Posts

5 Things You Need to Launch Your Own Business

StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article |Launch your own business|5 Things You Need to Launch Your Own BusinessThe lure of being your own boss and the desire to escape the rat race is tempting an increasing number of budding entrepreneurs and savvy side hustlers to launch fully-fledged businesses. In fact, recent statistics show that 80 new businesses are launched every hour in the UK, which highlights just how many people are striking out on their own.

To increase your chances of success, however, you’ll need to ensure that you’ve done the prep work and collated the resources you need. With this in mind, take a look at these five things you need to launch your own business:

1. Market Knowledge

Having a great business idea is a good foundation for launching a new venture but other people need to think it’s a great idea too! Before you invest substantial time or money in your business, undertake extensive market research to ensure there will be sufficient demand for your products or services. The more in-depth market knowledge you have, the more effectively you’ll be able to compete with existing companies and acquire new customers or clients.

2. Workspace

Although the homeworking trend reached a peak recently, many people are now recognising the downsides that are associated with working from home on a full-time basis. If you want somewhere quiet and productive to work without your business taking over your home, try serviced offices and co-working spaces like sopershouse.co.uk. With access to a wide range of amenities and the opportunity to network with other professionals, choosing the right workspace can give any new business the strong foundations it needs.


3. A Vision

You might already have a clear idea of how your business will operate or what products and services you’ll offer, but it’s important to have a realistic vision of how your business will evolve too. To transition from a start-up to an SME, you’ll need to implement a successful growth plan, so don’t overlook the long-term prospects your business can offer. By creating a detailed business plan from the outset, you’ll have an overarching strategy to guide you as you develop your business and expand your operations.

4. Staff

Some entrepreneurs work alone when they’re first starting out but, as your business succeeds, you’ll soon need additional support. Hiring permanent staff can be a big commitment for a new company, so consider outsourcing what you can to reputable service providers. Similarly, you might want to use professional freelancers to access the expertise you need, before hiring your own full-time workforce.

5. Funding

A lack of funds can be disastrous for any company, so make sure you’ve got sufficient funds to launch and run your business for as long as possible. Whether you’re seeking investments, taking out a loan, or selling shares in your company, it’s vital to mitigate early cash flow problems with reliable funding.

Launching a New Business

Starting a company can be an exciting way to expand your skills and take control of your career but having access to the right resources and support will be critical to your success. By planning your venture carefully, however, you can identify exactly what you need to get your new business off to the best start.

The Benefits of a Business Plan Service

StrategyDriven Strategic Planning Article |Business Plan |The Benefits of a Business Plan ServiceNot every business has a business plan, not because they don’t need one but because they don’t have the skills or knowledge to create it. That’s where a business plan service can help, these services offer a professional solution to business planning, so you get it right first time.

More Clarity

Not having a business plan doesn’t mean you can’t run a business, but the chances are your business will miss out on efficiency and a host of other benefits that go with having a core plan. For one thing, you will have more clarity which can lead to better decision making in key areas.

Whether it’s an investment, personnel, leases, or resourcing, you can make decisions faster and better when you can look at your business performance over a period and see how it aligns with your business goals. A business plan service can help you develop or update a business plan.

Better Marketing

If you have an excellent product, you need to get it in front of the right people; this requires some industry insight and proper planning. If you want to improve your marketing, then identify your target market and ideal customer persona; you also need to carry out market analysis.

All of this goes into your business plan, so you know exactly who to target and when. A quick glance at your business plan during key periods of the year gives you the solid information you need to make intelligent marketing decisions. This also helps when needing to secure funding.

Funding Support

Whether it’s a bank loan or outside investment from a venture capitalist, you need a business plan with some solid numbers to support your pitch. An investor will need to know your valuation of the company, how you arrived at that valuation, and why you need funding going forward.

Although this section of the business plan is important, not every business owner knows how to calculate the finances of the business and write it out in a way that’s suitable to investors. That’s where a business plan writing service can be useful; they can assist with outlining the numbers.

Better Structure

Without a business plan, a company might suffer from structural inefficiencies that can affect the bottom line. A good business plan should include who works in the business, what departments they manage and what their key skills are, which creates a useful framework for the business.

Not only does a business plan create a structure that helps to strengthen the business internally and flourish, but it also helps to create clarity from the outside. Investors can then look at the business and understand how it works, giving them more confidence to part with their money.

Better Hiring

If you don’t have a business plan, chances are you will bring in the right people at the wrong time leading to inefficiencies that can be avoided with some proper planning. Get it right, and a business plan can assist with hiring the best talent to take the business forwards when required.

3 Things to Consider When Starting a Manufacturing Business

StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article |Manufacturing Business|3 Things to Consider When Starting a Manufacturing BusinessIn this day and age, there are a variety of industries that are full of opportunity for aspiring entrepreneurs. One such industry that many people are looking to break into is that of manufacturing.

The demand for manufactured products of many varieties is only increasing, a fact that leaves the door open for quite a bit of success for those looking to establish their own business. With the right steps in place and preparation taken, you can start your journey towards owning and operating a successful manufacturing business.

It is important to ensure that you are putting the right measures in place so as to give yourself the best start in the manufacturing industry. Here are three such things that you should consider doing in order start a successful manufacturing business.

1. Do Your Homework

Before you can start a successful manufacturing business, the most important thing that you can do is educate yourself about the specific type of manufacturing that you will be engaging in. There are going to be a variety of industry specific regulations that you will need to follow and important guidelines that need to be kept in mind as you establish your business.

For instance, if the product that you are going to be manufacturing needs to be produced following the strictest hygiene standards, you need to outfit your location with everything from AL-6XN tubing to sanitary holding containers and vessels.

Become an expert in the area of manufacturing that you are attempting to break into so that you can get things started in the best direction possible.

2. Focus on Funding

As with any new business, it is important that you are able to secure the right amount of funding necessary so as to give your business the best start in the world of manufacturing. It can be an expensive industry to break into, but with the right business plan in hand you will be able to set yourself up for a desirable return on investment.

If you are going to need to seek out investors for your business venture, make sure that you have a solid presentation prepared that will outline all the steps that you are going to take in order to properly establish your business for the best return possible.

3. Choose Staff Wisely

When it comes to manufacturing, you might be attempting to break into a specific sort of industry. For this reason, it is crucial that the staff you hire is experienced in how to properly manufacture your products.

Take the time to train your staff accordingly so that they are prepared for any and all challenges that they will face in the early days of your business. From time to time, it is a good idea to help them brush up on their skills as well as on any and all changes that have taken place in your industry with regard to health and safety as well as any other regulations.

How to Start Your Own Business Online

StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article |Start an Online Business|How to Start Your Own Business OnlineAn online business, no matter how lucrative or appealing it may look, comes with its own set of challenges and it is often planning that helps launch and sustain any business, even if it is online. Similar to traditional business, there are key requisites that one has to meet before they plan on starting a business.

Good research and ideation is the beginning of any business, and several other aspects are important to determine before starting something, even on a small scale. Online businesses have a low barrier to entry and that is often the reason that most miss planning the key aspects and end up losing profits or creating the distinction for their brand online.

Fixate on the business idea

This step might seem like a no-brainer but it is important to fixate on an idea that is backed by proper research and is a result of proper planning. The important question to ask is as follows:

  • What are the strengths of my business idea?
  • Why is it important to contribute the product/services
  • What are the strengths of my idea?
  • What can be the potential risks of starting the business?
  • What problems is my product/service solving?
  • Who must be the target consumers?
  • Where must my business be present?

Business research writers from Paper Writing Pro say that upon asking some of these questions, it gets easy to determine the strength of the idea and spend considerable time solving the weak areas of the business idea. The first step is proper planning and research of an idea and determination of its potential success rates.

Decide on a name

The thing to keep in mind while deciding a name for your online business is the fact that it must be related and easy to pronounce. Think of exciting names for your business and decide according to the target group. Create a name and design a logo that is easy to recollect and creates a mark in the crowd of many such online businesses.

Carry out a quick search to check if the selected names are not taken already. If this step was missed, you might stand a chance to face legal allegations and procedures owing to copyright issues.

Validate the Idea

It’s often helpful to run a pilot project to validate the idea and the expected success rates. Start by evaluating your idea and upon confirmation, reach out to a small group of people to conduct a dry run. Observe their reactions and opinions closely to narrow them down according to the results.

Make use of technology and create a landing page and list down all important attributes of the product/service. Keep a close watch on the reactions, page landing and study the demographics of the traffic that the page generates.

Most people starting a business online seldom focus on a pilot and focus all efforts on launching a full-fledged business. Upon failure of the idea, the investment goes into waste, leading to a failed business when not backed by sting R&D.

Determine Funding

It is essential to determine and list down the finances required to initiate and run an online business. Determine the major cost heads and go ahead with a financial plan. There are multiple ways of funding. The first way to consider is self-investment. Self-investment also requires the need to determine the sustainability of the business with the funds available.

To upscale a business, you may need additional funding and that can come from outside sources by way of investors. Keeping a strong business plan ready makes a difference in nudging the interest of the potential investor.

Create and share a strong business plan, idea, and pitch to attract them towards funding your startup business. There are multiple series of funding and as the business grows, you could move ahead in funding levels to create a successful and profitable business.

Have collaterals in place

An online business is most reliant on a website and e-commerce listings. Invest the time in creating a powerful and appealing website. Find ways to create a pull strategy that gets the target consumers to check your website. Packaging makes for an important factor and, with the long list of online businesses, creates a certain distinction for easy identification of your online business.

It is also essential to plan the online platform you’d want the business to appear at first. Social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook are great mediums to leverage the audience and reach out to more people at the same time. If you are looking to sell products online, invest in a good photoshoot of the products and display them on all your online mediums.

An important thing to determine is whether you’d like to create a personal identity by way of a website or you are looking to reach out to the masses by way of e-commerce presence and listings. Once the business scales up, you could even participate in multiple e-commerce marketplaces to increase visibility and reach out to a larger consumer base at the same time.

Make the business legal

A crucial step is to legalize the presence of the business. Even if an online business, there are set regulations and legal issues as per your country’s laws and regulations. Read up on the legalities attached to the nature of your online business. The first step of all-registering your business online. The next step is to determine the tax regulations about the industry of operation.

Setting up the legal structure is important as it protects your business from online frauds, completion, and most of all with forgery and cases of duplication. Copyright your logo and products.

Look for brand partnerships and affiliations

Brand partnerships and collaborations are good ways to increase monetization and towards creating popular products/services. Get into affiliate partnerships with leading e-commerce brands to amplify the visibility of your business online. Cross-marketing with established brands can help a great deal in navigating consumers towards your business and its offerings.

When you plan to step into partnerships, establish a clear representation of your business and its particular offerings to avoid creating confusion in the minds of potential customers. Involve third-party apps and platforms that are authentic and have a good consumer base. Do check reviews and recommendations of the third party before getting into business together.

Improve the credit score of the business

You may consider taking loans to secure the future of your online business. To receive the loan grants with ease, focus on improving and maintaining your company’s and personal credit scores. A poor credit score may restrict the growth of the business beyond a point and create difficulty in taking external financial help.

The key aspect to keep in mind is that the growth of a business happens when the future is well determined and thought of. Think long-term ways and efforts to sustain your online business.

The bottom line

The launching of an online business is similar to launching a traditional business and most of the key aspects remain similar. It is important to consider and lay importance to get it right and making substantial efforts to increase the share of voice in the online market and attracting target consumers to purchase from your business. After a business launches, there is a need for effort to upscaling the business. A good online business can reach consumers on a large scale, offering immense growth opportunities when business plans are made with great research, a strong focus on the offerings, and determination to solve for consumer needs.


About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Tiffany HarperTiffany Harper is an experienced corporate sector writer, who sometimes helps as an expert to ninjaessay. She specializes in entrepreneurial development and start-up strategies. If you need essay help or business advice, don’t hesitate to contact her. When Tiffany is not working she is writing her book about self-growth and self-motivation.

Pushing Your Business Through a Period of Growth and Change

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Business Growth|Pushing Your Business Through a Period of Growth and ChangeYour business must change, and it must grow alongside your customers, marketplace, and industry. Suppose your business does not evolve and change over time. In that case, it will struggle to maintain its place within the industry and within customers’ and clients’ hearts, which could be detrimental to the future success of your business. To ensure that your business does not slide down the slippery slope into oblivion, it is important that you focus on change and growth and that you embrace and nurture it wherever possible.

Why Your Business Needs Change

If your business is to compete and grow, then change is required. You cannot expect to keep going the way you are, not changing a thing and in return, expect to reach new target markets and audiences. You have to be flexible and adaptable to your new target audiences and customers; you have to change to meet new growing market concerns. If you do not adopt change, then you will stay stagnant.

Seeking Adequate Funding

You can go down the route of organic growth, but this can be quite slow and unpredictable, and is this really what you want? Organic growth can be cheap, but cheap isn’t always the best route to take. To get the best results, you will need to seek adequate funding. Having funding in place will allow you to plan your business growth and change and be in control of whatever gets thrown your way. Having adequate funding and finance behind you can ensure that you can reach the new target markets and audiences you want to and, most importantly, need.

Adapting and Moving Forwards

Having a plan for growth and a plan for development is necessary no matter how much funding you are seeking. Understanding where your new markets are and how much cash it will take to reach them is essential for growth success. Having a plan in place also acts as a blueprint to which you can refer in periods of change. Change within business is not always welcome or appreciated, but change happens for a reason, and if you plan to welcome it, then you can be prepared to adopt it no matter how it changes your business.

Why Accurate Reporting is Essential

When you put together a plan for development, it is important that your report contains accurate data. Having all of your information together and collated in one place makes planning and execution a lot easier. Utilizing business intelligence and getting a provider on board to focus on training and consulting is essential if you want to achieve success. Inaccurate, difficult to read, or just downright messy data can put you off growth and change, which is not what you need in an everchanging world.

Staying Focused and Motivated

Driving your business through a period of change and through growth can take a lot out of you as a business owner, so it is important to remain motivated and focused. Keeping in mind what you want to achieve and why will help keep you on the track to success.