“To increase your probability of success, consider these Issues to determine where you are and what you need to do”. Peter /CXO Wiz4.biz

Cash Flow, Time, Focus, Don’t Hire – Out-source, Buy or Rent, Test the Market, Fail & try again.Think Outside the Box, Cash Reserves, Network, Never Give Up !!!

17 Issues to consider before Starting:

How much $$$ will I have at risk?
How much time will it last me?
How many hours/day will I have to work?
Do I currently have other obligations that will prevent me from giving the business 100 %?
Would there be a much better time for me to start a business than now?
What are my alternatives if I don’t start a business now?
What are the chances of success in Starting?
Am I looking at starting a business from a position of relative strength –
Feeling good about myself and feeling I am relatively well off – or
am I looking at starting a business from a position of relative weakness –
Am I recently laid off from a job and being behind on my bills?
Can I “Test-Run” the product/service part-time before quitting my job?
Should I choose between a higher-risk or lower-risk businesses?
What is the Opportunity? Is it worth the Risk?
Suppose my business provides less income than I expected. How long should I stick with it?
If the biz doesn’t work out, how easily will I be able to pick myself up, move along to the next endeavor?
Will I burn any Bridges, starting this Business

If you want to be an entrepreneur, there are a few things you should know before starting a business – actually, there are at least 10 of them. Knowing what they are, and how to implement them, will go a long way toward ensuring that your business venture is a success.

#1. Focus most of your Time & Effort on doing what’s most important

When you start a business you can get tangled up in a lot of details. After all, if you’re the sole Founder, virtually every issue in the business is your responsibility. But this is where Focus becomes extremely important. You have to be able to separate critically important activities from those that are just merely important.

Key Factors. development, marketing, customer acquisition, & product/service support. These are the foundation of any business, and they are the functions that you must get right.

#2. Don’t Hire (unless you absolutely have to) Partner or Out-Source instead

When you start a business, try to avoid hiring employees as long as possibe. After all, employees create an immediate fixed expense at a time when income is uncertain. The better route is to either Partner with another entrepreneur, or Out-Source the work to independent contractors. That will help to keep your expenses low – especially during the startup phase of your business.

#3. Home or Rent – Don’t Own – At Least at the Beginning

It’s almost self-evident that you will need $$$ in order to start a business. But most of that $$$ will likely be needed for your personal survival. The less that you put into the startup itself, the more you’ll have for survival, and the longer that you’ll be able to last during the early days of your business.

Be Lean. That means keeping capital outlays to an absolute minimum. You should work at home, rent office space or storage space, as well as any necessary equipment. That will keep upfront capital outlays to a minimum, and “preserve your powder” (cash) for survival as necessary.

#4. Cash Flow is #1 priority

It may be fun and even interesting to get caught up in a lot of the details of starting a business, but when you become an entrepreneur Cash Flow is the most important factor. That’s the factor that you need to understand from the very beginning.

Without Cash Flow there is no business. Keeping it coming in will be an ongoing challenge, but it’s never more important than in the startup phase. Before you can officially launch a business – in fact, before you can even say that you’re in business – you need to have some Customers and some Cash Flow coming in. When you start your business, that should be your primary mission.

#5. Market Test before you Launch

There’s no such thing as a can’t-miss product or service. No matter how good they look on paper, it can fail for any number of reasons that you never imagined. Be sure to Test Market any new products or services that you are planning to roll out, that way you will minimize your risk in the project. It’s also always better to test run any new roll-out on a sample level. That way if it fails, it’s less likely to be fatal to your business. Speaking of which…

#6. Be Prepared to Fail

One of the reasons why so many people are afraid to start their own businesses is, because of the uncertainty that it carries. You should be prepared for that uncertainty, by being Prepared to Fail. Perspective is important, and you will need to accept the fact that not everything you try is going to succeed. That makes a strong case for having a Backup plan for anything that you attempt to do. The idea is to make sure that you have the resilience to survive a failure or two – without crashing your business.

#7. Network With Other Entrepreneurs

If you network with other entrepreneurs, you’ll have other people who are in the same situation as you, and who you can turn to, when you need quick answers or maybe even some brain-storming. Networking can provide you with something of a personal support system, as well as an opportunity to grow your business through partnerships & joint ventures in the future.

#8. Think Outside the Box

A new business never comes with a How-To manual. If you are serious about becoming an entrepreneur, you’re going to have to be able to think outside the box. This is particularly true, if your business represents something that is either uncommon or completely brand-new. If marketing plans are not meeting expectations, be fully prepared to make adjustments as you go along. Where expenses are concerned, always investigate the possibility of finding a lower cost way to get what you need – to get things done. Running a business is very much about managing scarce resources, and you will have to adopt unconventional ways of thinking -in order to do that – particularly if you have never been in business before.

#9. Have Plenty of Cash Reserves

For starting your business, you should have sufficient Cash Reserves to pay your living expenses for at least six months. (a full year would be even better0 Since your business is unlikely to have much of a Cash Flow in the early going, you may have to rely on those reserves in order to survive. It would be even better if – in addition to your cash reserves – you already have a little Cash Flow before you leave your current job. This will make you less dependent on your Reserves, and also give you more confidence of success in the future.

#10. Never Give Up !!!

Starting & running a business is a long-term commitment. You have to be ready to “tuff it out” – no matter what obstacles you hit. Though you may find yourself doing little more than simply surviving in the early months/years of your business, that experience will be critical to the long-term success of the business. The lessons that you learn during the tough times are often what will give you your edge in the future.

Final Thoughts

If you can get these 10 Strategies in line before you start your business, you have an excellent chance of “surviving & thriving”.

Comments: Do you know of anything else to do when Starting a Business?

fm All Biz & Biz Town 3/20 enhanced by Peter/CXO Wiz4.biz

For more Info, click on Starting Advice.