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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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