Women entrepreneurs have become a strong force in today’s business world. Across the globe, many leading companies are now led by female entrepreneurs, many of whom already paved the way for aspiring women business owners. Before you start planning for your new venture, heed the following tips in order to start a business that will help you find the best road to success:
Build a strong foundation
Don’t quit your day job until you have the foundation ready in terms of startup capital and a robust business and marketing plan. Though it may seem enticing to completely devote yourself to your new venture and be your own boss, chalk out your financial requirements and future obligations first. Instead of quitting your job, consider doing part-time jobs in the transition to becoming an entrepreneur.
Support from family
As you prepare to dive in your new venture, let your family know about it. According to entrepreneur Michelle May, while an aspiring businesswoman needs to have family support, at the same time, she shouldn’t allow the uninformed to provide opinions about her venture.
Show your strength and talent
Identify your innate talents and strengths related to your business and keep those as your responsibility. If you find yourself incompetent for running any crucial segment of your business, think of finding a partner or hiring someone to manage that aspect. It is wearing to manage everything yourself, especially something you’re not comfortable with.
Business plan
For many aspiring business owners, writing their first business plan is a daunting task. However, starting a business without a perfect plan is like sailing without a compass or map. To prepare your business plan, you must research your niche, set your short-term and long-term goals, and most importantly, know how you’ll manage the required financials. A proper business plan should include:
- Market analysis
- Business synopsis
- Business description
- Operational method of the business
Also on StartupNation.com: Female Entrepreneurs and the Fight for Funding
Know your market and customers
Even if you’ve identified some interests in your venture, further homework is extremely crucial to keep the business rolling. While assessing the market, you should emphasize two key factors: the volume of the niche and whether or not it’s saturated.
Customers are the ultimate source of revenue for any business. You may have invested thousands of dollars for the business, but without a solid customer base, it simply will not sustain. Identify your customers, chalk out a plan to reach them and ask them to provide feedback on your service or product.
Choose the correct funding option
Startup funding is needed by almost every business. Important sources of small business funding include angel investors, borrowing from family and friends and credit cards. Make sure that you have the financial plans ready before you appear at a pitch meeting. You will be hard pressed to find anyone who will want to invest in a business without any financial planning.
Plan your company’s budget
It’s important to understand both startup and operational costs for your business. You must plan your company’s budget, otherwise, you may end up either spending extravagantly or cutting down the amount that is required for business growth. Unlike established companies that draft their budget annually, small business owners should do so more often.
Apply the 80/20 rule
The 80/20 rule says that 80 percent of results come from 20 percent of causes. One of the biggest drawbacks of prospective businesses is insufficient follow up. After identifying potential customers, you should send them follow up emails, provide them with relevant information and deliver the product or service as per the timeline.
Never give up
Every new business has to go through various ups and downs. If you want to sustain, you must stay focused, learn from mistakes and apply that experience for development of your business. There’s no harm in doing some safe-to-fail experiments as long as you learn something. There are two key components underlying any profitable business: going the extra mile and persistence. Keeping the end goal in mind is of ultimate importance.
