Launching a business is the beginning of an exciting adventure. But it doesn’t happen by magic. There are a number of steps to follow to succeed and make it a success. So we explain everything you need to know about the steps you need to take to get your business on the market.
Launching your business means finding an idea and studying the market.
This is the natural first step in starting a business. You need to think about what you’re going to do as a business. Sometimes the business idea you have may not be entirely appropriate for your area of expertise. This is not a major problem in itself. But it is better to start in an area that you have some degree of control over. This will not only allow you to better manage to become a reference over time, but it will also reassure you future partners and customers and even your investors.
Once you’ve come up with an idea, take the time to mature your thinking to judge the feasibility of your idea. Don’t hesitate to do some research to add new elements to your thinking and make it deeper. You can even begin to talk about it shyly around you to see how people react to such a project.
Most of the businesses that are started are customer service businesses. But the mistake that most entrepreneurs make is to try to impose their idea on customers. It is rather better to know what they want.
So if the business you want to start has to offer a service that already exists, think about how you can offer your future customers something new that will set you apart from other businesses already established. Indeed, unless you are different from the others, nothing will really motivate your customers to make the decision and the risk of trusting you.
Making a business plan
Once the project seems solid (new ideas can always be added and make it even more solid), it’s time to take it to the next step: putting the project in writing in order to present it to the right people. So you need to write a business plan.
The business plan should give details about your project and explain in detail what you intend to do and the means you plan to put in place for the success of your project. Remember that you will use it to convince your banker or potential investors. Therefore, present your project in a very attractive, but realistic way. Neither your banker nor other investors will be fooled if you offer them a fanciful idea that has little chance of success. This is why the previous step is so important.
Here are the elements to integrate into your business plan so that it is complete and convincing:
- A synthesis
- The project leader
- The Project
- The market
- The commercial approach
- Figures
These different parts of your business plan will enable you to inform your contacts about who you are, so that they can trust you as a future entrepreneur. You will talk to them in detail about your project, explaining what it is about in concrete terms, what your competitors are offering, the means that you intend to put in place to establish and publicise your activity, as well as the income that you intend to earn from your activity.
Simply explain your project but be precise in your data, especially the figures. Make sure that your figures are consistent. Don’t try to make people believe that your project is risk-free. There is no such thing as a project with zero risk of failure. If you are realistic and far-sighted about potential difficulties and your plan for dealing with them, you will gain the confidence of your investors.
Finding the investment
Once your business plan has been duly drafted, you can offer it to banks, business support structures, your relatives or other people you know and who might find it interesting to participate in your adventure.
Before you start looking for investors far away, start to test the ground around you. Sometimes, you may have all or a good part of the necessary investment from your loved ones. So don’t minimize their support. Especially since most of the time, they will be happy to support you for little or no compensation. For a young company, this is a great help.
If it is not possible to find investment in one’s close circle of friends and family to launch one’s business, it may be easier to find it by going to banks or other financial organizations that can disburse funds to finance business start-up projects.
When submitting your application, make sure you are presentable and inspire confidence. An unpleasant smell, wrinkled or tight clothes, a poorly maintained beard, an indecent look are all details that could put off your interviewer, who will not even take the time to analyze the contents of your file. So as not to lose your chances before you have had time to present your project, make sure you look neat and tidy.
Before presenting your project, make sure you have properly mastered it and are ready to defend it like a professional. Anticipate the questions you may be asked and think about how to answer them. Be natural and courteous in the way you speak. Be convinced of what you are saying. To do this, it must be true. So make sure that the information you give is correct and verifiable.
Launching your business: getting the paperwork done and recruiting the right people
You have made a lot of progress if you are at this stage in your project. And that’s an understatement to put it mildly. But that’s where it gets tricky. Because you have gained the confidence of investors and they expect results from your company.
The entrepreneur must therefore legally establish his business. To do this, a number of administrative steps are required before the business can start operating for good. It will therefore be necessary to choose the tax, social and legal regime of the future company.
Choose, to accompany you, professionals who have a good mastery of their field of expertise. They will have to be able to help you make important decisions that will promote the success of your projects.
If necessary, you can call on service providers whose professionalism and quality of work you recognise, to relieve you of certain time-consuming tasks. This may give you more time to focus on more important tasks, which will ensure that you can offer your clients quality services.
Starting your own business is far from being a piece of cake. The stakes and implications are high. You must therefore take each of the steps we have mentioned and outlined seriously. This will allow you to build your business on solid foundations and increase your chances of success.