Start your own business?

 So you’re thinking of launching your own internet business startup? Or is it a business magazine? Maybe you haven’t decided yet but are certain you want to start your own business. Maybe you’re seeking an escape from the mundanity of nine-to-five employment; maybe you can’t stand working for anyone else for a minute longer; or perhaps you’ve just been made redundant or simply have an idea that’s too good to go to waste. Whichever it is, that first entrepreneurial seed has been sown, and before long you will be starting your own business.

But how do you grow that seed into a thriving, new business? Firstly, do you really want to? Are you cut out for it? Even if you are, is it too greater risk to give up a secure income? And just where should you start? You’ve probably got at least one of these questions, along with many others, swimming around your head right now – and that’s perfectly understandable.

Starting up your own business will change your life. It’ll change the way you think, the way you work, the way you spend money and the way you socialise. It’ll be one of the most demanding challenges you’ll ever be likely to take on.
You’ll work every hour possible to get your business off the ground then even longer to keep it afloat during the early days. You probably won’t have another holiday for a couple of years and virtually your entire life will become focused on making your business start up succeed.

If you’re in a relationship, it will undoubtedly feel the strain and if you’ve got a family prepare to be repeatedly torn between them and ‘the business’.

This is the harsh truth of starting your own business. If you thought you’d be reducing your hours not increasing them, that it wouldn’t disrupt your family life and that, frankly, it all seems a bit too much trouble, then stop reading now; turn off your computer and think of a different way to improve your everyday happiness.

If what I’ve just said hasn’t curbed your desire, keep reading – you’re showing all the attributes an entrepreneur needs when starting up in business.

Sure, you’ll still have plenty of anxieties and unanswered questions, but like every successful entrepreneur starting a small business, the thought of a challenge excites and enthuses you.

If you’re going to succeed, you won’t mind concentrating all your energy into the new business because it’ll be ‘your baby’ and you and your family will be the ones reaping the rewards – not a fat cat on ten times your salary. You’ll also have the enthusiasm and ideas to find solutions to the obstacles in your path.

And remember, you’re not the first to have these anxieties or to face these obstacles as you’re starting your own business. Every successful entrepreneur has overcome many barriers and continues to do so every week with his new internet business startup, her freshly launched business magazine or whatever new business it is you are bringing to market.

What’s more, many successful entrepreneurs had no business qualifications or experience prior to starting up in business; many spent months, even years, formulating their idea into a viable business proposition; and absolutely every single one has made mistakes, accepted help and learnt lessons as they’ve gone along.

The reason they’ve succeeded is because they’ve remained determined, focused, worked extremely hard and had the clarity of mind to realise they couldn’t do it all on their own. If you share these attributes, you’re half way there.
And needn’t be that scary. It might seem that you only ever hear bad news about the condition of the economy, but there’s never been a better time to start a business.

There’s never been so much help and information from business startup services available to people wanting to do it as there is today. There’s never been so much funding available for business start ups, and the government has never been so geared to encouraging enterprise.

The doom and gloom merchants certainly haven’t put off the 3.8 million businesses currently operating in the UK, or the 904,000 people that made the plunge and started-up last year. Every year the figure gets bigger as more people decide to work for themselves, and each year the number of business closures decreases too.

What’s more, business start ups are now fundamental to the economy. The days of thousands of large companies employing millions of staff are no more. The number of aspiring entrepreneurs starting small businesses have surged in recent years, and their companies now make up 99.8% of the total businesses in the UK and are responsible for almost half of the UK’s workforce.

So while you might be on the verge of starting your own business with the freedom to work when, where and for how long you want, you won’t, contrary to popular belief, be ‘going it alone’. There will be others going through the same experience, there will be others who have already gone through the experience and there will be business startup services to guide you.

That said, nobody’s going to build your business for you while you sit content in the knowledge you’re now master of your own destiny.

Finding suppliers can be one of the most difficult parts of starting a business and you will need to use your contacts and make new ones. They are out there and once you have a list of them you can appraoch each of them and negotiate pricing.

Resarch your competitors and see what they are offering. There's absolutely nothing wrong with doing a little recce on the competition. Can you beat their pricing or make offers more attractive. One thing I have learnt about being back in South Africa is that most shops arent up for negotiating, which to be does not ake since. I would rather sell an item and make some profit that let the item sit on the shelf for another week.

Have a fresh up to date website. Remember that your website is a first impression on you and your business. If it looks like you built it yourself with no eperience of web design it will reflect badly on your image. Consumers need to be able to speak to someone if they are having problems so insure your "contact us" page has a telephone number. I hate having to send a message through the site and not know if it's even been looked at 3 days later.

Marketing is propbably going to be your biggest ongoing expense. The rule of thumb here is to set aside 20 percent of your profit to marketing each month. Dont think "I have the right amount of customers. I can stop my marketing campaign" Consumers come and go and if you arent constantly letting people know who you are and what you are offering your business will likely suffer in the long run. You can keep the cost of marketing down by using Social Networks, blogs and forums. Google Adwords is also a great way to drive much needed traffic to your site, however you may initially need an SEO company like TechFundi to set this up for you.

Starting your own business will likely be tough in the beginning but the rewards can out way the time and effort. Dont feel like oh well there are to many companies doing this or that if you can offer something better or different for the same arena you will get customers.

If you are thinking about starting your own business contact us and we will gladly assist where we can and put you in contact with some excellent South Africans to assist in growing your business.

mail: info@techlabs.co.za