Beginning your own business is a bit like throwing all of your money into the air and hoping that even more money lands on the floor. This is, of course, an impossible task in and of itself, and would require more people standing with you to throw their money into the air, too, thus allowing you to come out on top when the coins and notes are counted.
The only problem is that in order to get people to give you their money, you must offer goods or services at a rate deemed by the customer to be fair – overpriced goods will attract few buyers, and undervalued goods may put people off (if something is cheap, it clearly won’t last long). So, you come up with goods or services at a fair price … but are you ready to begin to trade? Not just yet.
There are several tests you need to put your business mind through before you can rest relatively easy that you have covered some major considerations. As a brief example, take future staffing issues – if you want to avoid Googling questions like “what are worker rights?” and “how much is the average mesothelioma settlement?”, you’re going to need to look a few things up about on-site worker safety. Now, let’s look at some other tips for starting a small business.
Read the body language of people you tell about your business
There’s a famous saying in business that if your core approach cannot be summed up in a single sentence, you may be trying to cover too many bases with one idea. In essence, you cannot be all things to all people. Much like a novelist trying to explain the many intricacies of an upcoming novel, the audience is likely to shift uneasily and begin to wonder what the main message is.
For example, Star Wars is a multi-movie franchise. Summing up the entire thing in one sentence is difficult. But you could try “Some unlikely friends bring down an oppressive regime”. That’s 22 hours and 40 minutes of film in the main nine-part series. Summed up in eight words. If you can’t do that with your business model, you could be biting off more than you can chew.
Pay attention to customer habits
In the earliest days of a certain food chain (known for its golden arches), the list of foods on the menu was expansive. Later, the owners noticed a nearly 90% customer preference for three items on the menu. Hamburgers, French fries, and soft drinks. The business was streamlined and an industry was born. If your trials show that your main offering is not as preferred as secondary services, you could be chasing the wrong dream. Pay attention, and good luck!
