By admin 
Hi everyone. This is such an amazing topic. It reminds me of my business and how I started. I have received several emails, suggestions and lot of questions on how to start up a business, most especially during COVID19. Some people are tired of a paying job and they feel they deserve to be self employed, some are even scared of what may happen to their jobs after the Corona virus pandemic. Some don’t just know how. Some ask questions like I have an idea but how do I convert it into a selling product that will yield massive return? How do I get started with my business? Some even get discouraged with the saying that most business fails and they wouldn’t want to risk it, this and that.
Things you need to know before starting a business:
1) Develop your income skill first to be an entrepreneur. Remember the reward of small business ownership are not instantenous, so you need to be patient and willing to make sacrifices.
Questions to ask yourself as an entrepreneur: How much does it cost for rent? What’s my population? Who are my suppliers? Who are my competitors? What is my market strategy? How much cash flow do I have to sustain the business?
2) Dont start a business if you dont understand the industry. Ask your self these questions why you and why now, for example if you want to open a restaurant why dont you work in a restaurant for a while to understand how the industry work.
Don’t start a business if you want more free time: No free time for entrepreneurs only if your company has blossom
So ask your self this question are you actually ready to be an entrepreneur.
Well. Having look at a summary of what we will be dealing with. It is important to know that everything about life is taking risk. But it is advantageous to take calculated risk. Even when you travel you are taking risk. So let’s get to the topic.
How to start a business from scratch.
1) Start with an idea: The first step is having an idea. Well someone may ask a question like I don’t know how to come up with an idea, what should I do? The simple answer is think and if you can’t dedicate time for researching or reading, read books and materials that interest you and don’t be among folks who have this believe that everything that is needed has been created by people, so why do I disturb myself.
That’s a terrible mindset which could be worked on. Ideas comes when you change your mindset by thinking as a success. Get a book on something you admire and always ask yourself is there any problem you can create solution to. Look at yourself and ask what do I wish was in this world that could of impact. Challenge yourself at all times. Idea could be in two face; Creativity and innovation. Creativity is coming up with something that isn’t in existence, while Innovation is developing what is in existence but modifying it in a better way.
Okay. So we are starting with an idea in this section. Having idea is great but not all ideas turns out to be superb or worth implementing. So you have to research about your ideas, carry out a feasibility study and see how realistic it is. Play with your idea, Google your idea to see if anyone is currently doing it. Ask yourself can I convert this idea to business. Mind you when we talk business, we lay great emphasis on value. You should be more focused on value when starting up a business and consider profit too, but most importantly focus on Value.
In summary, you should focus on the big 4, when making your idea a reality.
- Research about it?
- Is it successful?
- Is there competition?
- Is the market saturated?
- How are you going to beat your competitors.
At this point two things should be in your mind while brainstorming. If you want your business to succeed, you have to be different or to be better than the rest. Maybe you want to start a cookies business, been better means that your prices are lower or the cookies taste better. While been different means that you are unique, maybe your company has defined look and size of the cookies, but your company allows your consumer to design their own cookies and buy them afterwards.
Another point to note is how much value you bring your consumers?
Do you bring more value than your competitors? The more value your product or service offers the easier it will be further down the road. So you should analyze your idea and the market and also state how it should work.
2) Build your idea into reality. This is where most people get stuck, they just come up with idea and never act upon them. Having idea is great but it means nothing if you never make it a reality. It is so important to get started. It’s far better to try it and fail than not to try at all. Believe that you will figure it out as you go.
When you get to work on your ideas, you will face obstacles that you might have never thought of and you will be forced to come up with new solutions to overcome those obstacles. As a result, your ideas will change and modify into something very different than when you first started. Always learn new things everyday.
People get discouraged because they feel their ideas is not good and it will fail. Just like Thomas Edison said, it’s not failure, it’s just finding out different ways that don’t work.
3) Text your Ideas:.
- Get feedback.
- Adapt and change.
- Repeat the process.
A lot of people make this mistake, they build their business without testing and they think since they have spent too much time on the business people must like it. Build something as fast as possible, show it to people, get their feedback, adapt and change then repeat the process.
4) Building a business without money: Building business without money can be a little bit tough. A simple advise to get started is build your idea around your skills and knowledge. If you are good at marketing, you start drop shipping, affiliate marketing. If you are good at cooking start a cooking business. For me I am good at making natural soap that tone skin, remove stretch marks and pimples. So building my business on this was very easy.
I would like you to know that not every business can be started without money. This is no big deal actually because there are lots of opportunities to get your business started which includes; finding investors online or venture capitalist, crowd funding, getting capital or supports from friends and families. However, you need to come up with a compelling idea and an outstanding business proposal.
So after this, build your idea which is within your skills and knowledge online. You can start with YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp. Simply use your skill to give your audience value. After that monetize your audience and continue to grow
It is important to note that not all business can be started without money. For business idea that requires huge capital, you need to find investors online or around you, a venture capitalist. Support from friends and families. However, you need a compelling idea and an outstanding business proposal that cover the interest of the investors and as well as the organization.
It is possible to start a business without money, the only thing holding you back is your creativity and willingness to start. The business you see around was created by a person who are in no way smarter than you. If they can do it, you can. Don’t let your mindset restrict you.
Procedures to take in order to start your business:
- Idea Generation: That is strategizing and carrying out feasibility study on how realistic your business is.
- Write a business proposal: Write a detailed proposal that would cover your vision statement, mission Statement, goals and objectives, your marketing strategy and lot more. If you have a problem up with a business proposal, you can comment below.
2) Obtain Startup Capital or leverage on your skills and knowledge.
3) Set up a legal business stature.
4) Satisfy business licensing requirements.
5) Establish a web presence.
6) Open a bank account for your business
7) Have mentors, lawyer who could get help from.
8) Follow Government rules.
I am very sure you all have an idea on what to do and how to do it. You can comment below to express your view on the topic. Stay safe guys.