One way to achieve financial independence is to run your own business. But how easy is it? Really how easy is it to get your own business started? No doubt you would have come across many "How to..." articles, including how to write business plan, how to conduct business research or how to get more customers. But this is all sometimes easier said than done, right? Here are some tried and tested practical tips for succeeding in business.
Research is all about knowing your market customers. How do you do this? Read trade magazines and news papers, visit industry seminars and conferences, take a drive around the business area and see what similar services and products exist, sample some other services or products, ask suppliers about the market, and ask potential customers who currently patronize All these will help you build a broad picture of the market before you enter it
How do you go about finding out if people will want your services and if they do, what exactly will want your services and if they do, what exactly they want? See all the people you come into contact with as potential clients and ask them questions. Develop a questionnaire, e-mail it to all your family, friends, colleagues and former colleagues and ask them to e-mail it to their network of people. Just the more complex your business is - the more structured your research should be.
What about raising finanace? The usual advice is to raise your capital from personal savings, loans from family, friends or the bank, or by applying for finance as a small or medium-scale enterprise (SME). But if you don't have the savings, you can't get a loan, or you fall outside the qualifying criteria for SME funding, the following tips might prove useful:
Trade by Barter:offer your services/skills in exchange for goods or services that will help your business. So, for example, if you are a marketing consultant, and you need to develop your website, why not offer some free consultancy to the web designer in exchange for your site development?
Cut down on your personal overheads: This may include downgrading your car, moving back in with your parents to save on the monthly rent, reducing your spending on social outings and spending club memberships (unless they are required for effective business networking purposes)
Building slowly: as your business starts showing returns on your investments, you can consider expanding and implementing all the fancy ideas you have.
Lowering start-up costs: You need to consider this if you are low on capital. Consider starting a business from home so you don't require office space, for example.
Borrow Capital: With some services business, you can actually get upfront payments or deposits from clients, which you can then use to cover your initial costs. A successful example is that of a hosting package if they would pay a certain amount upfront to help fund the start-up of the business. By doing this, they were able to raise their start-up capital.
These tips are not all-encompassing- you still need to write out a successful business plan. Your business plan is you blueprint for successful implementation of your business- it ensures that you have thought your idea through properly, and also acts as a point of reference in your long-term plan.
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