What to know before starting a business 

1

Do you have resources (physical, intellectual, human or financial) for company establishment?

2

What are the company’s costs (ex. salaries, rent) and how should that affect pricing?

3

How would the company generate income?

4

How many goods/ services need to be delivered in order for the company to generate a profit?

5

Identify your key partners and suppliers essential to the business.

6

Which companies are already offering similar goods or services to your planned product?

7

What makes your product/service different from the rest?

8

How will the company reach its customers?

I KNOW THESE ANSWERS 

I DON’T KNOW THESE ANSWERS

Poll: have you ever studied business?

Good Business Tip #2: rely on numbers

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Marketing covers for most of the sales process. It starts with idea creation for a product, continues with idea development, follows with price setting and distribution, when finishes with planning and implementing actions to promote your sales. Let’s take a look at the four elements of marketing.

Product or service: If you want to be successful, it is important to have an attractive product. Also, it is best to have a product/solution that would stand out among others in the market. This way there is a higher chance to have demand for the product in the market. 

Price: When pricing, it is important to take your potential customers’ income into consideration. You need to make sure that your target audience is able and willing to choose your product for the price you offer. Note that pricing should be focused on earning a profit, so do not forget to take your costs (materials price, workforce, utility charges, etc.) into account. 

Distribution/Location: To reach your target groups you should know what places your customers visit and decide what price level shops are most suitable for your product distribution. If you want your own shop or premises – you have to find a place where services would be in the greatest demand. 

Promotion: Sales can be promoted in various ways such as advertising on TV, media, printing brochures, social networks, or public spaces. Promotion discounts can also be directed to existing clients, to ensure their loyalty, since they can bring you, new clients.

Business strategy (corporate strategy) is a set of decisions defining the most important objectives of the company as well as actions and measures to attain them.

It is always useful to set yourself a clear goal to move towards and an action plan on how you are going to achieve it. This will help you to evaluate your progress.

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A business plan is a document that states, in a clear and reasoned manner, what a business seeks to achieve, and how the objectives will be attained. It is a convenient tool for systematically assessing your business idea and its future prospects. 

What is the purpose of writing business plans?

  • To justify and verifying a new idea, assessing prospects of a business;
  • To compare projections with actual achievements;
  • To calculate the fund’s requirement;
  • To assess risks related to borrowed or own investments in a business;
  • To justify and obtaining loans;
  • To find partners or providing existing partners with information.

Click here and get all information about business plans first!

Financial spreadsheet for business planning you can find here.

Before starting a business it is good to make research on the field you want to start a business.

If you are new in a topic – reading some info about your business field can help to prepare for business establishment.