Whether it’s starting your first business venture, eating healthier, making more time for your friends and family, or getting svelte at the gym, the ‘new year’s resolution’ is famous for giving people the will to make some positive changes in their lives—and infamous for not giving them the structure to maintain that change for more than a few weeks. The fact remains: While the resolution can be a great kicking-off point, you’re going to need proper planning to get any change done.
That said, if you make sure that you give your vision the proper foresight, dedication, and planning, the decision to start your first business can dramatically change your life, and we have 3 steps that can help you make sure that your resolution doesn’t fall flat on its face.
1. Plan Ahead.
This might seem obvious, but it’s easy to get swept up by a good idea and find yourself bypassing the planning. After all, research and paperwork aren’t exactly the most romantic elements of starting your first business.
The most important aspect of any venture, business or otherwise, is to have a destination in mind. Sure, you might know what you want to do, but what do you want out of it? Are you hoping to start something that you can run out of your garage and make just enough to live comfortably, or do you want to expand rapidly, sell your business to a multinational conglomerate, and retire at the age of 30 on your own private island?
Knowing where you want to be will also help to set your timelines. Making sure you have realistic deadlines for each milestone can help you to keep your business on track, and help to make sure you don’t get complacent before your venture is where you want it to be.
Also, and perhaps most important: Once you have a plan and a clock, you can introduce social pressure by telling people. I don’t mean the “Someday I’m going to start my business” type of announcement that’s been proven to actually de-motivate; I mean telling people “I’m going to have my business up and running by February, have a storefront by summer, and have 3 staff members by Christmas”. When you announce a deadline to someone, it adds a heap of accountability to your plans, and—to most—makes you much less likely to delay them. And if you still find yourself dragging your feet, consider imposing an actual penalty, such as “If I haven’t launched by March, I’ll give you a hundred bucks.”
2. Do Your Due Diligence
Before you flip off your boss and storm out to make it big on your own, you need to make absolute certain that you’re ready to do so. (By the way, don’t flip off your boss and storm out—business contacts can be priceless, and burned bridges provide no referrals.)
Do all of the research to make sure your logistics are all in place—any raw materials you need, contracts, equipment, software packages, and so forth. Every new business experiences some growing pains—particularly if it’s your first swat at entrepreneurship—and this is the worst time to discover a major expense that you hadn’t considered.
This includes your branding and launch campaigns as well. Many agencies will gladly provide you with ballpark quotes based upon the size, reach, industry, and nature of your business, letting you know how much you’ll need to squirrel away to ensure a successful launch.
You will also want to seek advice and mentorship from someone who has successfully started a business similar to your own (but not a competitor). Entrepreneurs are most often very open, friendly, personable people who can help you to set realistic goals and let you know how they managed to get their foothold in the marketplace.
It’s also worth looking into your local business planning resources. There are a number of federal, provincial, and often local not-for-profit businesses that offer free resources, advice, and even courses to help you plan and prepare your first business.
Finally, do some market research among your potential customers. Is your idea something they need? Is your niche already filled? What about competition? Is your marketplace crowded with competitors? Are customers dissatisfied with them in any way? Is there some way that you could stand to carve a unique niche for yourself?
3. Don’t Half-Ass It.
When it comes to recognizing your brand and business, people tend to only remember quality. If you simply give it the ‘D for Done’ mentality of doing the bare minimum to avoid failure and trying to keep your marketing budget as close to zero as possible, then you likely won’t stand out at all. And when you’re the new guy on the block, that can be a death sentence for your business.
Even worse, if your reluctance to put in the time and money results in poor quality, in any aspect of your business—be it your level of service, the aesthetics of your website, the uniqueness of your branding, the quality of your physical product, or the effectiveness of your marketing—you’ll likely be remembered, but only for your deficiencies.
If you put the time, effort, talent, and investment into quality products, congruous branding, memorable marketing, and an overall well-thought-out business strategy, then people will remember you for the ways in which you excel. And while it’s not realistic to expect every element of a business launch to hit it out of the park, being outstanding in several areas will greatly increase the likelihood that at least one of them will resonate.
Precision Impact: ‘Whole-Ass’ Professionals For Your First Business
If you’re not prepared to do things right when launching your first business, you’re really not prepared to launch it at all. And Precision Impact is all about doing things right. We have the network of creatives to make sure that each element of your business launch has the talent, experience, and direction you need to stand out in a crowded marketplace.
If you’re launching a new business, or would simply like to refresh your existing branding, contact us today for a free assessment.
I’d also like to thank Jon Nastor from Hack the Entrepreneur for inspiring and informing this post, through his “Going All-In” episode with Ameer Rosic. If you’re serious about entrepreneurship, I would suggest checking them out.
He is also unable to make a 'Penseur' pose without looking at least a bit ridiculous, as evidenced by his profile photo.
- More than Benjamins: The Secret Key of Effective B2C Financial Writing - 3 July, 2019
- Paging Dr. Google: The Dangers of Writing a Clinical/Medical Blog - 27 July, 2018
- 7 Content Considerations Every Law Firm Needs to Make - 16 May, 2018