How to start your own business?

How do you start your own business?

Any business can be hard to start. I will be honest its not going to easy but I will give some simple advice. It will come with a lot of uncertainty. The unknown will really take a big toll on you and if you can be positive and consistent then you will be one step closer to being a successful business owner. I like to start with 8 simple points on starting a business this is not a full proof plan but it will serve as a guide to understand what to do first.

1. Evaluate Yourself

Take this step to see what skills you have and how you can turn it something a customer can buy. Can your skill be turned into a service or a product that you produce. Ask yourself these questions :

• What skills do you have ?

• What are you passionate about ?

• Are you an expert at that ?

Once you start to see what you have, you can then shape it into a business model. You can explore and see how other business models are setup and get ideas from that or create your own.

2. What type of business do you want ?

Once you fine what you have and build on your skills you can start a business with a physical location or an online platform. An online presence is the simplest to start because it has a very lost startup cost. The costs are low because you are only starting off with the name of your brand. Check out our other post about the power of branding to know more details on how branding your product will work. A physical location will require more startup money and more details like inventory, furniture, employees, etc. These details make the business harder because you will want to recover that investment back.

3. Do the market research

This point is just as important as the first one. Do the research. Always research, research and do some more research because it will let you see all the who, what, and why’s. The research will let you see what other businesses are doing and how they are doing it. Don’t try to reinvent the same ideas just make your own with a small twist. Take this time to see what the value of your market is and how much you can potentially make. If you see your market is low, then you can make some adjustments and plan. Don’t let the market scare you, just be inspired to do something better and different then everyone else.

4. Make the business real

This step is taking real action. This step means you are serious and you took the first 3 steps serious. Anyone can say they want to start a business and have ideas but putting them on paper makes it real. Taking these steps made it real and having a plan, its not just talk anymore.

Do all the legal processes like :

• Buisiness structure ( ex. LLC, S-Corp, C-Corp )

• Name of the business

• Licenses

• EIN with the IRS

• Permits

• Business bank account

• Trademarks, copyrights, patents

• Logo and design

5. Business email and website

This step is important because you no longer want to use your personal email or make the mistake of not having an online presence. Having a website will make your business real for someone to see what you do and what you have to offer. When you use your own personal email it will show that you didn’t take the time to setup the right steps in your business. It can still be done and the work will probably be the same but you can then spot these ones that took it serious or went directly into it. The main point is to get your name showing as a real business name.

6. Accounting System

Organizing and setting a budget is part of having a business. This plans out all the details for your expenses and let you see everything that it takes to keep your business going. The accounting is your plan into the future. Do not skip this step because it will slow you down to not know every detail where the money is at and going. Learn this or hire someone for book keeping to help avoid mistakes for tax time and for keeping your business steady.

7. Build a team

I think this is the hardest part of the process because as the owner it will be hard to trust others. Sometimes we get so focused that we want to do everything or think that no one can do it better than yourself. Try to let go of that ego, try to concentrate on your own skill and develop it more. Keep your focus on the overall business and learn to be the leader so that others can see your vision and work with you, not against you. You don’t always have to know and do everything, your team will help with the skill that you don’t have. Your team will be the force that takes you to the next level. Be open to this ideas because this will help you scale to more success.

8. Promote your business

You made it this far, now give yourself that boost of confidence and tell everyone and anyone about your business. It might feel weird at first but be happy to know that you are doing something that is yours. Start small with an email or use social media to get the word out. This will give you some momentum to keep going. Be open to give advice and share your business ideas to build trust. Learn to deal with rejections because at first there will be a lot. Don’t let it effect with your confidence. Keep your passion going and be consistent.

Here is another video to help get some ideas on your research phase and learn about business. Keep the ideas going.

Be the R3BEL.