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Business / Good News by Ademolag(m): 1:02pm On Jan 09, 2016 |
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Business / How To Start Your Own Business. by Ademolag(m): 12:49pm On Jan 09, 2016 |
How to Start Your Own Business
Running your own business is a
stressful but good career and life
choice. It demands your time and
focus. Start by expecting to live
your work until it is established so it
can get off the ground. There are
many different opinions about how
to start a business. Read below for
some basic ideas and guidelines to
get you started.
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Part One of Seven:
Have An Idea
1
Come up with an idea. You will
need an idea for a business
before you do anything else.
This should be something you
are passionate about, since your
new business will consume a
great deal of your time and
money.
Come up with business ideas
by identifying things people
need and are willing to pay
for, that isn’t provided in
your area, or which you can
provide better than anyone
else.
2
Consider if it is possible. Before
going too far, think about how
plausible your idea is. Is it
something that people would
actually pay for? Will it turn
enough of a profit to be worth
spending your time to do it? You
will also need to be sure that it is
possible to put into action. While
it would be great to have a
computer which makes food
magically appear out of thin air,
this is simply impossible (unless
you’re Patrick Stewart.)
3
Be sure it’s unique. Whatever
your idea is, be sure it’s as
unique as possible. This will help
you eliminate or significantly
combat competition, which will
make your business more
successful. Simply putting a
small spin on a currently existing
product (making blue Red vines
or something like that) is not
usually enough to build a
business on, so push the
envelope!
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Part Two of Seven:
Make A Business Plan
1
Determine your cost of
operation. You will need a solid
business plan to present to any
investors and the best place to
start would be with determining
your basic cost of operations.
This will outline and help you
determine how much money is
needed to produce the product
or offer the service you intend
to offer or produce. It includes
production costs, shipping,
taxes, worker’s wages, rent for
workspace, etc. [1]
Knowing your cost of
operations will be vital to
determining if your business
will be profitable, since you
will need to make more than
this baseline in order to
remain in business.
2
Determine your potential
market. Be realistic. How many
people will realistically use your
business? How much will they
pay to use your services? If
either number is too small in
comparison to how much it will
cost you to stay in business,
then you should reconsider or
change your plans.
3
Determine impediments. You
will need to plan ahead for all of
the problems which can get in
the way of running a business.
Evaluate your competition; if
their market share or product
offering is too strong and
stable, then you will have a
very hard time breaking into
the market. No one will want
to buy an equally priced or
more expensive version of a
perfectly good product or
service which already exists.
You will also need to explore
the associated regulations
and laws, especially regarding
taxes. You should ask your
local state authorities, as well
getting information from the
IRS.[2]
Make sure there are no
prohibitive costs, such as
equipment which is too
expensive to make the
business profitable. For
example, cars didn’t take off
until Ford figured out how to
make them cheap by building
more efficient equipment.
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Part Three of Seven:
Make A Marketing Plan
1
Write up a budget. Once you
have a general idea of how much
money you have to work with,
write up a budget for marketing
which indicates how much
money you have available to
spend on advertising.
2
Create ideas fitting your
budget. Once you know how
much money you have, research
the costs of different types of
marketing and come up with
ideas which fit those methods
and are effective for the price
range. If you have a lot of
money to spend on marketing,
for example, you can consider
shooting a commercial. If you
have almost none, you’ll want to
think about ways to use social
media effectively, which is very
effective for requiring little
money.
3
Plan timing and location of
marketing. Once you know what
kind of marketing you intend to
do, think about the most
effective places to advertise and
what time of day, month or year
are going to work best to reach
your target market.
You will want to be sure that
you are using marketing
which is appropriate to the
type of people you expect to
be interested in your product
or services. There is little
point in using social media to,
for example, advertise a 55+
only cruise line. Meanwhile, if
you’re advertising for your
new dance club, a printed
newspaper is probably not
going to be your best bet.
There is also no point in
advertising a business only
available in Chicago to people
in Seattle, so consider
physical location as well.
If your services are seasonal
you will want to consider
what the best time of year
would be to advertise. Also,
television advertisements will
need to be timed so that the
right demographics will be
watching when they air.
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Part Four of Seven:
Get Financing
1
Talk with your bank. Talk with a
bank with whom you already
have a positive relationship. Ask
about what kind of business
start-up loans they offer and
how they can benefit your
business. By using a bank you
already know, the bank will have
easy access to your financial
records and will be more
confident in investing with you.
2
Get local investors. If the bank
loans will not be enough, look
into local investors. There may
be a local business tycoon or
other similarly wealthy person
who would have a vested
interest in seeing you succeed.
Research people in your area
who may have the funds and
motivation to help you.
3
Seek venture capitalists or
angel investors. Angels are high
net worth individuals and venture
capitalists are companies. Both
fund a promising high risk
venture for a stake (partnership)
and often bring experience,
management expertise and
contacts to the table. They
usually work through a network
or association[3].
4
Approach friends and relatives.
People who know you for a long
time are most likely to have faith
in your ability and intentions.
These are also the people who
are likely to stand by you if the
going gets tough in the initial
stages of your venture or you
need to raise more money.
However, make it clear the
money is intended as risk capital
and they might lose it
completely or may not be
returned in the short term.
5
Use crowd-funding. If you still
can’t drum up enough funding,
use websites to raise the money
you need to start. These funding
sources have several benefits:
you will not have to pay interest
on the money you get (since it is
money which is used to provide
actual product or services) and it
will help you not only gauge
interest in what you have to
offer but also help you build a
customer base. You’ll start
business with hundreds or
thousands of customers already
lined up and ready to tell other
people about what you have to
offer.
6
Report. No matter which source
you raise funds from, be sure to
provide key operating, strategic
and accounting information to
your financiers periodically,
usually twice a year. It's a good
idea to hold a board meeting if
everyone can physically attend.
If not, do it via teleconference.
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Part Five of Seven:
Build Infrastructure
1
Get an office. You will need a
space from which to run your
business. This can be a home
office if you require little space
and will not have employees, or
it can require an entire workshop
or warehouse. Look at renting in
a low cost neighborhood or
business incubators instead of a
fancy address. Some universities
make space available at a low
rent for new business ventures
based on an innovative scientific
idea. It depends on what you will
be doing and how big you intend
your business to be. Make sure
the space is coded and legal for
how you intend to use it and
within your budget.
2
Purchase equipment. Purchase
all of the things you need to
start work. This can mean
mechanical equipment,
computers, telephone, or craft
supplies. It all depends on what
you are doing. Try to purchase
from business supply companies
as they will have significant
discounts. If you are short of
capital, lease or rent is an
attractive option too, so as not
to block your funds.
3
Create a records system. From
doing taxes to figuring out why
you’re mysteriously missing $
2,000 to searching through
customer records to find out if
Mrs. Jones did in fact pay her
bill, you’re going to want a good
records system to help your
business run smoothly and
efficiently. Invest in file
cabinets, labels and digital
records software to keep you
organized and on top of things.
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Edit
Part Six of Seven:
Build a Customer Base
1
Make use of marketing and PR.
You will want to reach out to
potential customers in ways that
make them want to use your
business. This is especially
important when you are first
starting, before you have an
established, regular customer
base.
Advertise in a way that
catches customers attention
at a minimum and hopefully
goes beyond to capture their
imagination. Be creative and
appeal to the right aspects of
the customers you want to
use your business.
Offer free samples of what
you do to the right people, in
order to get people saying
good things about what you
have to offer. Word of mouth
(i.e. good PR) is the best way
to attract new customers. If
you get bad reviews or
negative feedback, respond
positively and fix the
problem. People will be much
less judgmental about
mistakes if you’re willing to
fix them.
2
Use a little old fashioned
networking. Go to conferences,
charity galas, meetings with
complementary businesses and
anywhere where your customers
are likely to be highly
concentrated. In other words:
get out in public and interact
with people. Use your friends
connections to meet people who
may be able to help you. This
kind of interaction is very
important for starting a
business. You can’t exist in a
vacuum after all.[4]
3
Have great customer service
skills. Be good at interacting
with people. Practice reading
between the lines of what
people say. Learn how to meet
needs they didn’t know they
had. Figure out how to make
people happy. Be charming.
Most importantly, be humble.
The customer may not always be
right but you need to be able to
let them think they are.
4
Have a website. The world has
moved online. Any business that
wants to survive the next ten
years is going to have to have a
website. People will use it to
contact you, find your location,
learn your operating hours, ask
you questions, make
suggestions, and maybe even
buy your products or services. In
having a website and services
which are available over the
internet, you will be able to
expand your service area out
across your region or even the
world.
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Part Seven of Seven:
Get Paid
1
Require payment. Don’t let
people take advantage of you.
Require payment within a
specific window of time
(whatever is appropriate for what
you do). Invoice people as soon
as you possibly can. If someone
is late in a payment, talk to
them. If you ignore these
problems hoping that they go
away, you will find yourself
working for free and your
business in the tank.[5]
2
Take credit cards. Very few
people consistently pay for
products or services with cash
any more. It will be much easier
for your business, as well as
records keeping and accounting,
if you accept credit and debit
cards. If you want to save
yourself ridiculous fees or keep
your business more mobile,
consider using the Square. This
device plugs into a smartphone
or tablet and lets you swipe
customer’s card.
3
Set up an online system. If you
plan to have products for sale
online you will need to make
sure to set up an accord online
payment system. Services like
Paypal make this incredibly easy.
Research to find out which
method is best for you.
However, make sure that
whatever system you use is
secure. You don’t want either
your information or your
customer’s information to be
hacked or taken advantage of.
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Jobs/Vacancies / Re: Today's Vacancies by Ademolag(m): 11:35am On Jan 09, 2016 |
My COMPLETE BUSINESS
GUIDE......A BLUEPRINT TO
BUSINESS SUCCESS. Grab a free
copy by following
pages77.
|
Jobs/Vacancies / Re: Jobs At ECOWAS Commission by Ademolag(m): 11:32am On Jan 09, 2016 |
My COMPLETE BUSINESS GUIDE......A BLUEPRINT TO BUSINESS SUCCESS. Grab a free copy by following pages77.
|
Business / My Complete Business Guide by Ademolag(m): 11:28am On Jan 09, 2016 |
Grab a free copy today by following pages77.. Limited copies!!!!
|
Business / Re: My Complete Business Guide by Ademolag(m): 5:05pm On Jan 08, 2016 |
Its a mistake that has been corrected |
Business / My Complete Business Guide by Ademolag(m): 5:01pm On Jan 08, 2016 |
A comprehensive blueprint for every entrepreneur. Follow pages77. to get a free copy today.
|
Business / My Complete Business Guide by Ademolag(m): 2:19pm On Jan 08, 2016 |
A comprehensive blueprint for every entrepreneur. Follow pages77. to get a free copy today.
|
Career / Re: None Of The Wealthy Men Is Only A Salary Earner by Ademolag(m): 7:56pm On Jan 07, 2016 |
Please the guide is now uploaded on this thread, please feel free to download it. Thanks |
Politics / Re: Uwazuruike To Set Up Parallel Government by Ademolag(m): 7:17pm On Jan 06, 2016 |
Ok oooo, we are waiting. Read THERE IS A COUNTRY CALLED BIAFRA on pages77. |
Business / Re: My Complete Business Guide by Ademolag(m): 4:31pm On Jan 06, 2016 |
below you can download the trial version for this e-book at #0 remember to simply visit pages77. to buy the full version
|
Career / Re: None Of The Wealthy Men Is Only A Salary Earner by Ademolag(m): 4:28pm On Jan 06, 2016 |
i have decided to share the trial version through this thread, just download the attachment. remember to post your comment
|
Celebrities / Re: Olamide Vs Donjazy: The Headies Drama (Video) by Ademolag(m): 10:46am On Jan 02, 2016 |
Olamide behaved childish 1 Like |
Webmasters / Seun's Mistake by Ademolag(m): 10:30am On Jan 02, 2016 |
If we are to obey all the posting rules seun wrote, what will we post? Remember, you can drop your e-mail address below your comment to get the free ebook ' MY COMPLETE BUSINESS GUIDE |
Education / Re: Why Are Most Nairalanders Very Nosy And Nasty by Ademolag(m): 10:05am On Jan 02, 2016 |
Why is seun not saying anything |
Education / Re: Why Are Most Nairalanders Very Nosy And Nasty by Ademolag(m): 11:39pm On Jan 01, 2016 |
Seun why dont we review the case |
Education / Re: Why Are Most Nairalanders Very Nosy And Nasty by Ademolag(m): 10:32pm On Jan 01, 2016 |
What did you do |
Romance / Re: God Will Punish Anybody Having Unprotected Sex... by Ademolag(m): 11:16am On Jan 01, 2016 |
And adulterers/fornicators |
Education / Re: Why Are Most Nairalanders Very Nosy And Nasty by Ademolag(m): 10:54am On Jan 01, 2016 |
Webmasters / Re: Everybody Please Submit Your Website Url For Indexing In A New Search Engine!! by Ademolag(m): 10:49am On Jan 01, 2016 |
Pages 77. |
Education / Re: Why Are Most Nairalanders Very Nosy And Nasty by Ademolag(m): 10:11am On Jan 01, 2016 |
If this issue is not addressed nairaland might start losing important people who have important things to share. They will just see nairaland as a children play ground |
Career / None Of The Wealthy Men Is Only A Salary Earner by Ademolag(m): 10:08am On Jan 01, 2016 |
Entrepreneurship is the answer to
wealth. No doubt.
But to become an entrepreneur is
one thing, to know the blue print is
another thing.
Reason why i have compiled this
great twenty five session e-book to
get you on the right track.
I am giving away the first five
sessions for free, after which you
can decide to purchase. All you
need do is to drop your email
address below.
Bon nouveau anneé |
Education / Re: Why Are Most Nairalanders Very Nosy And Nasty by Ademolag(m): 9:53am On Jan 01, 2016 |
They are mostly these small secondary school kids with no job. Let's start subscribing with small money, they would disappear |
Education / Re: Why Are Most Nairalanders Very Nosy And Nasty by Ademolag(m): 9:46am On Jan 01, 2016 |
Better we show them the door. Let them stop interfering in good discussions. |
Education / Re: Why Are Most Nairalanders Very Nosy And Nasty by Ademolag(m): 9:34am On Jan 01, 2016 |
If i will say the truth to be on a lon tin. Then i concur |
Education / Why Are Most Nairalanders Very Nosy And Nasty by Ademolag(m): 9:15am On Jan 01, 2016 |
It beats me why nairalanders never mind their business. They keep posting unreasonable comments instead of passing by when they are not interested. Please seun consider making nairaland a paid site. That way kids wont come here to spam everywhere with rubbish |
Business / Re: My Complete Business Guide by Ademolag(m): 9:05am On Jan 01, 2016 |
Your suggestions are welcomed |
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