Congratulations, you’ve taken the first steps in starting your own business – exciting isn’t it?! Having the drive to start out on your own is half the battle but the key question is “Where do I go from here?”. At Ortus, we have helped hundreds of people start and continue on their business journey and want to help you join in that success. Over the next few weeks, we will look at all areas from types of business to how to find business finance.
This first piece covers what business is right for you. Every individual is different, as is every business. Choosing the right type of business is essential in ensuring ongoing success.
What business is right for ME?
As the entrepreneur, you are arguably the most important thing to consider when starting a new business. If the business idea does not suit you it is unlikely to succeed. Look at your own qualities and experience. What do you have that is different and what do you enjoying doing.
Here are a few thoughts to get you started:
1) Do I have the necessary skills or experience?
Simply if you want to start a cupcake company, you need to be able to bake! Focus on what you are good at, your business will be a learning curve, but you will need to start off by having a strong foundation in the industry you are looking to enter. If you are passionate about something but unsure you have the skillset, why not take a course at a local college and build on your knowledge before starting out?
2) Can I work alone?
Are you proactive or are you prone to procrastination? One of the hardest parts of being a sole trader is working by yourself and making all the decisions for your business. Make sure you have a strong support network to fall back on and the drive to succeed – believe us it will be hard work! If you are unsure, you want to work alone why don’t you look for a business partner or a business mentor to run over ideas with?
3) What type of business do I want?
Your lifestyle and business idea will usually dictate what type of business you decide to set up, have a look at some of the many options:
- Home Start-Up – Consider starting a business from your home office reducing initial start-up costs. With good technology, many businesses can start at home including tech start-ups.
- Part-time Business – Ideal for those who want to start a business in their free time or continue full-time work. Slowly growing your business ensures you iron out initial problems and spreads risk by being a supplementary income.
- Franchise – Starting a franchise can lower the risk as you will have a strong parent brand name and training behind you.
- Buy an existing business –Buying a business allows you access to a current client base and often can be lower initial costs than buying all new equipment.
- Social Enterprise – Have you ever considered running a business focused on supporting the community? A Social Enterprise reinvests all profits back into the community for local regeneration and to help community and charity groups.
4) What are your strengths and weaknesses?
It’s not a fun task but have a look at your own weaknesses that may affect the success of your business. By pinpointing these early, you can work on them and utilise your strengths be that personality, work ethic or abilities. Often the values of your company will come from your own ethos – make sure you know from the start what you want your company to be!
5) Have you researched your market?
At this stage, we would highly recommend partaking in some market research. Look if there is a gap in the market or if there are competitors in the location you are looking to target. If you have competitors, then what makes your business stand out and would make people buy your product and service over others. Equally, how are you going to reach your customers? We will cover how to conduct good market research in a later instalment so watch this space!
6) Think positive
Finally, the key thing about starting your own business is doing what you love. By starting a business in something you truly enjoy you will be passionate about driving it forward and building the brand. Your positivity will be infectious as others will see your passion which is a great starting point for encouraging customers and involvement.
Hopefully, this list has got you thinking about what it is you want to look at. In our next instalment, we will look at the first things you need to complete once you have decided upon both your business idea and structure.
If you have any questions, or would like to participate in a free business advice session contact Ortus today:
028 9031 1002
