How to Start a Business: the Do’s and Don’ts

Starting a new business venture can be the next exciting chapter of your life. But it is easy to feel overwhelmed with the process of starting a business. Here are some key do’s and don’ts to help guide you through the early stages of starting your own business.

Do

• validate your business idea. So, you have a business idea, that is great. But, before you start your business, you will need to analyze and refine your idea. Market research will help you to understand the feasibility and demand for your business idea. It will also help you to identify market opportunities and develop products or services that fit the needs of customers.
• seek advice. While you will be expected to wear different hats, especially during the early days of your business, it’s important to recognize your skills, abilities, knowledge and experience and focus on those areas. Seek advice and support in areas that require significant expertise or training to make sure that concerns are adequately addressed.
• define the goals and objectives of your marketing campaign. Establishing goals will help you to evaluate the effectiveness of the marketing strategies used and help you decide if different activities or tools are needed in the future.
• be aware of the risks of borrowing from family and friends. It is important to have a clear understanding about the terms of borrowing from the beginning (i.e. if the money is a gift, a loan or equity) to avoid misunderstandings later on. You should also educate those investing in the business on the risk of failure of startups and the likelihood of returns to their investment.

Don’t

• underestimate the importance of financial literacy. The efficient management of finances is the key to running a successful business. Even if you plan on hiring a professional to manage your finances, it is still important to understand the fundamentals of financial tools that are important in running a business. As an entrepreneur, you should strive to improve your financial literacy skills so that you are better able to understand and manage your finances.
• slash your marketing budget. Many small businesses underestimate the importance of advertising their products or services despite coming up with unique business ideas. While you may get the occasional walk-in business or a few customers through word-of-mouth marketing, your customer base will remain small as long as you don’t create awareness of what you’re selling. Marketing is what draws customers to what you’re selling. Marketing distinguishes you from your competitors, helps you to build a brand and build a customer base.
• underestimate the importance of an online presence. Even if you plan on starting a brick-and-mortar business, an online presence is an essential feature of any business nowadays. An online shop front will allow your business to be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, help you reach a wider audience and allow customers to access your products or services anytime and anywhere. In addition, having a social media presence will also help your marketing and promotional activities, creating customer engagement and brand awareness.

There is no one right way to start your business. As a startup, you will be learning as you go and realize that what works for others may not necessarily work for your business. But following certain best practices, found effective by most startups, in addition to avoiding the obvious don’ts can help your business succeed where others fail.

We would like to hear from you on what worked (or what didn’t) for your business in its early days, let us know in the comments below.

Image Credits: Marten Bjork/Unsplash

Report Issue

Please complete the required fields.

Your Name

Email

Reason (required)
This comment contains abusive content Type the name of the user with the abusive comment in the description Post has incorrect information Post has spam Copyright Issue Other

Description

Submit