Starting a startup or a new business is the dream of every entrepreneur. At present, many people cannot decide between job and business. Business is a risky business. Not all businesses succeed, and not all businesses succeed. Or it can be said that business is not for everyone.
We have divided the main topic of our discussion today into two parts. Is the decision to start a business right for you? The second is how to plan and take action to make a business idea a success.
U.S. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics
* 20% of small businesses fail within the first year.
* 33% of small businesses fail within two years.
* 50% of small businesses fail within five years and
* 8% of small businesses fail within 10 years.
Looking at these statistics of new startup failure rates worldwide shows how much more challenging it is now to make a business successful.
Starting a new business and having a successful business are two completely different things. Long-term success and failure depend largely on knowing how to start your own business.
There is an old saying that âpeople never plan to fail, they fail to planâ. The word has a wide meaning.
You don't have to jump into any business with a good business idea. An entrepreneur must have a plan to turn it into an established business.
That means you need to set goals and learn how to achieve them. Every decision you make will have an impact on the business. Therefore, it is important to evaluate every aspect of your business carefully.
Business or job!
The hard truth is that a good business idea is just one step out of a dozen successful businesses. This does not mean that you need to work on a good idea. This means that you need to do more with your idea before it can be marketed.
But if the wrong person starts up with a good idea, the business will definitely not go too far. So you need to make sure that you are the right person to do the business. Better a poor horse than no horse at all. What did you say?
Be honest:
Self-assessment is notoriously difficult work. While we may criticize others, self-criticism is not a good thing for most of us.
We do not see our own faults, we do not want to admit it to ourselves. If you can't believe me, you can check it out.
You can do this small test with 10 or more people. Ask who among the attendees can ride a bike. You will see that almost 100% of the hands will go up.
Then ask who can ride better than the average biker? You will still see that on average 90-95% of the hands will be on top. So, what does this tell us?
There is a theory called "Dunning-Kruger Effect", the essence of which is that we think we are more capable because we are not very aware of our own strengths. In fact so many people canât be better drivers than the average.
If the average number of students in a class is 50, and most of them think we are better than average, then the average number would not be 50, would it?
So how do I know about my own faults? Yes there are ways. Choose people who know you well. Ask them to tell you about it. You must assure them that you will not be offended by their words. Don't people just like to hear bad things about themselves or their own weaknesses!
There are some things that can be analyzed by finding the answers. Let's discuss a little about that below!
Are you a self-starter? As you are not an employee of any company, there will be no one to ask you what to do or when to come to work. If you are someone who needs a lot of hard rules such as school-college exam pressure, many would not have read, but starting your own business may not be the best option.
How organized are you? In addition to planning, organizational skills are also important, especially in the early stages of starting a business. The truth is, business is a risky business, where success is never guaranteed. If you are someone for whom failure or loss of money will be fatally devastating for you, then perhaps business venture is not for you.
How is your communication skill? We often think of ourselves as âpeople personsâ. But business owners take communication to a whole new level. Especially when starting a business you need to be able to communicate efficiently with your clients, business partners, industry partners, product suppliers, employees, accountants, lawyers, and many others.
How disciplined are you? Perseverance and endurance are two things that will determine your success. As we have said before, there will be mistakes at the beginning of the business and some of these mistakes may be costly. You have to have enough patience and perseverance to get up again after falling. You know, the only sure way to fail is to give up.
If you are satisfied with the answer to the above question that you have the qualifications and ability to be an entrepreneur and do successful business, then instead of getting a job, you should start a business for ultimate success. Now let's move on to the next step.
Tips needed to start a new business
I saw at the beginning of the discussion about the success rate of a new business idea. Many mistakes can be avoided by being aware of the factors on which success and failure depend. Let's know the necessary tips.
Evaluate business ideas
You should be able to evaluate your own business concept. However, this step is not as difficult as self-assessment.
Identify the target market: Who will buy your product or service? It is important to identify your target market. It is important to change your mindset before identifying the market.
Start thinking like a customer instead of thinking like a seller. The answers to the following questions will help clarify your idea.
The product or service is coming to the market to solve any problem?
How does your product or service solve that problem?
Why is your solution better than other competing products?
Are people willing to spend money to solve this problem?
You need to gather as much information as possible about the buyers in your target market. It is important to know the following information about potential clients:
*Age
*Location
*Income
*Gender
*Occupation
*Education
*Marital status
*Nationality
*Number of children
Which of the above information is needed will depend on your product. All of this information will help your product or service better adapt to the needs of the customer. It is also a good marketing strategy.
Evaluate business competition
We can divide our competitors into three categories:
Direct competition: These are organizations that offer the same product or service to the market with the same goal as your business. Think of the drug companies Square and Beximco.
Indirect competition: In this type of competition there are two things of almost the same utility but not in fact the same, such as dish cable and satellite TV antenna.
Alternative Competition- In such competition, new and more advanced alternatives are brought by solving the problem of a product that is prevalent in the market. Such as conventional tea and green tea.
Once you've identified your competitors, you'll need to gather the following information:
How long have you been doing business?
What is the range of products and services they provide?
Where is the expansion of their business, how are they doing?
What kind of feedback are customers giving about the product or service? Positive or negative!
Have you found any strategies that can give you an advantage in the competition?
What is their advertising / marketing strategy?
What is their pricing strategy?
The purpose of the analysis is to identify the strengths of your competitors and to identify their weaknesses in order to compete better.
Determine the cost of starting a new business
To analyze the financial viability of a new business plan, you need to have the answers to the following questions:
How much would it cost to start your own business?
What will be the initial expenditure in some sectors?
How much will your running costs be?
What is the source of your capital to start a new business?
What is the earning power of the business and how long will it take to achieve it?
How do you keep the business going and pay your various bills until profitable?
Once you have the above information, you will need to add some 'extra' costs for the extra "contingency" costs.
Moreover, when planning how long a business will be profitable, we often become overly optimistic, as a result of which the business will have to give up due to the financial crisis.
How much money do you need to establish a start-up as a profitable business? No one can say for sure. Some people will ask you to double or even triple your guess. But your start-up should start by adding 50% more to the estimates. It is important to keep accurate accounts for these complex tasks, if necessary, you can use budget planning and tracking apps.
Professional plans for starting a new business:
If you haven't already done so, plan a professional business first. âProfessionalâ doesnât mean you have to go out and hire someone to do it. I mean, you need to know what a professional business plan is and should take it seriously.
Often new entrepreneurs neglect to create a business plan, it is not a good strategy. Without a plan you have no idea where you are going. Business is not an adventure, you have to plan carefully every step of the way. Otherwise, your established competitors will push you out of the competition in one fell swoop.
âItâs an important job that will enable you to start and run a business on a solid foundation. A business plan is also necessary when you are looking to secure funds or investments.
A solid foundation for a good start-up is business strategy. Will a plan usually run the business? It all depends on what you want from your business, what you want to achieve, how you will fulfill your desires.
Use Money Principles in Business:
As an owner you need to know exactly where every penny will be spent and where it should be done. All businesses tend to increase costs over time and of course at an early stage you may spend more than you earn.
Before starting a business you need to familiarize yourself with your chosen business and get a comprehensive idea about your expenses. You need more than luck to succeed in affiliate business.
For example, if you find a source of raw materials where you can get less than 1 rupees per unit, then you may be able to reduce your costs as well as compete with competitors.
Start a business with a narrow focus:
As new traders pursue their goals, they suddenly deviate from their targets and become overwhelmed, and inevitably run into problems. Increases focus from the thought of making a quick profit, but in the end it is this work that causes failure.
For example, you started working as a website developer and you are also an expert web developer. You will find a client who wants SEO alongside development. What would happen if you took the job now?
You may be the best web developer in the world, but customers are also expecting the best SEO from you. Customers If you do not get any improvement in the site rank due to SEO, the client will not be happy! You know, there is no second chance for the first impression.
If you want a business opportunity to get referrals (get a lot more work by listening to compliments) then these first projects need to be done well. Whether or not your first few clients become customers again also depends on your first impression.
Remember, Amazon used to only sell books at first. Then gradually their business has reached a stage where you can get virtually whatever you want to buy on Amazon.
So try to be like Amazon. Start with a narrow focus and gradually expand from there.
Most entrepreneurs think so much before starting their business that they can't even start a business. There are many perfectionists among us who do not want to do anything if everything is not perfect. If you have a tendency to be perfect, be careful.
You may be wrong in doing business. Accept the mistakes, none of us can always make the right decision. Unexpected obstacles will come, but we have to learn from the mistakes. It is important to build your confidence to start a new business and be successful, and try your best to establish your business.
