A Step-by-Step Guide on how to start a business from scratch for Newbies
Before we start to analyze this step-by-step guide on how to start a business from scratch, let’s consider some of the main pros and cons of starting a business from scratch.
PROS AND CONS OF STARTING A BUSINESS FROM SCRATCH
Before starting your business from scratch, every aspiring entrepreneur should consider the main pros, cons, and pitfalls of such an undertaking. You must know and understand what you are going to get involved in.
If you take a good look at it, there are many advantages to starting your own business. In this article, we will analyze the most basic and common benefits.
Doing what you love
As a rule, novice businessmen choose the field of activity that they like and in which they are well versed. Therefore, when starting a business, they exchange their hated job for a favorite business, in which they can fully undertake with passion.
Personal growth
Unlike hired work, starting a business contributes to the growth of both the personality itself and its capabilities. Nothing contributes to self-development and changes in all spheres of life like your own business.
Independence
By starting your own business, you become independent from literally everything: from the boss, the work schedule, the vacation schedule and the working day, lunchtime, etc. A businessman becomes his own boss and decides for himself when to come to work and when to leave, what time to dine or not dine at all, when to go on vacation, and when you can just walk.
Financial opportunities
Starting a business is a great opportunity to become a financially independent and successful person. True, in order to become such, you need to spend a lot of time and effort, which, with a competent approach, will very soon pay off with interest.
Disadvantages of Starting a business
In addition to the positive aspects, starting a business carries certain disadvantages.
A responsibility
This is probably the main disadvantage. It is because of responsibility that many wish to abandon the idea of starting their own business. In business, you will have to solve all problems, from small to large, to solve independently. Only you will have to be responsible for your every decision and final result. And the fate of not only your business but also your partners and staff (if you have them) will depend on your decisions, actions, and deeds.
Complexity and labor input
It will be very difficult at the beginning when almost all your time and effort will be required from you.
While your business is developing, you will have to invest all of yourself in it. You will have to work not 8 am to 6 pm, as in your main job, but all at least 14 hours a day. Starting a business from scratch is a huge stress. You will have to use all your mental and moral strength, to show tremendous psychological stability in order to maintain peace of mind and your reputation. Lazy and psychologically unstable people are better off not even starting.
Capital intensity
Starting a business from scratch and growing it requires an investment of a considerable amount of money.
You have to pay rent, buy raw materials and equipment, pay for advertising, invest in development and promotion. Many simply do not have such funds, and therefore, beginner entrepreneurs take loans, which significantly delays the return on business.
Financial risks
If you start your own business, this does not mean that you will certainly gain financial stability and become rich after a certain period of time. Maybe everything will turn out exactly the opposite. Owning a business is always a huge risk, primarily financial. In a place of financial freedom, you can get a bankrupt company with huge debts, and for a long time you will stubbornly try to get out of the “debt hole”.
HOW TO START A BUSINESS FROM SCRATCH. STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTION
If you have a great desire to open your own business from scratch, and you are ready to make tremendous efforts, invest a huge amount of your energy and time, you can proceed with the step-by-step plan below.
Step 1. Make a decision
Of course, no business will work without a firm decision. Before throwing yourself into the world of business with your head, you need to weigh the pros and cons. Understand for yourself whether you need it or not.
Running your own business is a completely different life, where there will be no previous stability and confidence in the future. Think carefully and decide for yourself whether it is worth so drastically changing your life, or it is better to live your old life as a hired worker. But on the other hand, a stable life with confidence in the future.
If you do decide to start your own business, then you must be prepared for the fact that your life will change 180 degrees. Especially at first, you will have to plow like a horse and spend all your time on your business. And no matter what happens, you must show tremendous patience, perseverance and be psychologically resistant to any circumstances.
Step 2. Looking for an idea
If you have weighed all the pros and cons and decided to start your own business, then you will need to choose which business to open. That is, choose a business idea. There is no need to reinvent the wheel, you can just use the already proven lines of business. Just choose the idea that you like best, and in which you understand at least a little. You should not open a business in which you know nothing and do not like.
Step 3. Conducting market analysis
After you have chosen a business idea, you will need to conduct a market analysis. Identify its main competitors, evaluate their positive and negative sides, prices, quality of service, assortment. Think well about your advantage over competitors, how you will differ from them, what will be better for you. Pay attention to demand, find out if people need your product at all.
If, as a result of the analysis, you decided that you can compete with the existing enterprises, then you can proceed to plan your actions.
Step 4. Drawing up a consistent action plan
Drawing up a sequential action plan does not mean drawing up a business plan, but, namely, drawing up a sequential plan of your actions. That is, you thoroughly and thoroughly, and, most importantly, consistently describe everything that you need to do to open a business.
The court will include drawing up a business plan, and registration, advertising, organizing a business, etc. Write everything in detail on a piece of paper or on a computer. This will help you a lot to do everything right, without missing or forgetting anything. You will know what, when, and how to do it. It is important not only to write a plan of action, it is even more important to manage to adhere strictly to it, adjusting it if necessary.
Step 5. Drawing up a business plan
Without a well-written business plan, it is better not to open a business. It is the business plan that will show you whether to start a business or not. How much and what expenses are you facing. What will be the profit and when will your business pay off. And whether it will pay off at all. Namely, from the business plan, you will see your business from the inside. You will understand it better. You will be able to optimize your expenses and find a way to increase your profits. And, most importantly, you will know how much money you will need to start a business.
If a business plan is not drawn up for investors, then it is better to write it in the form in which it will be more convenient for you to work with it. And don’t look for ready-made business plans. They are very different from reality.
Step 6. Finding money to start a business
So we come to the main problem when starting a business. You can, of course, try to open a business without investment, which in practice cannot be done. Do not say so, but you will have to bear the organizational costs. For example, such as expenses for registration, purchase of materials, goods, etc.
Among businessmen, a business without investment is a business that requires no more than one thousand dollars to open. You should have at least this amount.
So, in any case, you need to think about where you will take the money. It’s good if you have them, but if there are no options for where to get money to start a business, read this article. It is strongly discouraged to take a loan to start your own business, especially if you are a beginner.
Step 7. Register your business
If you have drawn up a business plan, and you have the required amount for your business, you can start registering it. Your business should be registered.
Depending on the type of your activity, you can choose to register LLC or sole proprietorship (individual entrepreneur).
Individual entrepreneurship (IE) is an individual who has the right to hire employees.
Step 8. Choosing a taxation system
It is very important to decide which tax system you will use before starting a business. The amount of taxes and the method of paying them will depend on this.
Step 9. Business organization
Organizing your own business means:
Search for personnel, although, at first, it is better to work alone;
rent a space(office);
Do advertising and decide on ways to promote at the initial stage of the business;
organize document flow and office work.
At the stage of organizing a business, special attention should be paid to marketing, ways to attract customers. This is very important not only at the initial stage but also throughout the entire period of the existence of the business. In addition, in order to make as few mistakes as possible, you can resort to consulting by contacting a consulting company.
Step 10. Starting a business
At the very beginning, you need to test your idea. You just need to make a minimum purchase of goods with minimal advertising and see how the sales go. This is done in order to estimate what the demand for your product will be in reality. Based on the results obtained, make the necessary adjustments and improvements to your plan.
TIP: Don’t delay starting your business by constantly tweaking and improving your plan. You need to start as quickly as possible. And then, along the way and the results obtained, you can make adjustments to your plan.
Step 11. Development of your business and active promotion
If your business has successfully passed the test, then you can start developing it, refine and improve your plan. Your business has already made its first profit, for which you can increase the leased area, staff, create a good plan, etc.
Since your business idea has shown its efficiency, you can take out a loan for business development in case of a shortage of money.
During the promotion stage, you should make the most of your advertising opportunities. Look for customers on the Internet, do offline advertising, do direct sales, etc.
Do not sit still, search, learn and use all methods, ways, and opportunities to develop and promote your business.
Step 12. Scaling
If your business is actively growing, you can start to expand. For example, you can open representative offices (Branches) in other cities, or capture an adjacent direction.
You just need to look at your business, and you will definitely understand what you can catch on to.
How to understand how effective your business is at the start
There are several criteria by which you can understand whether your business will “survive” or not.
If your profit without expenses and taxes is above zero, then there is every chance of prosperity.
If your sales are less than planned, then you need to urgently take action and adjust the work.
You should feel comfortable. If it is very difficult for you, then it will be very difficult for you to cope.
Now you know the step-by-step instructions for starting a business from scratch. You know what and when to do in order to “survive” and not get into big debts. Realistically assess your capabilities and only then get down to business.
FINAL WORDS
In conclusion, I would like to note that starting a business from scratch is a matter that requires an investment of tremendous patience, a huge amount of effort, and time. And, if you are confident in your own strengths, in your psychological stability, and are ready to put your whole soul into your business, then you can start drawing up your own step-by-step instructions on how to start a business from scratch, based on the features and nuances of your business idea.
And don’t forget to put all your fears and doubts aside and make your business start-up plan a reality.
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Owolabi Meshach
Rindx Team
