Tips for Starting a Business

When it comes to business, there are many things you should consider before you embark on it. It may be difficult at first, but once you are established, you will feel the sense of fulfillment and the financial rewards that come with it.

One of the vehicles for accumulating wealth is through business. Learn what factors would help you succeed in this endeavor.

Your personality

The easiest way to find out what business suits you is based on your personality type. If you love designing clothes, you can start a fashion or clothes shop. If you love teaching, you can start a tutorial center. If you are hardworking and a good cook, you can start a cafeteria or catering services business. If you love exercising, you can start a gym or fitness center business.

Facing Obligation

Are you used to facing a heavy obligation?

Running a business comes with obligations. You will face a lot of obligations, especially in the beginning. If you are an employee, your only obligation is to come in from 9am to 5pm and finish your work within these hours. When you extend your office hours, you usually get overtime pay.

Meanwhile, if you are going to start a business, your time will be more than 8 hours. Some will start at 7am and end at 10pm or more. There is no overtime pay, and in the beginning there may be no salary. There is a lot to do such as going through paperwork, talking to many people, raising capital, organizing the office, finding resources, etc.

Entrepreneurial Motivation

What are the reasons why you want to do business?

A common reason for those who start a business is to make money and have financial freedom.

Others are to help many people and making money is only secondary.

Others just want to try their hand at business to gain enough experience and succeed in the future.

Extent of Experience

How extensive is your experience in your dream business?

It is important to have sufficient experience in a business. For example, if your family has a bakery business and you always see how its actual operation is from purchasing the ingredients to selling to the customer, you can say that you have experience in this type of business.

Others were hired as employees in a restaurant and started in a lowly position until they learned the overall operation and how to manage people. The years spent here are your experience in the restaurant business.

If you graduated in Accountancy and have been a practicing accountant for a long time, you can start an accounting firm because you have enough experience in it.

However, if you are going to build a small gas station and you say that you have experience in the gas business because you fill up gas almost every day, this cannot be called the right basis for experience. Likewise, if you are going to build a fast food restaurant because you always eat at fast food as experience, it is also not a sufficient reason to have experience for this type of business.

Extending Hours of Work

Are you willing to stay up late and work all week if necessary?

Mina, wants to start a business. Whenever you give her a business tip about rendering more time for her business, her answer is always what about her other schedule that she has set aside for herself such as laundry, sleeping, reading which are already fixed in her schedule. The result? Several years have passed, and she still hasn’t started her dream business.

When you decided to start your own business, you have to put time. There is no set day or time for working. Often, you dream about it and carry it with you until you wake up.

Prepare for Possible Losses

Are you prepared in case your business fails and your investment disappears?

Almost all the time, business ventures fail first, second, 10th or more times. Aside from the loss, there may be many other challenges involved. You need to be prepared for this opportunity and have enough courage to get back up again.

In the training company that I started, I failed 11 or 13 times before it became successful. I spent years, a lot of money, and a lot of studying only to lose money and fail in every attempt I made to make it successful.

I started building a business in 1995 until after many years and many times of failure of various businesses, in 2005 I finally perfected the craft. The training business that I built in 2005 has been going on for more than a decade and I can say that it is successful because it is still going strong up to this day. If this is your first time doing business, like many others, you can hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. Failure does not mean the end of everything but rather a lesson to you that will give you enough knowledge and skills to succeed in business one day.

Support System

Who is your business partner?

Having a support system is a big advantage especially when you are just starting. If you have family, take their opinion and advice. They will encourage you in times of need.

If you are single, ask your friends for their opinions and support on your business plans. Their feedback and suggestions can help you and your business.

When I started our training business, my second brother was my support system. Morning, noon, night, until dawn, we were focused on working on the newly built business.

We often took turns sleeping. While one was resting, the other was working. And then we would switch. This was because in those days, the same phone was used for faxing, email, and telemarketing, so it was scheduled for us to take turns using it almost 24/7 daily.

There are days when I feel tired and want to give up, but because I have a support system, it keeps me motivated and I can continue what I started. When he gives up from exhaustion, I’m there to catch him.

There are many ups and downs in running a business. I have learned that a support system, even just having a friend or relative to encourage you or provide moral support, is essential to the success of your business.

Proper and Adequate Education

Do you have enough education to run a business?

Business education can be acquired through actual experience or through your studies. There are so many resources available on the internet today to further enhance your business knowledge. All you need is an interest in reading and the proper motivation to put it into practice.

There are so many people who want to start a business. Ask doctors, OFWs, employees, architects, housewives, retirees, almost all of them want to have their own business.

It is a big advantage if the course you took in college is about business such as Business Administration, Management, Marketing, or commerce-related courses.

Here, they study everything about business for 4 years. So when they graduate from college, they have the right knowledge and education on how to have a business. These courses are usually only the 2nd or 3rd choice of those who did not pass other courses such as engineering, architecture or medicine. At first, a small population of students took this course because it was not their top priority courses. Others were forced to because they had no other job. But now, you will see that many are taking this course because they want to do business. Take for example developed countries such as Singapore and Hong Kong. Most of the courses people here take are about business. Soon, they became the richest countries in Asia.

If you want to treat sick, take a medical course. If you want to be an artist, take a Fine Arts course. If you want to fly a plane, take a piloting course. And if you want to do business and make money, what course do you think you should take?

But if your education was not about Business Management, and now you want to do business, there are still things you can do to expand your knowledge. You can enroll in short courses about entrepreneurship, marketing, sales, business management, etc. You can also attend free seminars or watch business related topics on YouTube or read business articles online. What every entrepreneur needs is to continue learning and expanding their business knowledge.

Inner Strength

Can you accept all the challenges of entrepreneurship?

There are many challenges in running a business, such as bankruptcy, debt, employees resigning all at once, dealing with complaining customers, and economic downturns.

On top of that, you’re also managing your own life and family at the same time. You may already have business problems, you may have family problems.

In business, fortitude is needed to face any challenge.

Future Goals

What do you plan to do if your business succeeds and becomes profitable?

It’s a good idea to write down your future plans on paper before you even start a business. Write down your 1 year and 5 year goal. This way, you know what destination you want to reach. If your future goals change after 1-2 years, be flexible. You may adjust your 5 year goal. The important thing is that it’s written on paper.

Proper Planning

Are you good at planning?

In any business, planning is important because it serves as your direction.
Marketing Plan – This is where you come in to introduce your business to people. Promotion, brochure distribution, social media, such as Facebook ads posting, etc. are just a few examples of marketing.

This also includes how you price your product or service. Study the market for competitive pricing.

Also plan production. Will there be enough money to run the business? How many employees will be paid? What machinery will be used? How much will it cost for rent, space, and other expenses?

Having Sufficient Capital

There are only two ways to obtain capital. These are formal and informal. In the formal way, there are banks and other institutions that you can borrow from. In the informal way, there are relatives, friends and acquaintances who are willing to lend money without interest.

In business, it’s hard to avoid borrowing. There’s nothing wrong with that, as long as you know how to pay so you don’t end up in debt. But it’s better, if you actually have savings set aside for your business. This way, whether your business makes a profit or loses money, you won’t have to worry about any bills.

Evaluate the Seasonality of Business

It is important to analyze whether your business has a peak and low season.

Will your business slow down during the summer or rainy season? Will you sell more when students are in school or only during Christmas? Or is your business seasonal and in your opinion, you will have customers regardless of the season?

You need to study these things so you can prepare your business strategies in case your business slows down.

Positive Thinking

Just avoid being a negative thinker to move forward.

In business, there are times when you will face problems that can lower your morale. This is where you need to be more positive. Just think that the test will pass.

Being a positive thinker can go a long way in boosting your business. This is the secret of most successful businessmen.