A busy professional has this question regarding to starting a new business.
What is stopping people from starting a business when they have a good idea?
We all have ideas, skills, knowledge, and experiences learned throughout our lives. We all have thought about our ideas and what we can do with them. From the things we see, hear, and buy, we think about how we can make them better or how we can make something completely new. But what stops people from doing something about it?
Like many things, it is both a combination of things and different for everyone.
Starting a business is scary.
Besides “a good idea”, it takes time, talent, determination, and finances.
Most people are more comfortable with a consistent and reliable income. After all, the bills will continue to come whether you work for someone or start a new business. Leaving a good paying job with a stable income to jump into a new venture with an unknown income is daunting.
It usually takes a new business about 5 years to become both profitable and consistent. Most businesses fail within the first two years, because they don’t have the finances to sustain the start-up cost or the time for the product to attract customers.
If you are serious about starting a new business, consider these first steps.
Conduct market research
Even if it’s a good idea or improves a current product, there are lots of things to be considered.
- Is there a large enough market for this product or improvement to sustain a business?
- Does it really answer a need that can’t be solved by any other product or service?
- Are consumers willing to pay a price that not only covers your manufacturing cost but leaves you with a profit?
- How easy would it be for a competitor to duplicate your product? Is it patentable? Novel? And defendable?
- Is idea really a business or just a one-hit novelty item?
This requires market research. You need to investigate the current market need, the competitors, the price people are willing to sustain, how saturated the market is with similar products, etc. This takes time and money to properly research.
Create a business plan
Successful business owners create a feasibility study and business plan to determine if they should even take this step. The business plan contains your mission, vision and business goals. It outlines the required finances. It not only identifies the start-up costs, but how long it will realistically take to produce a steady income.
It identifies the target market, their demographics, spending habits, need for the product, etc. I should also include a marketing plan to attract the right clients (those interested in purchasing your product/service at the price you want to command).
Staffing
Then there’s the staffing issue. Even though it may be your idea, you may not have all the expertise to design, manufacture, market, brand, create the appropriate on-line/offline presence, design the packaging and promote yourself or your product. There’s also accounting, legal, and competitive analysis.
You will need assistance in many of these areas. Make sure you have a majority of these activities covered in your business plan.
Finances
Make sure you have the finances to cover the manufacturing, staffing needs and your salary for the next 5 years. Financing can be acquired through loans, investors, savings, partners, etc.
Make sure you have these finance issues covered in your business plan.
Doing these things before you start your business with accomplish two things:
- Help decide if your idea is a viable business
- Increase the likelihood of success
Hope this helps a little.