For those looking to start a business, there is a phrase that most of us have heard before: ‘I don’t have a unique idea that no one has thought of before.’
It has been discussed that in order to be financially successful when starting a company, you should focus on owning a company in a non-trendy business, where the competition is lower and therefore the chances of achieving financial success is greater. This ties into the idea that you do not need to have a unique, never heard of idea in order to build a business.
The majority of successful businesses started with the basics:
- First have a product, which isn’t necessarily new, or a service that people want to purchase.
- Sell it to consumers at a profit.
- Repeat and increase in size as desired and required in order to support the business.
Note that in the above, there is nothing in there about having something new that people haven’t seen before. With these basic steps, thousands of startups setup and flourish – these include online resellers, retail stores, professional service firms, etc. There are obvious contextual elements in each of these 3 statements that should be attended to and some business articles take these 3 steps and elaborate. So if these steps are so easy, why isn’t everyone successful? This is mainly because they neglect the details or ignore the basics.
We have heard from many people that come talk about an idea of the next generation of a solution that no one has ever heard of before, asking opinions as to whether they can form a business from it. The one question they should ask themselves is ‘who will pay for it?’ If you know the answer to that question and you can get the customers to write cheques in advance, then you have a start on step one. There are many other steps in step one to consider, such as customer identification, market analysis, an analysis of competitors, barriers to entry and so on. However, if you do not have customers that are willing to purchase your product or service, then you won’t have a business.
Step two affects lifestyle businesses due to the fact that they often try to minimize their profits or they have a lack of experience, or in some cases demand excessive profit and lose their customers. This becomes increasingly difficult as the business expands and there may be infrastructure costs that require a minimum amount of sales, which requires expanding the customer base through marketing and repeat sales. Failing to provide good customer service or a good product at this stage often results in a decrease in the customer base, forcing an entrepreneur back to step one – finding customers.
Step three is what turns a business into a real business. Many entrepreneurs start their businesses as an alternative to working for someone else. Others wish to conquer the world from day one by becoming number one in their industry. The rest of business owners fall somewhere between those two ends of the spectrum. Step three requires more than just understanding of what the business does. It also requires understanding what the business is and how to manage all aspects of it including sales, marketing, management, HR, etc. A successful entrepreneur is very good at one or more of these areas and gets up to speed with the rest or hires individuals that specialize in areas in which they lack the skills. Being able to manage issues personally or through good recruitment is the key to entrepreneurial success.
Starting a business does not require some world shattering idea or a genius IQ. So what is holding you back? Are you ready to get started?
Take your own first small step and contact the business setup specialist team at CREATIVE ZONE for more information: +971 4 567 7333 or email us on [email protected]
