill people’s boredom, curiosity, interest, and the need to escape and relax. Clothing brands help people express themselves and feel attractive.
Here’s the golden rule: The bigger the problem you can solve – and the better you solve it – the more money people are willing to pay.
For example, take healthcare services. They solve a big problem, which is why almost everyone is willing to spend a lot of money on it.
On the other hand, not many people will pay you to stop their table from wobbling. It’s not a big problem, and they don’t need help solving it.
Bottom line: If you want to identify how to start an online business, you need to find a good problem to solve.
2. Write a business plan.
Once you have your idea in place, you need to ask yourself a few important questions: What is the purpose of your business? Who are you selling to? What are your end goals? How will you finance your startup costs? These questions can be answered in a well-written business plan.
A lot of mistakes are made by new businesses rushing into things without pondering these aspects of the business. You need to find your target customer base. Who is going to buy your product or service? If you can't find evidence that there's a demand for your idea, Conduct market Research
3. Plan Your Finances
Starting a small business doesn't have to require a lot of money, but it will involve some initial investment as well as the ability to cover ongoing expenses before you are turning a profit. Put together a spreadsheet that estimates the one-time startup costs for your business (licenses and permits, equipment, legal fees, insurance, branding, market research, inventory, trademarking, grand opening events, property leases, etc.), as well as what you anticipate you will need to keep your business running for at least 12 months (rent, utilities, marketing and advertising, production, supplies, travel expenses, employee salaries, your own salary, etc.).
Those numbers combined is the initial investment you will need.
4. Register Your Business
In some cities or states, you don’t need to register your business until you’ve earned a set amount of income or profit from it, so you’ll need to do your due diligence to see what laws apply for you.
However, some entrepreneurs register their businesses on day one to prevent liability. For example, if you’re incorporated on day one and you get sued in the early stages of your business, your business takes the hit instead of you. So, the sooner you incorporate your business, the safer you (personally) are from a legal perspective.
Of course, incorporation isn’t the only type of business venture available at your disposal. You can also choose to become a sole proprietor or create a partnership business. You’ll need to do some research prior to starting a business to determine which business structure is best for your situation
5. Create Your First Product or Service
There are a number of products or services you can create to sell to your audience when starting a business.
If you’re an industry expert, you can create digital products such as ebooks, courses, music, or other digital content to sell to others. You can monetize your expertise with products and upsell with services.
As for software businesses, you can create a SAAS product that helps other businesses. Or if you’re a consultant, you can offer speaking gigs, coaching, or your skillset.
The products you create for your business will depend heavily on your skillset and business type. However, there are countless products that can be ordered or created that you can sell to an audience.
6. Brand yourself and advertise.
A new company needs to start drumming up interest for its product or service even before it's ready to ship. But there are a million different platforms and avenues you can use to drive awareness … so where on earth do you start?
a. Narrow down your target customer.
It all comes down to your target customer. You won't be able to position what you're selling to meet customers' needs without knowing who they are. One of the very first questions you need to ask yourself is: Who wants what I'm selling? Who would find it useful? Who would love it?
Then, you need to dig in to who that person is or those people are, and what kind of messaging would resonate with them. That includes their backgrounds, interests, goals, and challenges, in addition to how old they are, what they do every day, which social platforms they use, and so on.
b. Develop a brand identity.
In addition to researching your target customer, when you're first starting a business, you'll need to build the foundation for a strong brand identity. Your brand identity is about your values, how you communicate concepts, and which emotions you want your customers to feel when they interact with your business. Having a consistent brand identity to promote your business will make you look more professional and help you attract new customers.
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by TRADEFLO
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