Lisa Robbin Young

How to Think About Starting Your Own Business

Starting a business or becoming an entrepreneur, like Andy Defrancesco, can be one of the most rewarding things that you ever do in your life. It gives you the ultimate freedom and flexibility to do something that you love every day. It means you can work on your own passion and that you will be earning money for yourself rather than making someone else rich. You can set your own hours, decide your own tasks and figure out the direction that you want to take it in. Yet starting a business also comes with a great deal of both risk and responsibility and you want to ensure that you are going into it equipped with everything you need to give it the best chance of success. If you are considering going it alone and starting your own business, here are some of the top things that you will need to consider.

Is it a viable idea

A lot of the time, we come up with ideas that sound great, but actually could be hard to turn into something viable. Make sure that your business plan has some credibility behind it and will be a success rather than just a far-fetched pipe dream. It is important that when you set out into starting your own company that the idea you are turning into a reality is one that you have put a lot of thought into, rather than something you have decided on a whim. Make sure you speak to friends, family and other people to check if they think it is a good idea too!

Do you have the tools and resources that you will need?

When starting a business, the better equipped you are, the better you will be at it. Think about the different things you might need that will help you. For example, you need to know about marketing and it can be a good idea to have a team of influencers and social media marketing experts on hand such as those here to help you get the word out. You may need to know certain skills such as photography or SEO in order to help properly start up your company, or have a database ready such as Couchbase, so take courses or learn these if you need them. 

What is your budget?

Depending on what your business idea is, will depend on the budget you need. It is important that you have a realistic notion of what you will be needing to spend before diving in head first. You will need to consider everything from your website hosting fees, to office space, hiring services such as business coaches and photographers, to everything in between. Try to think of everything that you will need to spend in the next 12 months and ensure that you have enough cash to cover it, even if you don’t make as much money as you might hope. Most businesses don’t bring in a profit in the first couple of years so you need to be prepared for this.

These are all things that you need to consider before you start a business. If you ensure that you go into it with all the above mapped out then you will put yourself in a much better stead for success in the future. 

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