If you’ve thought about opening your own business, chances are that everyone and their dad has advice for you. You’ve probably heard advice ranging from “don’t hire your friends” to “only hire your friends”. A lot of the advice you’ll hear won’t be consistent, and in fact, most of it will be incredibly confusing. This is because every experience will be different, as the experience will vary vastly depending on the industry you’re hoping to start a business within. Unfortunately, you have no idea what opening a business will be like until you actually do it. It’s often a “learn as you go” experience. Just in case you’re still looking for a bit of advice, here are a few tips you haven’t heard yet.
Find your solution
Often, when opening a business, people focus on what they want to sell or provide. Instead, think about what problems you want to solve for your customers. Ideally, your startup company will fill a hole in the industry you’re hoping to break into. Whether this is cheaper prices, higher quality products, or better customer service. Really think about what is lacking in your industry, and then provide that.
Count up the costs
No one likes to talk about the money. And a lot of people assume that starting a business will immediately start bringing a lot of money in! Although that can happen, those instances are absolute anomalys. So, do the math. Count up all the costs of starting your business, and the cost to stay in business for any period of time. And then quadruple it. Yeah, quadruple it. Unexpected business costs will come up, and that’s normal. If you’re expecting it, it won’t drown you and crush your business before it’s even started.
Make sure you know the legal requirements for starting a business
In all the excitement, and fun, of opening a new business, a lot of people forget to look into the legal logistics of it all. You’ll need a business license, but it extends much further than that. There are dozens of different types of licenses, and you may even need more than one. If you’ll have employees, you have to register that. You may have to report sales tax every quarter, or even every month. Make sure you research all of the legal requirements in your industry so you don’t end up with a mess in a year.