Starting a business from scratch can be intimidating. Many people find reasons as to why they can't start, from lack of money to lack of time. May even be lack of planning, so it is important to think about some certain steps.
Statistics show that entrepreneurship is the dream of many people. In addition to business start-ups, the financial recession has intensified the emergence of businesses opened by necessity, led by people who have recently become unemployed or who need to add more income.
The mistake, however, is that many of the companies opened out of necessity are not very innovative and bring in professionals who do not have an entrepreneurial spirit. To stand out, it takes organization, willpower and patience! Having passion for the idea also helps drive the brand to success.
The combination of these skills is what we can call an entrepreneurial profile. To measure its potential, it is necessary that the manager has the ability to recognize its strengths as well as its limitations. Leadership skills, ability to motivate, good communication, optimism, decision-making skills and vision of the future are welcome skills when the goal is to start a business from scratch.
Own idea VS franchise
Few people want to put all their savings into a risky business, right? Starting a business from scratch involves certain challenges that not every manager feels up to. Success is possible when the entrepreneur is responsible and dedicated, but risks cannot be ignored.
A safe option for those who want to direct their investments more safely is the franchise market. For those who are not prepared for the risks of establishing their own brand, franchising is the right alternative. Being a franchisee, the entrepreneur enters the market with the support of a well-known and respected brand. The franchise's prior reputation helps to avoid investment risks. In addition, the well-structured marketing and the improvements offered to the team of collaborators are among the advantages of this model.
5 tips for starting a business from scratch
You chose to start your venture, whether driven by opportunity or necessity. Whether you have chosen to take on your own idea or to bet on the franchise market, a step-by-step guide will help you start your venture with excellence. To start, you need to bet on an important task, but that many newbies in entrepreneurship still neglect: the business plan.
1. Make the business plan
The business plan is the first step to be taken. The process, which may seem complex at first glance, becomes easier when you do a lot of research, do some good reading on the subject, rely on software or the franchiser itself, if that is the case.
Drawing up a plan means defining where your company wants to go and which path it will follow to achieve its objectives and goals. Financial planning also enters this phase, objectively showing how much the entrepreneur can give to each sector. Thinking that the issue is too complicated, some managers leave it aside. This is a fatal mistake that you must not make! When goals are planned and strategies are defined in advance, the manager avoids losing money by starting a business from scratch.
2. Research your audience
The company's business plan is aligned with the knowledge of the target audience that your brand will serve. This helps to choose the best point in the city to set up the store and to put together marketing strategies that are consistent with your target (the ideal customer). In order to know the target audience, the manager cannot be soft when it comes to researching! Go to the field with research and ask people from that locality to answer questions that help to demystify it. In other words, when researching the ideal client, the entrepreneur must know their estimated age group, the location where this audience is concentrated, the average ticket spent by the target and its problems. Your market positioning becomes more solid and efficient. It may seem strange to talk about consumer “problems”, but when he enters a store, he is looking for the product or service capable of solving his lack. It is important to know what your audience demands.
3. Invest in marketing
Think it's too early to plan marketing? Time to rethink that idea! Marketing is not just about promoting your products after the store is up and running. It is also responsible for adding new customers to get to know your business.
The objective of marketing is also to attract these potential consumers, the so-called prospects. By attracting them to know your products and services, it's time to work to lead them through the so-called sales funnel. The pipeline, or funnel, is the path that your company should plan to follow with the consumer, taking him from the first interest in the store to the loyalty of that customer.
4. Bet on the competitive edge
The competitive edge of a brand is what differentiates it from competitors. The competitive factor of the company involves the notion of value and price. Do you know how to tell them apart? Price is that objective number, indicated on the label, that shows how much the customer needs to pay for a product or service. The value, on the other hand, is subjective, and depends on the customer's own perception. What makes the consumer pay more for a product from a well-known brand, even in the face of a cheaper option with similar qualities to the first product? The answer is value. Adding value should be your organization's goal from the start. Anyone who wants to start a business from scratch must be willing to invest in their competitive advantages to get ahead in an increasingly fierce market. The service is a differential that jumps in the eyes of the consumer! Invest in the qualification of your team of employees, including constant training. Keeping a record of customers also helps with the process.
5. Control the processes
Gathering data and keeping records is useless if the manager does not use this data in his role. Be sure to evaluate the performance of your team of collaborators and measure the success of each strategy applied. Every process needs to be well managed and evaluated after its performance. To optimize the accuracy of the analyses, the entrepreneur who accepts the challenge of starting his business from scratch needs to rely on the support of technology.
If starting a business is your dream, understanding these steps will help you get started.
And here you see how Brisk was built, from scratch, with a dream and a vision from its founder, Natalia, that is now the vision of more than 12 teachers who work together to help many students accomplish their goals.
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