Content

• Steps
• Method 1 of 6: Getting Started
• Method 2 of 6: Writing a Business Plan
• Method 3 of 6: Financial Management
• Method 4 of 6: Regarding the legal side
• Method 5 of 6: Promote Your Business
• Method 6 of 6: Starting Your Business
• Tips
• Warnings

Are you dreaming of your own business? In this case, you will not obey anyone, and you yourself will decide your own destiny - and, perhaps, you will become the head of an enterprise. It's complicated? Undoubtedly. Will it take effort on your part? Quite right. Do you have to be rich, have a brilliant education and a long resume? Not at all! Can you do it? As it is said in the magic ball of predictions, "Signs say yes!" So how do you do this? Need a plan! There are several tried and true ways to build your business, and now is the time to start.

Steps

Method 1 of 6: Getting Started

1. 1 Define your goals. Do you want financial independence and then sell your business at a high price? Or do you want to do what you love, own a small but stable business and make a profit? These are the basics that should be decided in advance.
2. 2 Pick an idea. It can be a product that you have always wanted to produce, or a service that the population needs. It could also be something completely new that people don't even know about!
   • You can brainstorm bright and creative people effectively (and fun). Start with a simple question: "What are we going to do?" The main goal of this event is not to create a business plan, but to come up with various ideas. Many ideas will fail, some will be common. However, there will be ideas with real potential.
3. 3 Come up with a working title. You can do this even before a business idea comes up. If the title is successful, it will help you find and define your business idea. As your business plan evolves, it will begin to take shape and a better name may emerge. However, this does not mean that you cannot come up with a working title at the initial stage, because you can easily change it later.
   • Take an example from the Beatles, who often use funny names for their songs during their creation. For example, the song "Yesterday" originally had the working title "Scrambled Eggs".
4. 4 Designate your team. Will you do this alone, or invite one or two close friends to join you? This will require good rapport. Two people together can come up with something more than each separately. ...
   • Remember the success stories of recent famous people such as John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, Larry Page and Sergey Brin. In each case cited, the partnership has been successful for both parties. And each of them became a billionaire. The question arises: "Is the partnership a guarantee that you will become a billionaire in the future?" No, but it doesn't matter!
5. 5 Choose wisely. Be careful when choosing a partner or partners with whom you are going to start your business. Even if this is your best friend, it does not mean that you will be able to successfully run a business. Start with a trustworthy person. Tips to consider when choosing a partner to do business together include the following points:
   • Consider these questions: “Does your potential partner complement your weaknesses? Or do you both have the same skill set? " If you answer yes to the last question, then be careful. In this case, both of you will be solving the same problems, while other things will be left unattended.
   • If you hold the same views, then you should pay attention to the details, as they are important for getting things in order. But if you disagree, it can lead to an irreparable split. Make sure your team cares about the sales and goals of your business as much as you do.
   • When interviewing, it is worth reading about how to determine the real talent, its level or lack of it. Natural talent is often different from the usual education that people often aspire to. And it is very important to try to identify a talented candidate.

Method 2 of 6: Writing a Business Plan

1. 1 Create your business plan. A business plan helps you determine what you will need when starting a small or large business. It is a document that brings together all your ideas and ideas. Includes a plan for investors, bankers, and other stakeholders to help them determine if your business is worth investing in. Your business plan should consist of the following elements:
2. 2 Create a description of your business. It must be specific. You need to give an idea of ​​how your business fits into the market as a whole. If you are the owner of a corporation, you have a limited liability company, or you are an individual entrepreneur, explain why you have chosen this particular path of development. Describe your product, its capabilities and benefits to customers. Answer the following questions:
   • Who are the potential clients? Once you understand who they are and what they want, you can develop your marketing strategy.
   • What price are they willing to pay for your product or service?
   • Who are your competitors? Analyze your competitors' market. Find out who is in the same business as you and how they succeeded. It is also important to find out the mistakes that lead businesses to collapse.
3. 3 Write an operational plan that describes the process of production and delivery of your goods or services, as well as all costs.
   • How will you create your product? Whether this service you provide, or something more complex - software, toys, or toasters - you need to think through the manufacturing process, from sourcing raw materials to completing assembly, packaging, storage and transportation. Will you hire additional workers? Will trade unions be involved? All of these things must be taken into account.
   • Who will lead and who will obey? Designate your organization from the reception desk to the CEO, where everyone will have a functional and financial role. Knowing the structure of your organization will make it easier for you to plan costs. You will know exactly how much is required for the effective functioning of your enterprise.
4. 4 Finance. Financial reporting will turn your marketing and operational plan into cash flow. She will determine the amount you need, as well as the amount of future profits. This is the most dynamic part of your plan, and probably the most important for further stability. You must update this plan item monthly during the first year, quarterly during the second, and then annually.
   • Coverage of initial costs. How are you initially going to finance your business? The bank, risky ventures, investors, the Small Business Administration (SBA), your own savings are all viable options. Be realistic when starting your business. It is clear that you will not immediately receive one hundred percent profit, so you must have a certain financial reserve that you can invest until your business starts working. One of the surest paths to failure is a lack of capital.
   • For what price do you intend to sell your product or service? How much will the production cost? Develop a rough estimate of net income, taking into account fixed costs such as rent, energy fees, employee salaries, and so on.
5. 5 Consider a pricing model. Start by checking your competitors. Ask for how much they sell the same products as yours. Can you add something to your product (improve it), make it different from others, and, therefore, set a more attractive price?
   • The struggle is not only for goods and services. It's also about your social and environmental sustainability. Consumers should be aware that your business has a good working environment and is environmentally friendly. Getting endorsements from reputable organizations, such as different labels and stars, can reassure customers.
6. 6 Come up with an overview of your business. The first part of a business plan is an overview. After you have developed the rest of the plan, describe the general concept of the business, how you plan to make money from it, what funding you need, what position your business is currently in. This includes the legal status, the number of people involved, and anything that will present your business as a winning project.

Method 3 of 6: Financial Management

1. 1 Manage your running expenses. Keep a close eye on your running costs and compare them against your projections.Whenever you see your electricity, phone, stationery, and packaging costs are on the rise, take a look around and see how much you can reduce those secondary costs. Consider a savings strategy before starting your business. Pay in advance for needed services instead of tying yourself into long-term contracts.
2. 2 You must have a financial reserve. You can assume that you need $ 50,000 in order to start your own business. This is fine. You get your 50,000, buy tables, printers and raw materials. And then the second month comes and you are still in the production stage. You need to pay rent, pay employees' salaries, and pay off all bills at the same time. When this happens, all you have to do is wind up your business. Therefore, if you have the opportunity, you should have enough money to support the business for a year until the business starts making a profit.
3. 3 Don't waste your time on trifles. Minimize office equipment costs and overheads at the stage of starting a business. No need to make an amazing office space, with fancy office chairs and expensive art on the walls. A broom closet will suffice if you can skillfully manage customers using your local café for meetings (and meeting them in the lobby). Many aspiring entrepreneurs have failed simply because they bought expensive items instead of focusing on the business itself.
4. 4 Decide how you will accept payment. You need to come up with some kind of scheme to receive payments from clients or customers. You can use something like Square, which is great for small businesses as it doesn't require a lot of paperwork and the costs are minimal. However, if you feel that the technology is not right for you, you can go the old route and use a merchant account.
   • A commercial account is an agreement according to which a bank grants a loan to a businessman who wants to receive money through the bank. Previously, without such an agreement, it was impossible to receive payments through any bank. However, Square has changed this structure, so don't feel limited in this choice. Do your own research.
   • Square is a card that allows you to pay through a terminal, which connects to a smartphone or tablet and turns this device into a kind of cash register. You may have come across this device at the companies you visit frequently, as they are now common in cafes, restaurants, street shops and other companies.

Method 4 of 6: Regarding the legal side

1. 1 Consider finding a lawyer or legal consultant. There are many obstacles on your way, you will have to work very hard without getting decent money for it. These will be bundles of documents with rules, regulations, from building pacts to city ordinances, regional permits, regional requirements, taxes, invoices, contracts, agreements, promotions, partnerships and much more. Finding someone you can call in case of a problem will calm you down a bit and help you find resources to help you build a successful plan.
   • Find someone with whom you speak the same language and who will assure you that they understand your business. Of course, you will want someone with experience in this area, as an inexperienced lawyer can create additional problems for you, for example, you can be fined or even go to jail.
2. 2 Hire an accountant. You need someone to manage your finances, but even if you feel like you could handle your own ledgers, you still need someone who understands tax law. Paying taxes on your business can be a daunting task, and at the very least you need a tax advisor.It doesn't matter with what volume of finances they work with you, the main thing is that you can trust them.
3. 3 Create a business. You will need to decide what type of business you want, taking into account your tax goals, as well as creating a business that can attract investors. You will do this after you decide whether you need money from others in equal shares or if you are ready to borrow, just consult with your lawyer and accountant first. This is one of the last steps you will take before spending or asking someone for money. Most are familiar with corporations like LLCs and so on, but most small business owners will need to create one of the following:
   • Sole proprietorship if you manage it (not including hired personnel) yourself or with your spouse.
   • A common sole proprietorship if you do this business with a partner.
   • A limited liability partnership, it consists of several partners who are responsible for problems in the business, from several passive investing partners who are only responsible for the amount of money they have invested in the business. Everyone shares both gains and losses.
   • Limited Liability Company (LLC), where none of the partners is responsible for anyone's default.

Method 5 of 6: Promote Your Business

1. 1 Make a website. If you're selling online, plug in an online commerce site here or build a website or have someone build one for you. This is a showcase of your store, so you can do whatever you please so that a person has a desire to come to you and stay with you, do it.
   • In case your business is human-centered, traditional marketing can be very important. For example, if you are starting a landscape business, pay special attention to informing your buddies about it before setting up a website.
2. 2 Hire professional designers. If you do decide to make a website, make sure it looks professional. Initially, the designers' work may cost more, but it is worth it as you will end up with a decent website as a result. It should look professional and easy to operate. If you include money transactions there, skimp on setting up a security code and make sure that the money transfer companies are really reliable.
3. 3 Discover the hidden talent of an advertising agent. You may fervently believe in the success of your product or service, but for real success, someone else must believe that too. If you are new to advertising or marketing, or you don’t like making presentations, now is the time to beat those feelings and feel like you’re in the place of an advertising specialist. You need to create a short, colorful presentation to convince people that they really need your product or service, exactly the one that reflects the desired utility, purpose and potential, and this is exactly what only your business offers. Write your presentation in several versions over and over until you find the one that you like and which you can willingly present to the public. Then repeat it many times without stopping!
   • Depending on your business, it might be appropriate to print colorful business cards.
4. 4 Take the time to create a good presentation. This can be done successfully before preparing the business, including forecasting. Use Facebook, Google+ and Twitter or whatever social network you are registered with to impress and promote your product. You want to create buzz so people follow your success. (Make sure you open business accounts for your business, then separate them. Messages should be different depending on where you send them.
5. 5 Bring your advertising and distribution plan to life. With a product or service already in place, and with a reasonable prediction of when he or she is ready to sell, start marketing.
   • If you advertise your product in magazines, it will be tedious to provide the publisher with photographs at least 2 months before publication.
   • If you will be selling your product in stores, take care of pre-orders and the place where your product will be located. If you will be selling online, set up an e-commerce site.
   • If you offer a service, advertise it in the relevant industry and professional magazines, newspapers and the internet.

Method 6 of 6: Starting Your Business

1. 1 Take an extra seat. Whether it's an office or a warehouse, if you still need more space than a garage or empty bedroom, now is the time to find one.
   • If you don't really need an office outside of your home, but may need a meeting place, you can always find a place in the city center to do so. Google "office rent [your city / state]" and it will quickly give you a lot of results.
2. 2 Create your product or develop your service. Once your business is planned, financed, and you hire staff, start your own business. Once the business is planned, financed, and core staff hired, get to work. Whether it is working with engineers on software, coding and testing equipment, or purchasing or shipping raw materials to your production facilities (“garage”), or purchasing products in bulk, so that later you can earn on a margin, the process of building your business is the very time when As you prepare to go to market, you may find things like:
   • You need to change your ideas. It may be necessary to change the product color, composition or size. You may need to expand your ideas, shorten them, or refine them. Now is the time of development and testing when amendments can be made. You will know exactly what needs to be changed in the product in order to improve it and stand out from the competition.
   • Get feedback. You can ask questions of your friends and family members, don't even hesitate, they will be good listeners.
   • If necessary, take additional premises. This often happens. When the runoff starts to grow, it can move into your living room, bedroom, or shed. Consider renting a warehouse if needed.
3. 3 Launch your product or service. Once you get your product ready, fold it up and barcode it, post it online and it's ready for sale, or when your services are fully prepared, host your business launch event. Send out press releases, tell the world about you. Submit your info to Tweeter, Facebook so all customers in the market know that you have a new one!
   • Host a party and invite people to advertise your business. You don't need to spend a lot on this: buy food and drinks in bulk and invite relatives and friends to help you organize catering (in return, you can give them a product or provide your service).

Tips

• Always provide the price of goods and services to those who can become your client, even if at the moment they are not interested in it. When they need your product, the first thing they think about is you.
• With the development of the internet, online businesses are arguably the easiest to start up and less costly in terms of upfront costs than actual existing merchants.
• Keep learning and respond quickly to changing conditions. Find business partners, mentors, related home business organizations, online forums and wiki articles to be able to discuss day-to-day small business management issues.It is much easier to carry out your main tasks in business successfully, if you do not waste time and energy on unnecessary things.
• Most direct selling companies have very low start-up capital compared to traditional businesses. You can also go bust faster than a regular business.
• You may also consider selling through eBay or Overstock.
• It's okay to start with one or two products and then add more and more great ideas as your business grows.
• Feel free to experiment with prices. You must determine the minimum price for your product or service, even if it will not be adequate, still experiment by raising or lowering prices.
• Always believe in yourself, even when you are broke.

Warnings

• Beware of people who require prepayment even before they provide you with services. Trade leads to prosperity through mutually beneficial collaboration, so the business must work for you. (An independently owned store that sells products from a franchisee or home business may have fair organizational costs, but must reflect the reasonable costs of starting your business for managers to earn interest on your success, and not just because they got you involved.)
• Also beware of business deals that offer "completely free" merchandise. They often take something from someone - usually from you. There are countless such options, some more sophisticated than others. They can be built into whole pyramids.