Guide To Starting Your Business

Starting a business requires an idea, dedication, and patience. A new business needs a lot of documentation, legal requirements, and strategic development that can simply be overwhelming. But without trying and putting in your effort, you will struggle to turn your idea into a successful business. In business, you need to follow a proper process, thus, there are few steps that you should consider while starting a business:

1. Determine if entrepreneurship is what you want- Before starting something, you need to be sure what exactly you want to do. Start by answering these questions-
   • Why do you want to start a venture?
   • What are your capabilities?
   • What sectors are you acquainted with?
   • Will your company sell a product or a service?
   • How much capital do you have that can be used in an emergency?
2. Self-assessment- Research your weakness, strengths, opportunities, and threats by performing a SWOT analysis. This analysis will help you know about your assets and the challenges that you might face in the future.
3. Refine your idea- When you know why you want a company to launch, it’s time to think of an idea that fits the story. Often, people identify the idea in the self-assessment process but, if you don’t, then look for inspiration around you and get creative.
4. Conduct market research- Research your target audience and potential competitors. Always remember that the existence of rivals is usually a positive sign. It means that there is already a demand for your product or service because you know you have potential clients who are willing to spend money on it.
5. Write your business plan- Writing a business plan is essential and is always a good idea. It is like a roadmap that will provide direction to your business. Also, you might use the business plan to pitch to your investors, banks and attract potential partners and/or board members. It can also be used to identify your plan, strategies, basic implementation tasks, including key goals, deadlines, budgets, and cash flow.
6. Make your business legal- The first step towards making it real is registering your company. Take your time, however, as with the personal assessment stage, get to know the pros and cons of various forms of businesses.
7. Fund your business- You need to find an investor or a venture capital fund that will fund your business. Most small businesses start with a loan, credit card financing, help from friends and family, and so on.
8. Pick a business name and location- Think of an appropriate and catchy name for your business, and decide a perfect location to attract customers. You should also develop a website so that your customers can find you online.

Starting something new is all about trials and errors, keep motivating yourself. As Farrah Gray correctly said, one should create their dreams, or someone would hire them to build theirs. Therefore, be the one who governs the dream and not the one who follows it.