Back to Basics: Starting a New Business

Ideas for new business ventures may strike you anytime, anyplace. It could be a marketplace gap you noticed after a purchase fail, a personal experience that urged you to act for solving a problem or, ideally, something truly innovative that you’ve been working on for a long time.

No matter the circumstances, bringing your vision to life is important for both your career and your evolution as a person.

Starting a new business though, requires hard work, dedication and a (large, probably) number of failed attempts before it takes off. In this post, we are going to give you a few tips on how to start a new business, and a heads-up on what it’s like to realize your ideas into a living, growing organization.

• Spy on the competition: Before launching a new business, you need to test the waters first. Research on your direct competition, find out their strong points and their weaknesses. Then try to adapt your product or service accordingly – do it better or add something to the customer’s experience that the competition lacks. This way you can attract unhappy clients that need what you have to offer.
• Observe the trends & differentiate: A trending industry may be interesting to invest into, but you don’t want to offer the same service/product that another company already markets, better and longer than you. However, you can differentiate from them, bring something new and exciting that will drive people into your small business. If you want to play it safe, place your money on better quality.
• Offer great customer experience: We have previously analyzed how important great customer service is, especially if your business is new. When starting a new business your goal is to attract clients and keep them coming back for more so you can establish a relatively stable customer base. Happy customers create the valuable “word-of-mouth” reputation you need when starting a new business – don’t underestimate its power.
• Create a strong brand: Branding your new venture is one of the first things you should decide on. Hire a graphic designer for your new company’s logo and a developer to create an easy-to-navigate website. Especially, if your new business does online sales, extra effort should be put into the user’s experience and interface (UX/UI). Physical or online, your business needs to be attractive and your branding should convey just the right feeling to potential customers.
• Plan ahead: Most people get excited by their ideas for a new business but don’t plan their moves correctly. You should always bear in mind that for at least a year your business will not be profitable. So, break down your initial expenses and make sure you have enough capital to get by during that period. Plan your moves conservatively and don’t invest money in things that are not absolutely necessary.
• Hire an accountant: An accountant’s experience can be utilized regarding how to start your new business. From preparing the paperwork you need to register your company to keep your books they are a valuable partner during your first steps and beyond. You can also check out our article for the traits of the best accountant for your business.
• Fall and get up, again: Whatever happens, don’t give up your dream business easily. Fight for what you’ve worked so hard for. Every new beginning is challenging and through mistakes and rough patches, you learn important lessons. Use those lessons to your advantage and adjust your business after every small or big fail to work better, to offer a better product and great customer service.

Starting a new business is never, ever, easy but it doesn’t mean you can’t do it! Find a killer idea, do your research and leave a good impression on whoever contacts your company. Eventually, hard work forever pays, even under shaky economic circumstances. Don’t forget to appreciate this experience and learn from your mistakes, because all of these are important for the new business’s evolution.