Starting a business can be exciting and rewarding, but it can also be challenging and a lot of hard work. There is a lot that needs to be done when starting a business, which is why being organized and knowing what’s needed and when can greatly increase your chances of success and reduce stress along the way. Take the time to plan your new business and think everything through clearly before creating your start-up.
It is better to put specific plans together, crunch the numbers on paper, and then decide it’s not worth doing than to get started and find the business is not viable for you. Consider the costs before starting a business, not during the process of being in business. It might take two or three ideas to find the right one; don’t despair—this is entirely normal.
Use the following ten steps to help you start your business. Get your business plans in order; make sure to plan several variations of your ideas, considering potential outcomes and challenges while organizing ideas for how you can overcome those challenges as they inevitably arise.
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- Identify Your Niche
Identify a specific market or customer need that is currently underserved. This could be anything from handmade pet toys to organic skincare products. Starting a niche business requires careful planning, research, and execution, but it can be a rewarding and profitable venture with the right approach.
Finding your niche business can be challenging, but many resources are available to help you identify an underserved market or customer need. Consider your skills, interests, and experiences to identify areas where you can provide unique value. For example, if you are passionate about eco-friendly products, you can locate a niche in the sustainable living market- an eco-friendly slug repellent would be an excellent option for the growing gardening community.
- Conduct Market Research
Once you have identified your niche, conduct market research to determine the size of your potential market, the competition, and the demand for your product or service. Conducting industry research and analyzing market data can help you identify emerging trends and areas where demand for products or services grows. You can find this information through government agencies, trade associations, and market research firms.
Use tools like “Answer the Public” to find what people are asking for in your area. This will help you figure out your differentiators, know who your target client is, and go to market in the most specific way you can. Google Trends can help you identify search volume trends for different keywords, while Amazon and eBay can provide insights into popular products and categories.
Online communities and social media platforms can provide valuable consumer behavior and preferences insights. Joining industry groups or participating in forums and discussions can also help you understand what people are looking for and what gaps exist in the market you’re interested in.
To help you identify a niche market, speak directly with potential customers and gather feedback on their needs and pain points. You can do this through surveys, focus groups, or simply talking with people in your target audience.
Follow companies on social media that are parallel competition or service providers for the industry you’re interested in and read the comments on their posts. Social media managers often forget to reply to comments, allowing you to read what others are saying and respond to them, asking questions and providing answers to their questions.
- Develop a Business Plan
Create a detailed business plan that outlines your niche, your target market, your marketing strategy, and your financial projections. Business plans are really important- way more important than most think. You need to know what’s required for your new business. Carefully consider all the costs before starting.
- Register Your Business
Register your business and obtain any necessary licenses and permits. ZenBusiness can help you set this up and manage what will be needed in the future. Use our affiliate link to set up your business. Make sure to research what type of business category is the best option for you: LLC, S Corp, C Corp. Do your research to determine what suits your plans the best. Ask a tax advisor or attorney for more specific insight into your best interests and make sure to have all owners included.
- Secure Funding
Determine how much funding you will need to start your business and explore funding options, such as loans, grants, or crowdfunding. Research the type of business you want to start to determine its average profits to ensure you can pay the loans back in a reasonable time. Review your business plan and organize your profit and loss early on.
- Build Your Team
Assemble a team of skilled professionals, including a lawyer, an accountant, and a marketing specialist, to help you launch and grow your business. Doing this via networking is the best way to build your team. Knowing the best people for you and your business will secure your success. While you are looking for all the right people, create an outsourced team with freelancers as needed. I’m a big fan of outsourcing and delegating to reduce my workload.
Use project management and task management tools to keep business moving along. We have an *affiliate link with Notion and an *affiliate link with Motion, and both are great for different reasons. Customer Relationship Management software will help you keep organized from the start.
We have an *affiliate link with Pipedrive. Use the Networking is Your Shortcut to Success course to improve your networking skills, find a mentor, create a team, find customers, and more. With networking, your opportunities are endless.
Take a look at our Business Tools Page to find a directory of tools you will need for starting and running your business.
- Build Your Brand
Develop a strong brand identity plan that reflects your niche and appeals to your target market. If you don’t know who your target is, you will need to figure this out first. Ask yourself who will need your product, what pain points they have now with the existing options available, and why your target audience is having these pains. What can you do differently from the competition to provide your target audience with a better experience? Take your time working on this because you’re going to need to really expand on what you do and why.
- Develop Your Product or Service
Develop a high-quality product or service that meets the needs of your niche market. Make a product development plan and stick with it. Make sure you have the budget right and make sure you’re sticking with what you can afford and what you can’t. So many businesses fail to plan, which is a plan to fail. They go way over budget, making it hard to make a profit, and many go out of business for this reason. Sure, you need to be flexible in some areas, but that’s what the plan is for. What can you afford to be flexible on, and what must be concrete rather than dynamic?
- Launch Your Business
Launch your business through social media, word of mouth, and other marketing channels that you have planned will be the best places to launch. This is another area of planning. Before it’s time to launch, you need to know where to launch, how much it’s going to cost, and what you can do to make sure the widest audience can see your launch.
Sales is a law of averages; the more people who see your launch, the more of your target audience will be reached and can resonate with it. Ask for referrals from those who have bought and provide consistent communication to foster those new customer relationships. Build “Superfans” early on for long-term success- there is a lot to learn from the book by Pat Flynn.
- Monitor Your Progress
Monitor and adjust your strategy as needed to ensure that your business successfully serves your niche market. Systems and processes early on will help with scaling as time goes on. Keep your mind free of clutter and extras. Try journaling, taking detailed notes, and tracking what’s working and what’s not working in ways that work for you.
There is no “one-size-fits-all” in the start-up landscape. There is always room for innovation, and you need to be flexible while you learn what works best for you. Do be careful who you talk to. I know the energy you feel from sharing your dreams can feel good, but sharing with the wrong people can cause immediate failure. Be quiet and wait. Patience is going to help, too. Follow along on Instagram and Facebook for regular business tips, and be sure to subscribe for more business posts. Have a lovely day!
