How to make starting a business your new year’s resolution
You might have the seed of a great idea you think could turn into something big, or maybe you’re just sick of the day job and know you’d work better for yourself. Either way, we live in an era where being an entrepreneur is laudable rather than laughable, and more people than ever before are looking to start their own business.
There’s no right or wrong way to go about transitioning into an entrepreneurial lifestyle. Some founders quit their day job immediately in order to focus on raising investment to grow quickly, while others can spend years building a brand on the side, growing organically. Either way, it’s the first steps which are often the hardest. So you’ve resolved to make 2017 the year you start a business. Great. Now what?
Flesh out your product or service
The first thing to do is make sure there’s a demand for what you’re offering. You don’t need to come up with a concept which is entirely new, but you do need to somehow fill a gap in the market, whether that’s making an existing product more affordable, more accessible, higher quality or simply using branding and marketing to make it more appealing than any other products on the market. Do your research, find out what else is out there, and talk to your target audience whilst being open to their genuine thoughts, even if they go against your opinions.
Stick to a schedule
Something that can be daunting when starting a business is having sole responsibility for everything. If you’re used to working with colleagues and managers this can be tricky, and you may find yourself spending weeks working on the same thing, unable to work out when to stop and move on.
To avoid getting bogged down by perfectionism, create a realistic schedule, and stick to it. So if your website needs to be live by March, launch it then, even if it’s not quite perfect. You can keep tweaking things as you go along, but with a little distance you may realise the less you do to it the better.
Recognise the benefits of starting small
You don’t need to employ dozens of people, have a fancy PR agency on retainer and splash out on consultants and designers straight away. Often part of the appeal of a small business is its non-corporate feel, and consumers like that. A basic, but clean and functional website is a must, and focus on explaining what you do in a clear, concise way. Eventually you’ll need to start reinvesting in yourself in order to grow, but at first just be authentic and provide excellent service.
When the time does come to start boosting growth, you’ll know what does and doesn’t work. For example, if you’re selling handmade birthday cards on Etsy and four out of your five designs are flying off the shelves, invest a bit of money promoting them across social media and ditch the fifth design that isn’t doing well. A big mistake entrepreneurs make is thinking they know better than the consumers, and ploughing money into things that aren’t performing, when in fact your cash would be better spent boosting your most popular offerings.
Know what you’re in it for
Do you just want to be your own boss? Are you looking to make millions? Or is it all about your desire to create something new? Your attitude to your business should be different depending on the desired outcome, and whether or not you’re hoping to sell your business and retire to the Caribbean in a couple of years. Take some time at the beginning of the year whilst things are slow and really think about what you want to get out of starting your business. Find entrepreneurs whose paths you’d like to emulate and become experts on how they got to where they are today.
Recognise the reality of the road ahead
Starting a business is risky, exhausting, stressful and really really hard work. It can, of course be incredibly rewarding, but for a lot of people happiness is more likely to come in the form of a stable job with a regular income, an office full of colleagues and a boss to take the heat if things go wrong. Before you decide that working for yourself is the right idea, rid yourself of any illusions and recognise the difficulties, particularly in the first year. If possible, speak to entrepreneurs who have been there before you and ask for an honest opinion. If you still feel like it’s all worth it, it probably will be.
Don’t be too scared to fail
Of course no one starts a business with the idea that it might fail, but often things won’t go to plan, but failure should always be considered a possibility. Always make sure you have a back-up plan just in case, even if it’s starting all over again. Bill Gates, Fred Smith, Evan Williams and Henry Ford are among the hundreds of entrepreneurs who failed before they succeeded, subsequently creating Microsoft, FedEx, Twitter and Ford, respectively.
