How To Start Your Own Business As An Entrepreneur

You may want to ask some of your more successful friends what is a good type of business to research. Keep in mind that regardless of their suggestions, the right answer has to come from you. Deciding what type of business you want to be in requires a lot of careful through and research, especially if you are planning on starting a business based on things you want to do and things that you are good at doing.

Look ahead and ask yourself these questions:

• Am I willing to do this business everyday for years?
• What do I really love to do?
• What are the things that are both profitable, and, at the same time, things that I would find enjoyable?

These questions will lead you to specific type of business you want to be in. Take your time deciding and don't rush into anything just yet. This step is one of the most important steps you can take as an entrepreneur.

2. Do research.

Once you have determined a particular type of business you want to be in, study its potential for profitability. Create a basic financial analysis model on a spreadsheet showing conservative projections for sales and revenues, and listing all the initial setup costs and operational expenses that you can think of. Include the costs of producing your goods. This is your initial feasibility study. In other words, carefully examine your figures to see if the business you are thinking of starting can return you the investment you are planning to make into it.

Other areas to research at this stage include the following:

• the type of business you will need to set up to service the market cost-effectively (e.g. retail, franchise, online, etc ...)
• geographic location
• initial materials, fittings, infrastructure, licences and permits required to operate the business
• the 4 Ps of marketing - products, pricing, position and promotion.
• SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats)
• customer demographics (what your ideal customer looks like) and psychographics (why your customers buy)
• the competition
• sources of funding

3. Decide on the name.

If your research indicates that your business idea is worth pursuing, then it's time to think of a name. Look for a name that can be turned into a strong brand, a name that will make your business stand out and communicate concisely to the market what your business is all about. The name may or may not be short, as long as it distinguishable. Online companies tend to come up with snazzy, fun and unusual names like Yahoo!, Google, Furl, Squidoo, etc ..., while other companies try to dominate their market or industry with their name (e.g. Publishing And Broadcasting Limited, Consolidated Press Industries, etc ...). If your business is geographically-based, then you may want to look for a name that communicates the reach and extent of your business, such as Australian Air Express, Northern Region Pest Control, etc ... It is probably a good idea to avoid linking your name to the business (in case you plan to sell it later), such as Bob And Mary's Quality Meats, or Joe And Liz Electrical, unless you truly believe your name would make a strong and easily recognizable brand (e.g. Hilton Hotels, etc ...)

4. Decide on the form of business.

Form of business means that you will have to choose between incorporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship. It is important to know the difference between these three types of business entities, how these will affect your business and what the advantages and disadvantages of each type will mean to you once you begin trading.

5. Business registration.

Most businesses must be registered and there are certain legal processes to follow. You need to be able to secure the business name and register your business before you start trading. Some things to consider are whether or not the name has already been trademarked by another company, and whether it is similar to another existing and already registered business, and how this would affect your business.

Another great tip, is to consider registering the domain name version of your business name if possible. Also, if someone has already registered a domain name that is exactly the same as the name of the business you want to register, you will need to make a decision as to whether you want to proceed with your chosen name or not, since more and more businesses today are trading online and establishing strong presences on the Internet.

Finally, remember that one state might have different business registration procedures than another. Check the information on the website of your state.

6. Business license and business number.

Register for the PST, or the GST / HST as required in your country or location. All these must be established before you can legally operate your business. Again, you may want to check on the specific requirements and procedures for starting a business in your state.

7. Get you employees ready.

Having an employee helping you will certainly give additional boost on your business. It may be the last thing you would think at the early stage of your business but it is nice to know that when you have an employee, you know there is someone who can assist you as you grow along the way. Ideally, you will document your training systems, so that when the time comes to recruit new staff, you have already established an operational set of guidelines for hiring and training new employees. You may also want to source a good bookkeeper and accounting firm at this stage to handle your tax reporting and then later your payroll.

8. Get business insurance.

A safety net would come in handy if you should fall from the sky. Research the types of business insurance that you would need to get.

9. Get started.

Spend some time planning your business launch to maximize your exposure, resources and potential. Introducing something new and exciting to the market gives you a one-time opportunity to grab people's attention and you want to create a momentum that will see you through the early stages of your launch. You may want to create and distribute press releases, contact local news and magazines, enlist the help of local celebrities, organize a function to celebrate the official launch your company, and so on.  Give it a good start and always keep your name clean and your business reputable. You may want to study more on the principles of entrepreneurship as you go along.

Although all of the above may sound easy or an awfully hard task, depending on the step, you do need to understand how the business world works. These are only a brief outline of your initial steps and are designed to give you basic information and a rough guideline of what you need to know and do should you decide to start a business of your own. To become a successful entrepreneur, you will need to dedicate yourself whole-heartedly and put your soul and your back into building the business you love. Before you know it, you will have a growing business in your hands.

Once you have started, never disregard the chance of failure. And this should not demoralize you. It is just the part of the game. Learn how to adapt to the needs of the business and the demands of the market and charge all your failures to learning and experience. You will learn as you go along. Successful people never give up. Remember, always head forward but take time off occasionally to celebrate milestones, to look back, review your successes and mistakes, and learn from the past. Good luck!

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