Step 1: Refine your Idea

1.1 Explore your aspirations

The most important thing about being an entrepreneur is passion. Only 1 out of 100,000 become successful entrepreneurs. That’s even a lower possibility than becoming successful athletes! Thus, being able to believe that “you are the one” is critical to having a successful business. After coming up with your idea, make sure you have the aspiration to become an entrepreneur before starting your own company. 

1.2 Discover your superpowers 

After exploring your aspirations, the next step is to try to discover your or your team’s superpowers, i.e., your advantages and what makes you stand out! For example, it could be your team members' professional software skills or some unique resources that you have that can enhance your business after starting it. 

1.3 Understand business basics

If you are the CEO of your company, it is crucial to have some basic business knowledge regarding every aspect of business, including Marketing, Accounting, and Management. You should also have taken courses in various business-related fields, such as Economics, Environmental Science, and Psychology. Most importantly, you should learn about the related knowledge related to your idea; for example, if you are thinking about starting a makeup company, make sure you have chemistry-related knowledge about makeup.

1.4 Analyze businesses around you 

Consider researching businesses that already exist and have similar ideas to yours. If you have found another company that has almost the exact same idea as yours, consider franchising, which is opening a franchise for an established company. This means that the concept, brand, and business model are already in place; you only need a good location and the means to fund your operation. However, if you find your idea unique and different from what other companies are doing, you can continue to the next goal of starting your own business. 

1.5 Learn from existing businesses

Continue researching other companies and learn about their concept, brand, and business model. Think about how you can develop your business better in a more innovative, exciting, and attractive way. Find out about what problems other similar companies are facing and try to think of ways to solve or avoid those problems before you start your own business. 

1.6 Interview owners

If you have a chance to talk to the owners, workers, or even the chief executives at other companies, make sure you grab that opportunity to learn more about some inside information from the primary source and not only from secondary sources on the internet. Prepare questions you want to ask them, and this will help you a lot with enhancing your own business idea. 

1.7 Develop your business idea

“Always start with why,” Glenn Gutek, CEO of Awake Consulting and Coaching, told Business News Daily. It is essential to know why you want to launch this business. Does your business serve a personal why or a marketplace why?  What can your business do that other companies cannot? If you think your business can deliver something other companies do not (or deliver the same thing, only faster and cheaper), you have a solid idea, and you are ready to create a business plan. 

Step 2: Create your Business Plan

2.1 Research your market

When you already have an idea of what you want to sell, you may also know the market you wish to enter. Do a quick search for existing companies in your chosen industry. Learn what current brand leaders are doing and figure out how you can do it better. Gather the information from the primary and secondary sources to get your business plan started!

2.2 Establish product-market fit

Obtain data directly from potential customers by using questionnaires, surveys, and interviews to learn what consumers want. Surveying friends and family is not recommended since they trust you and would say that they will buy the product you made. People who say they would buy something and people who do are very different. Next, by utilizing existing sources of information, such as census data, to gather information, the current data may be studied, compiled, and analyzed in various ways that are appropriate for your needs. You would now find your target customers and establish a product-market fit. 

2.3 Conduct a SWOT analysis

SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Conducting a SWOT analysis allows you to look at the facts about how your product or idea might perform if taken to market, and it can also help you make decisions about the direction of your idea. Your business idea might have some weaknesses that you had not considered, or there may be some opportunities to improve on a competitor’s product.

2.4 Create your brand

Brainstorm a business name, logo, and slogan that also emphasizes your brand value. Regardless of which option you choose, it is vital to understand the reasoning behind your idea. Stephanie Desaulniers, owner of Business by Dezign and former director of operations and women’s business programs at Covation Center, cautions entrepreneurs against writing a business plan or brainstorming a business name before nailing down the idea’s value.

2.5 Develop your product (or service)

First, create a minimum viable product (MVP), which is the smallest possible feature that will work in solving the core of the problem and showing the value of the product. This minimizes the time and cost to market and gets the product to early evangelists sooner, which also maximizes customer learning fastest (biggest questions first). This is a great way to learn what does not matter!

2.6 Budget for your business 

One way you can determine how much money you need is to perform a break-even analysis. This essential element of financial planning helps business owners determine when their company, product, or service will be profitable. The formula is Fixed Costs ÷ (Average Price Per Unit – Variable Costs) = Break-Even Point.

2.7 Master your sales pitch

By using the past data from your market research, try to calculate your future sales. This includes taking the growth of the market, your own business, and the loyalty of your target market into consideration. Make sure your sales are pitched as accurately as possible, as this may interfere with your break-even analysis and budget. 

Step 3: Launch your Business

3.1 Prepare for a successful launch 

Your introduction post on the internet should include essential information about your company and what you offer. This information should be clear, concise, and easy to understand. Start with a brief introduction to your business, including your name, what you do, and what sets you apart from your competitors. You can also include your mission statement, values, or tagline to give viewers a better understanding of your brand.

3.2 Complete the launch checklist

Launching a product and a startup in the marketplace requires exceptional preparation. Entrepreneurs have only one chance to launch. The impression the launch creates will significantly impact your business. Go through the two steps again and confirm every step and small goal you have done in the past. Make sure each step has the final answer. 

3.3 Find your first customer

Ask everyone you know if they know someone who might buy what you are selling. You never know where a great referral will come from, so alert your social media connections, neighbors, former co-workers, and even your distant cousins that you are looking for customers. Enlist your spouse, friends, and other connections to help brainstorm ideas for the first customers.

3.4 Make your first sale

After setting up your social media accounts, including Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram, and having your introductory post posted, make sure you have spent enough time and money on marketing during the starting period of your business. You could wait for your first sale to happen from your first customer!

3.5 Understand business accountability

Business accountability means setting clear expectations and goals while holding employees accountable by defining the business’s values, mission, and goals. If you’re a business leader, accountability means holding all employees responsible for accomplishing those meaningful goals. It also refers to the idea that every employee should take ownership of their work and be held responsible for any outcomes of that work. This builds trust, enhances performance, and helps employees stay consistent and happy, which keeps the business going. 

3.6 Complete a business report

Finalize every decision you made and the financials for your business report, including the sales, pricing, and costs. Write down your executive and company summary to finish your business report. 

3.7 Reflect on your progress

Try to find places where your business can improve and do better during the following period to generate more profit, sales, and revenue. This is a crucial step to keep your business growing bigger and better! 

Written by Angelina Zhang, Sunday 18, August 2024.