For many people, the new year isn’t just about shedding a few pounds or drinking less: sometimes, more profound changes are aspired to. Starting up your own business is often dreamt about, but frequently avoided due to fears of financial loss and perhaps even failure. Many new businesses do fail in their first year, but it’s worth considering why. Failure to plan and protect your new business are two of the biggest weaknesses you can avoid. By creating a formal business, plan, you can perhaps avoid these flaws from profoundly damaging your new company.
Local business support
There are plenty of online forums and dedicated sites that aim to support new businesses, all of which should absolutely be consulted. Knowing how to monitor cash flow and file a tax return are two of the fundamental basics that should be learned first. The idea of an entrepreneur might seem idyllic when you think of the end-goal, but before that is actually plenty of research and boring admin.
Be practical
In your first year of business, you will need to save money where you can. Even a small shop on a high street will require cost-cutting measures to make the most of your profits for the year. Comparison companies such as Utility Bidder should be your first port-of-call when it comes to finding ways to save money on your electricity bills.
Where you set up shop should ultimately be practical, too. If you are planning to fix people’s laptops, then you may want to be in plain sight of passersby. Visibility is so important if you are choosing to be part of the service industry. The practicalities of where you base yourself should be a high priority.
Another aspect of practicality you need to consider is how you will finance yourself when you set yourself up. It might be that, realistically, you cannot launch into your first year of business without funding. You may need machinery or help to get you on your feet – and there’s no shame in this. What you will need to consider, however, is how you achieve this. A loan may be needed, or you may have to delay creating your business in order to secure the funds through saving. Finance is practicality that should never be avoided.
Introspect
It’s all well and good deciding that you have what it takes to start up a marketing company or small financial firm, but do you really have the required skills? Having the constituent characteristics to run a business is not just about being brave and having gut determination. It’s also about being realistic. Do you have the expertise, budget and indeed enough passion to make this really work?
Research
In order to be a successful entrepreneur, you will need to have accurate research on your side. If you have a combination of expertise and passion, you will ideally, already have some insight into the industry you are approaching. You will also need to do extra research, which, unfortunately, does not just mean ‘Google it.’ Nor does it involve asking your friends, either. You will ideally need to go into depth by communicating with other businesses and maybe even conducting a few surveys.
Be specific
As romantic as the idea of being an entrepreneur might seem, it is not created overnight by some simple idea or whim. The best way to create a business from scratch is to be incredibly specific about what you want to do. This means narrowing your niche down even further, and answering hypothetical questions about your idea. Why should you be chosen for your idea over anyone else? What’s your unique angle that makes you stand out? How could you corner your section of the market successfully? How will you brand yourself? These questions all need to be answered if you are going to have a streamlined and poised campaign.
If you have dreams of becoming a successful entrepreneur, it helps to bear in mind that the journey from nine-to-five to boss is not a straight path. You will have to learn how to execute boring admin tasks correctly, and you will need to do a bit of soul searching before you hand in your resignation letter. Deciding how to finance your company, and whether you have the expertise and passion to carry you through an uncertain year could be the ultimate deciders of whether you do indeed become an entrepreneur. You will also need to learn how to budget effectively throughout the year and potentially make some cuts in order to help your business grow and thrive.
