Building a business plan – Managing Family Pressure
You have started to build Your business and have shared Your plans with Your Family and Friends and now they are constantly asking You if You have had any “Luck” yet and made any money?
Most people do not know and understand how much is involved in building a Business from the ground up. They may believe that You can simply create a website or insert an advertisement into the newspaper and the potential customers will immediately contact You to get Your Business.
Obviously WE know that this is not true. If You are in a situation, where You feel pressured by Friends or Family, refer them to this blog, so they can learn what all it takes to build a Business. Do not let them do their own research and get overwhelmed with the vast amounts of information there is on the internet, but let them have a quick view of the most important stages and actions in implementing a Business in this article.
5 Stages to Starting a Business
Step 1: Business Idea
The Beginning of Any Business
Whether the idea arises from an issue you encounter in your life or a concept you believe may be profitable, having an idea is the first step to potentially starting your own business.
Once you have a business idea, do not get excited immediately. First, simply go to Google and research if somebody may have either already realized your idea or at least posted it somewhere on the internet. If it is posted on some website, forum or any other publicly available page, you will most likely not be the first one to try to pursue it. Keep that in mind when evaluating if your idea is something that has the following qualifications:
Is it
- unique?
- achievable?
- realistic?
- profitable?
If you answer yes to at least 3 of these questions, you should continue to research on each of these factors (including competition).
Step 2: Research
Do Not Rush
There is nothing worse than spending the money, time, and effort of building your own business and pursuing an idea that has actually already been successfully established.
Hire a professional to evaluate Your Business Idea with extensive research in competitive analysis, SWOT Analysis, Financial Analysis (including risk, profitability, expenses, etc.), market research & Much More.
This process may seem simple, but it is not. It is recommended to be done by a professional, because it can be easily be researched and evaluated incorrectly, which may lead to a costly decision.
Step 3: Computer Knowledge
A Necessity
If You want to Build a Business, Computer Skills are important:
- Research About Your Business Idea
- Write a Business Plan
- Choose a Legal Structure
- Find A Logo Designer
- Find a Marketing Designer
- Build A Website
- Make or Buy All Business Forms
These are all basic things You will Need to Know Basic Computer Skills.
Step 4: Business Mentality
The Importance of Having a Purpose
You can never underestimate the importance of knowing why it is that you are striving to build your own business and furthermore, why you want to build a business offering certain service or product (Your Mission).
If we want to do things for the wrong reasons, such as pursuing an action because our spouse or parent wants us to, we will often find ourselves giving up before we are able to complete the action. However, if we have a strong reason of our own, a purpose, we are much more likely to do whatever it takes to reach our goal.
A purpose is what drives You, gives You strength to be emotionally stable if things do not work out the first time trying, it motivates You to keep trying if one alternative action to reach Your goal fails.
How can someone always Work and be Happy?
Sometimes You encounter people who never stop working and still seem to be happy and you wonder “How is that possible? How can that person constantly work, but still enjoy their life?”
It is, because they are either passionate about their work itself, which would either make their work itself their purpose, such as wanting to help people build a successful business (purpose) and writing a book about it (work) or they have an unrelated purpose, such as being able to provide for their family and they value that with their work and effort, they are able to fulfill that goal.
“Those who work hard should also balance their life with pleasure and fun, otherwise what motivation does one have to keep working if one never experiences joy from one’s diligence.” – Nicole Elmore
Find Your Purpose
If you want to own Your own business, You will have to find Your Purpose, find out what motivates You to keep trying if you encounter issues along the way, raise business start-up funding, or to keep working and sacrificing valuable sleeping or leisure time. Your Purpose has to be something that You are truly passionate about, that internally makes You happy when You fulfill it and that is so strong that it will cause You to be able to do things that seemed impossible before.
If You need Help in finding Your Purpose, Contact Me. Having a Purpose can make the difference between succession or failure in building, owning, and managing Your own business and it is very important.
Step 5: The Start-Up of Your Business
- Business Plan
- Legal Structure
- Branding: Picking a Name for Your Business
- Logo Design
- Marketing