I remember when the idea of opening a business seemed like a far-off dream to me. I assumed it was something you did when you’d either been left a lot of capital by family or once you’d already had a successful career. These days, however, anyone can open a business.
In the past, a business required physical properties. You had a base of operations, adverts, and flyers. While you didn’t need these things to be a business owner, a physical existence made the concept feel real. Now it’s no longer a shopfront but a website that goes a long way towards making your business into something substantial.
Opening a business doesn’t require you to have a business degree, capital, or experience. You don’t need to have any staff but yourself. You can turn your freelancing services into a business or sell your arts and crafts on your very own eCommerce website.
All you really need is to make the decision and follow these 3 basic steps.
Top 3 Steps For Opening A Business
1. Budgeting
Before diving right in, it’s important that you know how much money you’re going to need to spend. Budgeting is a frustrating task, especially when you don’t yet have hard data to work with. However, it’s crucial if your business is going to last.
Start with the overheads. Do you need a property, and if so, what can you expect to spend on rent and facilities? Next, determine how much you’ll need in order to create your products if you have any. Alternatively, calculate what your time and the time of any of your staff is worth, and make that a part of your budget. You can use that data, along with the resources you expect to expend, to work out a good price for your services.
It’s possible that none of the above applies to you. If you’re a solo endeavor and can do all the work digitally from home, your overheads will be much cheaper and you won’t need to spend much on resources. However, no matter what kind of business you’re creating, marketing is going to cost you, and it’s always a necessary investment.
To properly budget for marketing, you have to get an idea of what you’ll need.
2. Marketing
Marketing is one of the most essential factors in running a business. You may have the best product or service around, but you’re not going to make any money if no one knows about it. That’s why marketing is one of the very first things you need to take care of.
Marketing will obviously evolve along with your business, and you’ll learn along the way what is and isn’t effective. However, there are some basic needs.
A website is the most important starting point. Truth be told, a website is far more than part of your marketing strategy. It’s an important block in the foundation of your business. But without it, marketing will get you nowhere. People turn to the internet to find out more about businesses. If they don’t find you there, they’ll probably move onto businesses with an established online presence.
You don’t need to spend big on a website, but it will be worth every cent you invest in it. If you truly have no web development capabilities, consider hiring a freelancer to help you. Just make sure not to skimp on quality to save a few bucks. The same is true for SEO. It’s going to be a huge factor in whether anyone finds you online.
3. Financing
Once you know what you’re going to need to spend on your business, it’s time to decide how you plan on financing it. Maybe you have enough savings in the bank and don’t have many overheads. Most people, however, are probably going to need to apply for small business loans.
A small business loan doesn’t need to be your second choice. Even if you have the money to spend now, you should consider whether that money is better left in the bank for future needs and investments. You can grow that money while you pay off your loan, making more than what you lose on interest.
Getting a small business loan is no longer as difficult as it used to be. You don’t have to jump through hoops to convince a bank you’re worth it. Rather, there are many modern online options. What’s important is that you know what you need and do your homework.
Next Steps
Opening a business is no longer all too difficult. Start exploring what it’ll take to get your business up-and-running, and you’ll see how easy it is to work towards it. By the time you apply for financing, your business will already be much more than an abstract idea in your mind.
