Did you know that failure will only make you stronger and will lead you to success!
Anyone who wants to start his business will first need to understand three crucial elements: the market, the industries, and people.
‘’A good opportunity can be found in not-so-attractive markets and industries. The market consists of buyers and not products, and the industry consist of sellers.’’– Mullins’ quote
Below is my 9 guideline steps recommendation for you to launch a business:
1. Study the macro-level and keep searching for opportunities.
You need to ask yourself questions to test your assumptions based on the research you will conduct before venturing out:
What sort of business do you want?
How large is the market you are seeing?
How intense is the rivalry? Is it price-driven or a product differentiation
How fast did it grow over the last few years?
How quickly will it grow in the next six to twelve months?
What factors, such as economical or socio-political, will affect the business?
2. Business concept
This is where you will need to have a mission, a vision, and an aspiration statement. If you strongly believe in something, you will make it happen and work. You will need to answer the following questions:
Is your passion there?
Do you want to build something or lead and manage?
Are you willing to take the risk with no financial security and putting your own money on the table?
3. Generate an MVP (minimum viable product) by studying the micro-level
You need to understand your customers’ preferences. Is there a demand or need for the product or service you are offering? How large is the target demographic?
There are three ways to define market segments:
Who are your customers: Demographics (age, gender, income, etc.)?
Where are your customers: Geographically?
What is the general consumer behavior?
However, different markets require different needs, thereby, different solutions. Questions to ask yourself:
What are your unique selling points? What are you resolving?
Where is the evidence that a customer will buy from you? i.e., you can do a market survey.
Does the data suggest that the market will grow?
4. Business operations
Do you have what it takes to execute and perform your task? Do you have the proper resources, skills, and mindset to become an entrepreneur? Just as in each sport, there are a few key attributes that separate the winners from the losers; the same is true for entrepreneurs...
5. Business management
You need to be able to connect the dots with all the stakeholders and the value chain. You hold the key to your success. You must be sharp, updated, on top of your business.
6. Prioritize the MVP.
The first step while developing your MVP, before weighing which features you need to build, is to ensure the product will align with your team’s or your organization’s strategic goals. What are those goals you’d set? Are you working toward a revenue digit in the next six months? Do you have limited resources at your disposal?
7. Conduct tests and experiments.
Go out their test and experiment with your product or services. Conduct some market surveys to get valuable comments/ feedback from the consumers.
8. You can either pivot the business or reach your product-market fit.
If your products or services are viable and have reached a product-market fit, then you are on the right track. If not, then you need to go back to the drawing board and re-evaluate your assumption and business.
9. Financial analysis and forecast.
Once the above 8 steps are done and validated, you should always run a forecasted financial model to check the free cash flow projection, NVP and ROI of the business. You would need to understand how much capital and funds are needed to run the business. In that case, you would either fully fund the business on your own or look for investors. The choice is yours.
By following the above 9 steps, you would be able to mitigate your financial risk by avoiding a few mistakes on the road and to conduct a cost-efficient, viable, and sound business.
You can find out more in my book “Pathways to Business Success” which answers the question: How Do I Become an Entrepreneur? with valuable lessons. I wrote this book to help aspiring entrepreneurs start their own businesses. Here, I also share my life experiences as words of wisdom and motivation to help people make a change and build something beautiful towards a life of freedom and value.
Please grab a copy and feel free to share your valuable reviews and comments.
It is now available for purchase on different platforms (Amazon, Kindle and Google Playbook).