Did you know that 60% of small businesses fail in the first twelve months in Australia? For those who would like to start a small business - perhaps even work from home - that is a very disappointing number. Does that mean your business idea will fail? Of course not! There are steps you can take that will greatly enhance your chances of success. With a little time and thorough research, you can hit the ground running. Let's start at the beginning… Bright idea First of all, of course, you need to come up with an idea.
Generally, business opportunities can be divided into four groups:
1. Offering a product/service available in an existing market.
2. Introducing an existing product/service to a new market.
3. Delivering a product/service to an existing market
4. Introducing a product/service to a new market.
In this stage of the game, the only limit is your imagination. Inspiration can come from anywhere - maybe you have a hobby that you would like to turn into a full-time job; you may get a bad service acceptance someday and decide to try to do it better yourself, or you may have a talent that you would like to use. Once you’ve found something you’d like to do, it’s time to look at the market and see what’s on offer. Passing the test So have a good idea and wish to wrap it up; now it's time to put it in the middle of its steps. For the exercise, let’s say you have a passion for a healthy lifestyle and want to spread the range of lifestyle items that promote a healthy lifestyle in a self-acting way. Ask around: Is there a market for products that promote healthy living? What types of products are available? Who will you compete with, and what do your competitors offer?
Do you have the necessary skills to run such a business, and - more than that - could those skills be? Where would your business be located? Once you have answered those questions, you should have a clear picture of what your business will look like. You pull out some products and do more research on life products offered by a company called Vitality 4 Life. Your health experience and the work you have done as a dietitian have given you the necessary skills sets, and you think you will be able to work from home, giving you more family time. There is an existing market, but there is room for expansion. Now is the time to take a closer look. To be or not to be? It’s time to get down to the nuts and bolts. You don’t want to jump on certain feet first and find the hard way that the budget doesn’t work. To get started, sit down and exercise if you need to hire staff, which means you pay a salary. When you rent a place, you will need to pay rent, and your location should be suitable for your business and target market (which also means you will have to think carefully about what the target market is). You will also need to work on multiple requirements for your product/service. Well…
you have worked out a need for quality juices, shoots, water filters, and other high-quality accessories to take a gun from the distributor as a home-based business opportunity. Now you need to make marketing decisions. Check me out! Check me out! Advertising can be costly, so you will want to ensure that your advertising budget is used wisely. That means more market research, in this case, individually. Profile your customer groups so you can advertise your marketing to the right groups/people. Draw a list of questions (short questionnaires - people get impatient if you are traveling for too long) and stay out of a few exercise areas (for example, in our case). Come up with a combination of open-ended questions (What do you think of? ..?) And closed questions (Do you have a gym membership? Yes / No.); Smooth scales can also help. A good question might be ‘How did you feel about this gym in our health accessories business? Radio, tv, newspaper, word of mouth, etc. ”Such a question would be to give you an indication of the types of media to which your
Target group responds best. Choose a business name, print some business cards, buy stocks and get ready to trade! Rate, treat it! My teacher pointed out that, in business, if you can't measure it, you can't handle it. You need to be able to plan and do what you need to know - or predict accurately - your complete sales. The equation is simple: a number of customers x average sales x frequency per customer visit per year = total sales. Remember it, update it often, rate your business, and you will be able to manage it! Look at your bottom line and, most importantly, always be aware of your cash flow - the cold, hard money you have in the bank. Enable invoice times (14 days, 30 days, etc.) when planning your budget. The marketplace has its own life, and no one can prepare for all the events. Put your thought into your mind; make sure there is a market for what you offer; research, research, research; advertise your
the business successfully; always know what's going on in your bank account, and don't forget about cash flow! It’s not perfect though, if you follow these few simple steps, you’ll be miles ahead of many new businesses. If you’ve heard about a great home-based business opportunity or have your own product or service to market, you start well!
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