Starting a small business is easy. Just ask anyone who’s done it! The hard part is deciding to do it, figuring out what kind of business you want to start, starting to gather money and resources, picking a legal structure for your company, and lots more. But once you’ve gotten past all those steps—and there are certainly many others involved in starting a small business—you can feel pretty confident that you’ll reach the next step: success!
Define your idea in concrete terms.
Before you begin setting your goals, it’s important to define the problem. This is especially true if you’re starting a business that solves a problem for others.
Think of this as setting the scope of what your company will do and how it will operate. What are some tangible fitness goals that people could achieve in 3-6 months? How would they feel after they achieved those goals? Are there any clear steps they can take towards these outcomes? For example:
I want to run on the treadmill more often than I currently do (which is never). I want to be able to run three miles at a time by June 1st, 2020.
By having an idea of what success looks like and how people can achieve it, you’re ready for step two: learning about your customers/clients/patients/etc.
Decide what kind of company you want to start.
Once you’ve decided that starting a small business is right for you, the next step is to decide what kind of company you want to start.
- Do some research. Think about what kind of business you want to start and how it will be different from competitors. Consider how much time and money you can invest in your business.
- Create a plan for your new company and think about what kind of business will make you happy!
Make a business plan.
- Make a business plan. A business plan is the roadmap you’ll use to steer your small business in the right direction. It encompasses everything from defining your business idea and goals, to outlining the best way to reach those goals. This should include: a marketing plan (how you’re going to get customers), a financial plan (how much you’ll need to make it work), staffing plan (who will be doing what), business model (what kind of company you want to be) and SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats).
Start gathering money.
- Start saving money now. If you’re not already, start putting aside some savings to help fund your business. You can do this in a few ways:
- Save a portion of each paycheck
- Find creative ways to make money on the side (e.g., selling things on eBay)
- Take on extra work for cash or barter with other local businesses
Pick a legal structure for your business.
Before you can begin your business, you’ll have to decide on a legal structure for it. This is not just an arbitrary decision—it has important implications for your personal liability and taxes.
Just as there are different types of businesses, there are also many different types of business structures. The two most common ones are sole proprietorship (you’re the owner) and partnership (you own it with someone else). If you plan on starting a corporation, then congratulations: you’ve already made it past the hardest part! But don’t get too excited yet; corporations require more paperwork than any other form of organization by far.
If you’re just starting out and aren’t sure how much money your new endeavor will bring in yet, then a limited liability company or LLC might be best for your needs right now; this option gives its owners some protection against lawsuits while allowing them to pass profits through their taxes instead of paying personal income tax rate—which means they’ll pay less overall than if they’d been paid under another type of organization structure such as sole proprietorship or partnership
Think about your particular skills and interests and how they could help you create the business you want.
When you’re thinking about starting a small business from scratch, it’s important to take stock of your skills and interests. What are you good at? What do you enjoy doing? What have you done before that could help get your business off the ground? Are there any areas of your life where you have experience or know-how for which people might be willing to pay?
You’ll also want to consider what really makes your heart sing. If possible, try to find a way for this passion to drive the direction of your new company. For instance: If I love cooking but hate spending hours in the kitchen making dinner every night, why don’t I open a restaurant where cookbooks come alive on stage while guests are eating their food? That idea just might be my ticket!
Talk to people who have experience starting this kind of business, or whose advice might be useful if you’re unsure about how to proceed next.
- Talk to people who have experience starting this kind of business, or whose advice might be useful if you’re unsure about how to proceed next.
- Ask for advice from people who have done this before. If you don’t know anyone personally, there are plenty of groups online (like Reddit) where fellow entrepreneurs can be found.
- Ask for advice from people who have done similar things: If you are making content for dog owners, look up the owner of the most popular pet video channel on YouTube and ask them how they got started in their field; if you want to start a clothing brand catering specifically to women, reach out directly or through a medium like Twitter or Instagram instead of looking at existing businesses who made similar products but weren’t specific enough in their target audience demographic (e.g., men’s clothing companies). This will give your business an edge over competitors because it focuses on what makes it special!
- Don’t forget about experts in related fields: For example, if I’m trying my hand at fashion design then someone might not understand why I would want help from other designers when we’ve never worked together before–but maybe there’s someone else out there who does understand why since they work closely with both industries?
Choose a niche for yourself so you can stand out from the crowd.
Choosing a niche is not just about defining your target market. It’s also about identifying what you want to accomplish and why. Are you interested in making money? Changing lives? Helping people feel better about themselves?
Or maybe you’re looking for a new challenge: Maybe starting and running your own business will be more fulfilling than anything else, even if it doesn’t make much money.
No matter what your goals are, the first step of starting a small business from scratch is always setting goals. Defining these goals is crucial because they’ll help guide every decision you make throughout the process—from finding inspiration for your business name to selecting which tools or services to use when sending out marketing emails or creating advertising materials.
Consult an outsider about your ideas, plans and assumptions, to get an unbiased second opinion.
If you’re planning to start a business, it’s important to get feedback from people who are not involved in your business as much as possible. You can ask friends and family for their opinions, but they may be biased because they want you to succeed. It’s also important to talk with a professional consultant if possible.
It’s important to get an outside opinion before starting a business so that you can make sure the idea is viable and there aren’t any potential problems that might come up later on down the road when you’re running your company full-time.
Become a student of the industry and pay attention to trends that might affect how your business operates, both short-term and long-term.
Pay attention to industry trends and how they might affect your business model. You can’t know everything about every industry or sector that could potentially be impacted by your business, but you should try to become a student of the industry(s) you plan on operating in. The more knowledge you have about how things work and what’s going on, the better equipped you will be to adapt when needed.
Write up a job description for every job that needs doing at your company, no matter how small or routine it seems now (if it’s something you’ll need to do later, it should be defined now).
Write up a job description for every job that needs doing at your company, no matter how small or routine it seems now (if it’s something you’ll need to do later, it should be defined now).
Job descriptions are the most basic way of communicating what people do in the organization. A well-written job description is essential to hiring and managing employees. It’s also a valuable tool for evaluating employee performance and conducting salary surveys.
Find good partners who will make up for your own shortcomings as well as theirs, so all of you can work together toward the same goal.
As you start to put together a team, it’s important to find people who complement each other’s skills and experiences. Ideally, your partners will share the same goals and have compatible personalities. A good partner is reliable, trustworthy, and willing to share in the workload as well as power.
Small businesses are built one step at a time; don’t let yourself get overwhelmed while planning and preparing
When you’re planning to start a small business, it can be tempting to think that the best way to get started is by coming up with an idea and then executing it. But this is rarely the case. In fact, most small businesses get their start with much smaller steps than that.
You should focus on starting out with one step at a time so that you don’t feel overwhelmed or discouraged when things don’t go as planned. If you try something new and discover it wasn’t successful, don’t worry! Your experience will help guide future decisions — and keep your business moving forward at an appropriate pace as well!
In this section of our guide on how to start a small business from scratch, we’ll share some tips for getting started without putting too much pressure on yourself or spending too much money upfront (while still making sure everything goes smoothly).
Conclusion
We hope you enjoyed learning about how to start a business from scratch. We know that it can be a daunting task, but we also know that if you put in the hard work and are willing to learn from others along the way, then there’s no reason why your dream shouldn’t become a reality!
