To follow up on my last article about mapping out your business here is a list of tips on how to start up a business. It is crucial to know the difference between a great idea and a practical income generating structure.
There are steps to follow that will make your entrepreneurship journey easier. They involve discovering and validating the right market for your idea. Building the right product features that solve customers’ needs.
Testing the correct model and tactics for acquiring and converting customers. Deploying the right organization and resources to scale the business. As an entrepreneur you will have to handle uncertainty.
You will need loads of energy, courage, and persistence. This guide can teach you how to process an idea and build it into a product.
Which you will test and measure on your customers to gather insight or data. Which you will analyze and use to learn how to improve your idea.
To start, the first step that I would recommend is being introspective. Try to look at yourself and establish an entrepreneur profile. Identify your interests and the things that you are good at.
Brainstorm business ideas that are close to your heart and select the ones that align the most with who you are. Identifying your passion will allow for your idea or service to be authentic and to resonate with your target audience.
Once you have identified a potential idea that you are passionate about do some research. Find out who your customers are, and what solution exactly it is that you will be providing.
I cannot stress how crucial this step is. Is value you are offering is actually something which fits within your customer base? You derive that by learning your user’s needs, pains, and point of view.
It is also crucial for you to be able to let your users experience your solution. Try to create a prototype of your solution.
A prototype is anything with a physical form that can embody or represent your product/service. Spend the least amount of money on your prototype and generate a solution that you can test on people.
The third step consists in finding out the attractiveness of the market you are venturing into. Will you have a sustainable advantage going in or does the competition have an upper hand over you?
Be aware of the various trends in your market and their potential effect on your business. Assess these parameters, commit, and be willing to take the risks before launching.
The last step is to inform yourself on the available tools that are out there that can help you. Like the Business Model Canvas I mentioned in my previous article.
It is strategic management and lean startup template for developing new or documenting existing business models.
The pimento map is another tool that for entrepreneurs to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the project they are working on.
The Lean Startup by Eric Ries, is a great piece of literature as well, if you are looking to get some insight on today’s biggest innovative successes. These tools are available online if you do the digging, and they are only the tip of the iceberg.
If you find this type of informative content valuable and can apply it to projects you are working on; I developed a FREE beginner’s guide to entrepreneurship.
Its purpose is to educate people and to transmit freely available business tools. I curated and redesigned these tools to teach:
How to generate business ideas
How to test and validate these business ideas
How to sustain a business, be more independent, and generate revenue doing something you love
This course is divided into 6 modules, each one consisting of theories, tools, and exercises to help you develop your business ideas.
By the end of this course you will have a clear professional overview what your business is, how it operates, and you will be capable to communicate your vision to potential customers or investors. Sign up now, and start your entrepreneurial journey!
