You don’t need academic success to be an entrepreneur. In fact, when polled, well over half of business owners reported that they didn’t even have a bachelor’s degree, which is music to the ears of any savvy fella’ with a good idea up his sleeve.
However, the lack of an education requirement doesn’t mean you should dive into starting a business without a little preparation beforehand. Successful businesses take a great deal of forethought and organization behind the scenes.
If you’re seriously thinking about launching your own startup, here are a few steps to consider in order to turn that spark of an idea into a bonafide business reality.
Start With Some Introspection
The most important place to start the entrepreneurial process is with yourself. While there are a lot of romantic stereotypes associated with being self-employed, it’s essential that you start the process out by vetting your own personality and situation in order to make sure you’re actually cut out to run your own company.
Ask yourself a few questions to see if you fall more on the entrepreneurial or the traditional, career-oriented side of things:
● Are you passionate about working? As Oprah put it, “Your true passion should feel like breathing.”
● Are you willing to take risks? Starting your own business requires plenty of leaps of faith.
● Are you self-reliant yet able to delegate when necessary? It’s a tightrope walk all entrepreneurs must master.
● Are you good at time management? Work-life balance is difficult when you don’t have a boss watching over your shoulder.
● Are you able to make difficult decisions? It’s the hard choices that can make or break a business.
● Do you have a genuinely good idea that will resonate with consumers? It can’t just be something you think would be cool or interesting.
If you were able to answer yes to all (or at least most) of these questions, you’re likely cut from more of an entrepreneurial cloth.
Check-In With Those Loved Ones
The one other introspective factor you want to consider before moving on, though, is your friends and family. How will those that are closest to you be affected by your decision to start a business?
Will they be okay with the investment and sweat equity that will suck you away for an undecided amount of time? Will they be able to support your efforts? Make sure the people that truly matter are on board with your decision.
Define Your Benchmark for Success
Before you begin pulling your business together, there’s one other important thing to do: set goals. What is your benchmark for success? Is it a fortune greater than Warren Buffett’s? Or is it simply making enough cash to quit your day job? Or maybe you’re playing the long game and looking for some passive income?
Setting these benchmarks ahead of time will give you clear objectives to steer towards throughout the ups and downs of your entrepreneurial journey.
Go Over Your Finances
The next step is to scour your finances on a personal and professional level.
To start with the former, do you have enough money coming in to continue living for a while? Chances are your business won’t provide enough money for you to live on for quite some time. In other words, don’t quit your day job quite yet.
Along with making sure your personal finances are good to go, start feeling out what funds you’ll need in order to operate your business venture. Do you have systems in place to monitor your cashflow? Do you have an existing customer base that will provide a stream of revenue yet? If not, where will that customer base come from? Do you need to pursue startup business investments to get your operation off the ground?
While it isn’t necessary at the beginning, it’s also wise to start to consider how your finances will look even if you find success. Self-employment is a completely different animal from a traditional employee position. You’ll need to set up payroll, pay for your own healthcare, and find an independent way to save for retirement.
Again, you don’t need to have everything perfectly in place when you begin, but you should at least have a solid idea of how you want your finances to look before launching your company.
Set Things Up
Alright, at this point you’ve considered your own motivations, your business idea, and your financial situation. It’s time to officially start setting up your business. Before you purchase a “We’re open” sign for your restaurant or start paying for ads on Facebook, though, it’s important to organize yourself.
How can you set yourself up to have the best chance of success possible right out of the gate? Here are a few preliminary business launching steps to consider:
● Get educated: While you may not need a degree to start a business, you may still need some training or certifications in order to help equip you with the knowledge to succeed. A Business Analyst Certification will definitely help you plan and analyze your business needs.
● Get your tools: What tools will you need? Payroll software, a website, communication tools, social media accounts, make sure to organize your business toolkit before you launch.
● Choose a business structure: Will you be a nonprofit? A corporation? A sole proprietor?
● Look for legal concerns: Are there any federal, state, county, or town laws that you should be aware of as a business owner? Also, are you ready to pay your taxes?
● Pick a name: Make sure your name helps you stand out from the competition and will hold up over time.
● Create a business plan: This will be your guiding light throughout the startup process. A thorough business plan includes market strategies, design and development plans, operation and management descriptions, finances, and competitive analysis.
● Consider where you’ll operate: Can you work remotely? Will you need a storefront? Do you need a warehouse? Will you have inventory? If so, how will you manage it?
Dive In and Don’t Look Back
At this point, you’ve gauged your personal entrepreneurial capabilities, considered how launching a business will impact your loved ones, set your goals, combed over your finances, and set yourself up as much as possible.
You’re officially ready to launch your startup. While every venture is filled with calculated risks and plenty of ups and downs, taking the time to properly set the stage beforehand is the best way to optimize your chances for success.
Now it’s time to put those entrepreneurial chops to the test. Put your shoulder to the wheel, take on each challenge with vigor, don’t take no for an answer, always look forward, and never look back.