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Maybe you've been waiting for the right time to launch your business, or perhaps months or years of working from home due to the pandemic have prompted you to strike out on your own. Whatever your reason for thinking of becoming an entrepreneur, you are likely both anxious and excited about this new chapter of your life. Read through the five tips below to begin formulating a plan for starting your new business.
1. Make a Business Plan
Before starting any new business, you need a business plan, a document that clearly lays out what you want for your business, how you’ll make it happen, and what you see as its future. It should be detailed enough to give you a clear road map of how to proceed. If you’re not sure how to go about it, there are professional business plan writers you can hire to work with you on one.
Guy Nelson, with Biz Plan Plus, is a strategic planner and business coach with over 30 years of Canadian and International business planning experience. Contact him for help writing your business plan and for expert business coaching.
2. Take Care of the Basics
Many new entrepreneurs jump into their new enterprise without giving the formalities a
second thought. Before you launch, you'll need to choose your business name, design your website, activate your social media accounts, and legally register your business. If you’re starting your business in Canada and want help with funding your small business, contact the Canada Small Business Financing Program, and learn how to go about getting funding. In the US, contact the Small Business Association.
3. Find Your Network and Your Mentors
In-person networking is invaluable when starting a new business. Talk to everyone about what you do and what you sell — even if it's just to the guy sitting next to you on the train. It may feel uncomfortable or even anxiety-provoking to "sell yourself" constantly, but if you practice enough, this type of networking will soon become second nature.
It may pay to network in the digital space as well. Look for informal forums where you can ask business-related questions and query experts for advice. Reach out to old friends, especially if you know someone in a similar business who has walked the path of entrepreneurship before you.
4. Market Your Business Effectively or Hire Someone Who Can
The launching process of your new business will move quickly, and you may not have time to slow down when tying together all the loose ends. It's important to know what you're good at — and ask for help with difficult tasks. If you've discovered that you can't put a sentence together to describe your favourite products on your website, hire a freelance writer to do it for you. Web design, similarly, is often difficult for business owners as they are more concerned with their products and customer relations.
Here is an article with current statistics to help you choose which marketing methods to apply your limited marketing time and money.
5. Keep it Manageable
Before you start scoping out office space to launch your new business, start with creating an office at home first. Leasing office space is an expense that may be unnecessary at the beginning. On the flip side, any changes you make to your home to accommodate your new business are not money down the drain like rental payments. In fact, they actually increase the appraised value of your home. Once you’ve outgrown your home office, it can be transformed into some other use, making any renovation you do for your home business office an actual investment.
Conclusion
Being an entrepreneur, or starting a business of any type, can be time-consuming and stressful at first. Try to keep your short-term and long-term goals in mind and focus on building a network of like-minded customers and professionals. Don't be afraid to reach out for help when you need it!
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