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Starting
a Business
Starting a business is a great way to make cash. Not only
will you have the satisfaction
of creating something
yourself - but you will also know that all your efforts
directly affect your pocket.
This
can be good and bad. If you have no work - obviously this
will create stress and pressure on yourself to find work.
If you are busy, then great - you can feel on top
of the world !
Starting
a business is a long term choice. Unless you are
fortunate to be in an uncompetitive market, have come across
an innovative item or service to sell or are very lucky,
starting a business is going to be VERY HARD WORK.
There
is plenty of information about starting a business
and
Entrepreneur.com is a fantastic place to source excellent
information.
If you
are currently working for your employer and work 40 hours
a week for your wage - and then decide to start a business
- be prepared to add at least another 20 hours to your working
week in the start up phases of your business.
You
really need to think carefully about starting a business
in the beginning. Think about it as a long term project,
something that is going to be very time consuming
and something that will test you dramatically.
Some
people naturally aspire to starting a business.
These
people;
- have
a very entrepreneurial nature
- are
RARE. Building a business takes HARD work and a realist
attitude.
You
cannot fly off with the fairies when running your own business.
It is likely you will come crashing down very quickly.
Things
to think about before you leap are - Chasing Money. Do
you like chasing money
from your clients? This will be required every
week. If
you are starting a 1 person business - this can be a real
headache.
You
will have to chase money constantly and keep up with your
paper work. This is tedious, annoying and often confronting.
This
process will not stop. Think about this - if your
business is 5 years old - you would have chased
money from your clients for 5 years.
You
need to think realistically about this. Your clients may
not pay for 60 days or they may not pay at all. If so -
these are all things you will have to deal with.
Obviously
- this will depend on the type of business you are running.
A service based business will have the headaches above.
A retail based business will have the headaches of cash
flow. That is not having sufficient cash to buy more stock.
This can choke your business pretty quickly.
Getting
an administration assistant will reduce
the task of chasing accounts dramatically.
You
can offload this task to them and this will relieve you
so you can spend your precious time on important tasks such
as delivering the work to your clients.
Getting
Work
Depending
on the type of business you run, you will always be torn
between getting work completed and sourcing new work. This
means juggling many things at once.
Remember - unless you are fortunate - you will always need
to chase work. Especially if your company is growing. You
need to continually find new opportunities to get work through
the door and keep your team busy.
This
will mean learning about marketing and
how it works. This
is a whole new world, and can be very detailed
and require a lot of reading.
Remember
- this never stops. Until you are fortunate to hire sales
people - you will be required to do this yourself.
Systems
If
you are going to hire a team - you will NEED systems. These
days it is ESSENTIAL that
you have systems in your business - as most markets
are too competitive not to.
This
will require creating the systems, manuals, updating, editing,
training and implementing these systems. This in itself
is a mammoth task - and is a constantly moving target.
Systems
will make the difference between a
good business and a great business. Start working
on your systems immediately. The sooner the better.
New
technology can outdate your system very quickly - and reassessing
of this is essential to keep up in today's fast paced environments.
Paperwork
Until
you get administration assistants - this will take up a
significant amount of your time.
Doing your tax returns - getting insurance - getting business
cards - letterheads - etc etc - the list NEVER stops.
Highly
recommended is that the first person you employ is an Administrative
Assistant. This will instantly free you up of the tasks
that consume your time. If you can't afford one at the beginning
- at least employ a part - time assistant becasue the last
thing you want to be doing is filing paperwork.
Employ
an adminstration assistant as soon as you can afford one
- even if they are part time. They are worth their weight
in gold !
Remember
- always try to work smart - then work hard !
Ideas
Choosing
the business you start can either be very hard - or very
easy. If you have been trained in a particular area, then
you may naturally fall into this area as the business you
start.
This can be good and bad. Obviously, if there are already
a lot of competitors in your industry you will find it difficult
and will always be under pressure to make a decent living.
On the other hand, at least you should know you trade or
skill reasonably well and can then concentrate on building
the business.
Before
choosing your business - think about this. What
type
of income is better?
Passive
income or non-passive income?
The
best business you can start is a business that requires
low skilled workers. There are several reasons for this.
You
will quickly learn that a successful business is about people.
This is the one major factor in creating a successful business
and by starting a business that employs low skilled workers
- you will always have a large pool of potential employees
to choose from.
This
is a very significant point. If you start a business that
employs highly qualified people such as Architects or
Engineers, you will always be struggling to find qualified
team members and they will always want to be paid more !
So
if you haven't chosen your business yet - think carefully
about this as it will make a huge difference down the track.
Take
a look at the McDonalds business model. They employ
thousands of part time students and young workers.
They ensure their systems are perfect and that their team
members follow instructions easily.
This
is the first thing you should consider when choosing a business.
If you have already chosen a business that employs highly
qualified workers - don't worry as there are ways to maximise
them within your business - just remember it will be considerably
harder and your business weekly salary payment will be high!
More
Ideas
There
are many businesses to choose from. Just take a look in
the local phone directory book and see how many different
business and how many businesses there are.
You could
choose something simple like a food business or something
more complex like a Environmentally Friendly business. Whatever
you choose - remember that if you don't actually enjoy what
you are doing, then it will be difficult to make it successful.
So
choose something you are passionate about
and then it will be easy to go to work as you will love
what you do.
Once
you have a general idea about what you are going to do -
try and find a niche within your market or industry.
A
Niche Market will make it much much easier to make
money and you will be able to raise your prices
and value add to your customers.
These
days it is very easy to set up a low cost business. Thanks
to the Internet you can sell goods online easily through
eBay. Registering your eBay profile and delivering goods
to customers through eBay is an extremly easy way to set
up a business and requires minimum capital. You can also
easily research products that sell well.
Setting up a business at home is an easy way to establish
yourself.
Highly
recommended is getting out of the home business
situation as soon as possible if you want to take your
business seriously and want your customers to take you seriously.
Working
from home can have many negative effects and if you want
to be taken seriously as a business - then you need to move
to commercial premises as soon as you can afford to.
Passive
Income
The
question is; What would you prefer? Passive or Active Income?
The two are very different
and can mean the difference to enjoying your business -
or wishing you never started it !
Passive
income is explained in
the dictionary as;
"
Earnings an individual derives from a rental property, limited
partnership, or other enterprise in which he or she is not
actively involved.&
quot;
Sounds
good huh?! I would agree.
On
the other hand - Active
income is explained in the dictionary as;
"
Income for which services have been performed. This includes
wages, tips, salaries, commissions, and income from businesses
in which there is material participation."
Not
so good.....!
Niche
Markets
Choosing a niche market is essential to your success. This
will give you the ability to raise
your prices and still retain most of your customers.
'Niche
market' is explained in the dictionary as;
"
a specialized and profitable part of a commercial market;
a narrowly targeted market ".
Which
Industry?
Different
types of Industries will deliver different types of concerns.
Get
inoto the detail and
think carefully about each industry. There
are many industries to look at.
Check
out all of these industries to start you off.
Food
Businesses
Environmentally Friendly
Science
and Technology
Senior
Services
Healthy
Ideas
Kid
Businesses
Human
Resources
Construction
and Building
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