Even though people like to tell you that 9 out of 10 business fail within the first year, that simply isn’t true, especially if you’re in the field of construction estimating. Your chances of succeeding are much better. After the first year, only 2 out of 10 business close down. After 5 years, 5 out of 10 fail and after a decade, 7 out of 10 fail.
As you see, things aren’t that bad. However, creating a business that will last enough for your children to inherit it is extremely hard. Only a handful of business owners manage to do it right.
Nonetheless, it’s not impossible, you just need to make sure to do everything right from the get-go. You see, there’s the right way to start your own business and there’s a wrong way to do it. To succeed, you have to do everything in your power not to fall into the second category.
In order to help you do just that, we’re going to discuss both the right and wrong ways of doing things when launching a business for the first time. Everything starts with…
Conduct market research
You may have a product. It may be good, solve a lot of problems, and is first of its kind. However, is there a market for your product out there?
- The wrong thing to do: Coming Up With an Idea Without Research
Some people love their business idea so much that they run to the market with it as quickly as possible. Most do it out of fear of someone else coming up with the same business idea/product and making a fortune while they sit around doing nothing.
- The right thing to do: Finding Target Demo With Help of Research
Your product might be great. It might solve the problem just as you intended it to. However, are there enough people with that problem? Is the product too expensive? Does it give the people enough value for their money? All of these issues needs to be addressed before the launch.
Assess your finances
You’re starting a business with only a few dollars in your pocket, right? How will you make it past the first few months without enough money? You have to secure finances…
- The wrong thing to do: Going Into Business With Zero Funding
Maybe your product doesn’t require too much investment. You might be able to manufacture it with only a few tens of thousands of dollars you already have stashed away. Why not go into business right away and solve any possible problems on the go.
- The right thing to do: Performing a Break-Even Analysis
The initial financing is only a part of your worries. There are going to be additional – and what business people like to call hidden – costs down the line. You need to have enough money stashed away to handle some of these problems during the first year.
Register with the government
No matter how good your business idea is, without the proper licences, you won’t be able to go for. You’ll be shut down before you know it…
- The wrong thing to do: Doing Business Without the Proper Licences
Speeding to get things done, you might feel like you simply don’t have enough time to get all of the proper licences. If you have a small business why even bother? The government only goes after the big players, correct?
- The right thing to do: Acquiring all of the Permits Before the Launch
That can’t further away from the truth. Small businesses get closed down every day simply because they don’t have all of the needed permits. Make sure to look into and acquire all of the permits to operate your business before the launch date.
Launch your business
You’ve done everything right thus far, however, you’re trying to do everything on your own, including handling the legal situation. If you’ve never done it before, it will be difficult…
- The wrong thing to do: Launching a Business Without Legal Advising
People love to multitask. If you’re running a small operation, you need to wear many different hats. Why not handle all of the legal aspects of running a business on your own? You don’t need any lawyer to tell you how to register a company, right?
- The right thing to do: Hire an Experienced Professional to Help
Even if you run a business before, you can’t expect yourself to handle everything. The legal world is pretty unforgiving. If you fail to do everything in accordance with the law, you might find yourself knee-deep in problems. Find an agent to help with the legal aspects of launching a business.
The bottom line
And there you have it. If you manage to do everything right on the first try, you won’t have to worry about doing it all again a few years down the line. Life is the best teacher. However, why learn from your mistakes when you can learn from other people’s mistakes? Learn where others made mistakes before you and avoid them completely when it’s your turn to start a business.
With a little bit of luck, your business will survive more than a couple of decades.