Building a business is overwhelming and stressful. At first it can feel as though you have no idea what you are doing and there are too many places to start to see how it all fits together. Every business has had help! That could be the nice lady at the government office, the co-worker that knows a lot about this or that, and even the teenager that can’t believe you’re not on the next social media channel. Each of those things teaches us a bit more about how to build our business. You can think “Well I don’t want to be on the next big social media because you’re not my target audience”. Perhaps you didn’t think about that target audience thing, that phrase that everyone seems use, but it’s an important thing to think about.
Building your business through steps
Breaking it down into steps or chunks is a great way to see what needs to be done. There are legal things to file before you are recognized as an entity. Many people start there but you should file later than you think. Before you file or buy ANYTHING you need to see if the name you want to use is available. Then take a look at your chunks and put the things you have no idea how to do in one pile and things you “kinda” know how to do in another. The third pile is all the things you know how to do and you know you can do it better than most. This will help you determine who you need to hire out for and what you need to learn to do for what you can’t hire out for. It’s important to be able to know your limitations and either take the necessary time to improve on them or hire someone you can hold accountable. I say hold accountable because there are times where you hire a friend and they do not meet your expectations. If you hire a friend they may do a great job or they may come up short of your expectations. Be sure you are capable of telling the person you hire what you want and let them know if they are straying from that.
All businesses are different
When building your business it’s common to search how similar businesses operate. Market research is necessary for some things but when you are looking at what they are doing you can look at areas that you can improve. The reasons you thought of doing this business in the first place are reasons that make you better than your competition. You are meeting a need that some may not even know is there. You may have extensive knowledge in an area that most people are unfamiliar with. That’s how this business got started! Use that to help you business stand out!
What you can do now to build your business
When you are finished with your list you have a good understanding of what you think needs to be done. From here you can go a few routes. I suggest taking a FREE mentor from SCORE. SCORE is a business that helps other small businesses get started through mentorship. These mentors listen to your business idea/plan and tell you what you are missing or how they can help. They will not do the work for you but they are a good sounding board when you are uncertain. There are lots of free to low cost classes at your local Small Business Administration! They also have a great beginners guide to starting a business. If this all sounds overwhelming and you are still looking for help feel free to send us an email to see if we are a good fit and we will file your paperwork. Figure out what business entity is best for you, how to organize your accounts, and more are included in our long term business coaching program. Although it’s called coaching we do put the work in by taking things off of your plate. Each package is different, send us an email to see how we can help!