The steps that every entrepreneur takes before making expanding their business.
Step 1: Making the decision to become an entrepreneur
People become entrepreneurs and business owners for a number of different reasons. It can be to see their ideas come to fruition, make money, live and die by their own decisions, build something that aligns with their ideals, fill a gap in the market, or create a business that will outlast themselves. Many times there is an event that will trigger this desire to be an entrepreneur, but an individual can have a natural predisposition to take the path of entrepreneurship as well. The triggering events could be having a bad experience working in a position; having the skills and talent, but not having an opportunity within the organization to advance; losing a job can be a triggering event; even inheriting a business or money can be an igniter for an entrepreneurial career. Here are a few of our posts that will help you with making the decision to become an entrepreneur:
Step 2: Conceptualizing and developing a successful business idea
Many entrepreneurs feel that if they just “grind” a little more, they will bring it to light. Most of the time that’s not the case. New businesses usually fail because there wasn’t a real opportunity, to begin with. A successful venture includes feasibility analysis, intuition, industry understanding, opportunity recognition, and knowing the revenue versus costs of starting the business. We want to take a look at how entrepreneurs can recognize opportunities and how it usually unfolds. Also, we’ll want to examine what qualifies as a viable business opportunity. Some people will spend forever writing a business plan, but don’t have a way to execute it, and by the time they are finished, their plan is obsolete. Cut through all of the garbage and get started by writing a quick plan in one hour or less.
Step 3: Executing on your business idea
The third step is turning your idea into a reality. In some cases, it’s important to prepare the proper legal foundation (part of this is determining the best state to form your business). In other instances, it’s important to create MVP (minimum viable product) to test the demand for the product or service. This is where the actual work comes into play. See if people want what you are offering. If they purchase, continue to sell. If they do not, pivot. Instead of spending hours upon hours working on a plan, this strategy allows an entrepreneur to find what the market is willing to spend their money on.
Step 4: Managing, growing, and systematizing your business
In a competitive environment, it takes the following attributes to have a chance at ongoing success: (1) an in-demand idea; (2) a solid strategy that briefly outlines what the company sells, to whom it sells, how it sells, where it sells, and why it sells; (3) executing on the idea; and, (4) a way to manage, grow, and systematize the business so that the entrepreneur isn’t stuck doing the day-to-day operations. In this step, entrepreneurs need to select appropriate target markets, build the brand, prepare and develop ways to streamline how the venture runs.