Have you ever wanted to work at your own hours?

Have you ever wanted to set your own deadlines?

Have you ever wanted to be financially independent with no superior breathing over

your shoulders before you can get a paycheck?

Have you ever wanted to invest in yourself, pursue your passion or quit your job simply

because you want to?

These are just a few of many reasons people want to start their own businesses in the

world today. A good percentage of the population enjoys the steady pay, work

experience and the reduced stress of being employed but for personal and
professional reasons some people would prefer to own their sources of income.

In 2017/18, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) stated that entrepreneurship

levels are on the rise and this rise is predominated by opportunity-driven

entrepreneurship. This means that every day people are channeling in to their inner boss and jumping at gaps that need to be filled in the society by using these businesses to solve problems. Let’s be honest, there are a lot of articles about starting
businesses on the Internet today, they will tell you about how you need persistence,
devotion and all of that. Most of it is true, but while I do not refute any of that, what you
will read here is a different approach that you haven’t already heard a million times. So

if you are looking to join the rising number of people that are building businesses from
scratch, then here are some tips that will help you in this long but fulfilling journey of

self-employment.

Do you really want to start a business?

This is an unusual first tip for an article about starting a business, but it is a
crucial question that a lot of failed businesses did not ask before starting. As
much as you might want to skip this question, I suggest that you pay close
attention to whether or not you GENUINELY want to start your own business. A

lot of people start businesses without fully understanding the things involved.

For example, things like the current demand for a certain business and the all
the costs involved in setting it up must have been fully and totally understood
before you start. Also an aspiring entrepreneur should know what the terrain islike in terms of competition, location and several other things. Let’s say you
want to start an African food restaurant in a town where there are five other
African food restaurants, this will not be a very wise decision to make except

you have something much better and different to offer. It is easy to look at
people that have turned start ups into million-dollar empires and think that
starting a business will automatically be a success, but there is a lot involved
and it is best to look into the parameters surrounding your start up and make
sure that you are convinced that starting it is feasible. You should also weigh
out everything that your business will entail, not just in the starting phases but as it runs, when you do this you can easily see if the business will be worthwhile
in the long run and if it will be worth the time and money you invested.

Remember that these are questions only you can answer because of the

dependability of your business on personal drive and knowledge. You should
also note that you might think that your business idea is great, but the world
must not necessarily identify with that vision, so there will be a lot of convincing
and pitching to do. We always hear of entrepreneurs that became billionaires,
but hardly anybody mentions entrepreneurs that failed. So sit down, take one

good look at your plan and be convinced that you are ready to start.

Become a student.

A lot of entrepreneurs had the privilege of starting businesses in a field that they
studied during their tertiary education. While this may provide an advantage, it is definitely not necessary in order to start a business in a certain field. In fact
people who did not even attend university or college can still prevail in any field
they are passionate about. However, it will impossible to successfully start your
own business without any knowledge of the field you are delving into. Even if
you have experts working under you, you still need to know the basics of
whatever it is your company is doing. So when you are starting up, you need tolearn, learn and learn. Read books, attend seminars, get a mentor, get advice from people in the business (they’re always happy to help) and ask consumers
of your product questions as well. You should also learn about your potential competition, if you are the type to keep to yourself and mind your own business
then the business world is not the place for that kind of energy. You should stalk
your competition. The word ‘stalk’ might be a little bit dramatic, but it only
emphasizes on how much attention you should be paying to the people in the
same or similar line of business as you. You could even patronize them and look
at them from a customer’s perspective so that you can emulate their Rights and
improve on their Wrongs. This will also give you idea of what challenges you will
be facing and what about these businesses that customers like. So no matter
what you do make sure you’re learning loads of new things every day.

Provide a solution

As much as we all love a good income and the profit-based side of everything,
you should set up a businesbusiness should also be set to tackle problems. The
more problems it can solve, the more likely it is to succeed and the more income
for you in the end. At the introduction to this article I mentioned
opportunity-driven entrepreneurship; these are entrepreneurships that were born

from a gap in a certain aspect of living. These gaps are the problems that your
business should tackle. For example if the general student results in your area
are relatively low, that is a gap that needs to be filled. You could then start an
after school tutoring service, an academic bookshop or anything that could
address the problem at hand. The amazing thing about these gaps is that there
can be a lot more than one solution to a gap, if there is a gap in sports writing

then you can either start a sports website or you can start a writing company
that extensively covers sports. In order for your startup to be a success it should
be aimed at solving certain problems and filling certain gaps in the supply of
goods and services. This way it is in more demand and it also contributes positively to the society.

Embrace the Internet

Of course the effect of the Internet on businesses is not news by now. Just
about every global firm or company has a strong internet platform, as a matter

of fact some companies like Facebook and Amazon are primarily based on the
Internet. Let’s face it, the world is getting digitalized by the second it will be
unhelpful to ignore the internet. You might think merely being on social media or

owning an Email address is enough to pass for ‘Internet savvy’, but by embrace I
mean totally and completely utilize the marketing weapon that is the Internet.

Create accounts on every social media platform, create email lists for
newsletters, create a website for your brand, and if possible, create a YouTube
page. It doesn’t have to start bringing in lots of traffic right away, but having
even the slightest Internet presence before launching your business is a positive
step in the right direction. Of all the tasks in starting a business, creating a

strong Internet presence will likely be the most time and effort consuming,
because of the nature and dynamics of the Internet. You will constantly have to
update the content you have and keep followers up to date with your new
product and services. It might be a lot of work especially if it is just you, but
there is no harm in starting small. Use the internet to your advantage and see
your business grow rapidly.

Start at your own pace.

In starting a business, it is very important to start at your own pace and not
overwhelm yourself, especially in the earliest stages as this is enough to
collapse a business. This of course requires rigorous planning and cost

evaluation, the last thing you want to do is go over your head and make any
outrageous plans that will end up in an expensive product that nobody will be
interested in. Starting gradually and step by step allows you to narrow your

focus from the start and to test how certain products and services are playing
out in the market. So it is important to get started on a smaller scale, then build on the growing success of the product or service. In cases where the selling isn’t going according to plan then you can sit back, make some adjustments then try again without really losing much.

Pay attention to money

First of all, I would advice that you earn while you build. That is, in the beginning
stages of building your business it is advisable to keep your job (or get one) so
as to reduce the financial burden of starting a business. Even if you don’t have a

job, you should have a steady asset that will assist you in the building process
because starting a business can be financially draining in the initial stages
before it starts to bring in income in the long run. You should also try as much
as possible to reduce costs, take care of the necessary costs and keep the rest

till your business has firmly landed. For example, if you just started a delivery
business within your neighbourhood, it would quite extravagant to go all out and

buy two brand new delivery trucks when you can settle for equally working fairly
used trucks. But then again this depends on the amount of money you have to
spare, if you have limited funds then spend accordingly, on the other hand if you
have more funds then you can spend more but always remember to spend
money for equal amounts of value, if possible more value. It will also be helpful
if you can draft out a business plan, this makes it easier to clarify your
objectives and the monetary values associated with them. This way you can

save more money and have a steady start.

Don’t be discouraged

I know a lot of people that started businesses and got frustrated, either because
of lack of funds or the rising stress, or the huge amounts of time required. It is

also easy to give up when it doesn’t seem to be moving in the right direction,
believe it or not your business will most likely have a slow start. This doesn’t
always mean that the business is failing; sometimes it is best to sit back,
evaluate and see whether you should make changes or wait for your grand plan
to play out. If you look at the biggest brands today you will find that they were
once in struggling phases, maybe even worse off than you are in your initialstages. So always draw inspiration from wherever you can. If you are
passionate about your business and you really see a future in it then continue to
push until you get to where you want to be. Keep your head up!

In the end, there is really no perfect guide or formula to starting a business; it
will always be a learning process. Through the course of creating your dream

business you will be forced to take measures and methods that you didn’t plan
for in the first place, you will also have to abandon plans that you were certain
would work before. It’s really a roller coaster, but if you always remain

disciplined and make the right decisions at the right times then you’ll be fine.

Good luck in your future endeavours