Steps to Starting a Small Business

What are the necessary steps to starting a small business? What are the things you need to take into account before launching into your entrepreneurship adventure as a small business owner? Starting a small business requires determination, motivation, and know-how. This post does not promise to provide an exhaustive discuss of a successful small business startup. Instead, a concise checklist of the critical steps you need for a successful business launch will be provided with links to articles that gives details of each issue raised.

Choose a Small Business Idea to implement –  You can’t be a jack of all trade in business. Trying to do multiple things and calling yourself a general contractor is not the way to go. Even though there are multitudes of business opportunities, you only need one to succeed. If you are confused on how to create a business idea, read 10 tips for creating business ideas. If you have several and you don’t know how to choose, read Small Business Opportunity. The major factor is for you to determine where your passions lie and do what you enjoy doing as business. Of course that must be aligned with the changing reality in the industry you want to operate in. You should be out to serve others, not to please yourself! Money follows service, not pleasure.

Choosing the Legal Form Of Business – Deciding on the legal form of your business is not a decision to be taken lightly. Whether you choose to run a sole proprietorship, enter into partnership with another entrepreneur or form a corporation; your choice must be made with carefulness. This is because the business structure you choose will have an impact on your business and personal liability, how easy you’ll be able to raise fund as well as what your tax liabilities will be. If you ask for my candid opinion, I will advise you to incorporate your business, my reason for that can be found in a previous post I made, Incorporate Your Business.

Name Your Business – You need to give your business a name that project the right image. The name should be such that will not only distinguish you from others, but such that is easy to remember. Avoid names that are too long or complicated to pronounce. Remember word of mouth marketing is still about the most effective marketing strategy for any business. If your customer can’t remember your business name, something is wrong. If they find it difficult to pronounce it, because it is tongue twisting, then you have a problem.

Develop a Business Plan – A business plan is the blueprint or roadmap that shows how you intend to implement your business vision successfully. It should take note of the nature of the industry you wish to work in, set strategies for handling competitors and spell out the various resources that you will need to invest in the business. Remember those who fail to plan have already planned to fail. Don’t carry your business plan in your head, commit it into writing no matter how small the business is.

Get Startup Capital – The fund for startup is a critical issue to be decided upon carefully. If you are a newbie entrepreneur, I will advise that you avoid as much as possible, the temptation of taking a small business loan from either the government or your banker. You are better off raising soft-loans from several friends and relatives. My reason for this is because the probability of you loosing part or all of your startup capital is very high. Lack of experience is a serious challenge to newbie entrepreneurs, so start small with capital you can loose without going bankrupt.

Select a business location – If you are starting off in your home, then this may not be an issue (depending on the kind of business anyway). When choosing a business location, you need to take into account accessibility to your suppliers and clients. You may need a business mentor to assist you in choosing a good business location.

Get necessary business licenses and permits – Before launching out, it is necessary you get familiar with the government requirement for the kind of business you wish to engage in. ensure you get all the various licenses and permits that are statutorily required for you to operate the business. Playing ignorant in this area can be disastrous. Remember, being ignorance of the law is no excuse from jail term. Getting the necessary paperwork sorted out is always cheaper than hiring a lawyer to prove that you didn’t mean to break the law.

Establish an Accounting System – No matter how small your business is, right from day one, you need to keep accurate record of every transaction. You may not need a professional accountant to keep your day to day record, but you need one to advise you on the kind of record you need to keep so that you don’t get yourself into trouble with the Tax authorities in your locality. If you can’t afford to pay one, make friend with one and ask for his/her assistance. It can be heart breaking when you loose all your earnings or get yourself a jail term just because you fail to handle your Tax matter the way it ought to be. Never be penny wise pound foolish.

Insure Your Business – Wise entrepreneurs share risk. Why must you carry all the risk all by yourself? For a token amount paid periodically, you can share the risks associated with your business with an insurance company. No bother prays for disaster or law-suit, but it does happen. It is better to prepare than to be caught unaware.

Start Your Own Small Business Now!

Now you can’t claim any longer that you don’t know how to start your own small business. This post, has outline in a concise manner all that you need to start your own small business. You can get future updates to steps to starting a small business by subscribing to my RSS feed, that will also provide you more tips on starting up, staying competitive, and taking your small business to the next level.

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25 Responses to “Steps to Starting a Small Business”

  1. Kevin Lee says:

    It is good for you to start a small business first because 90% of entrepreneurs who starts the big business failed. So, we should start SMALL, and finish BIG. thats the best way to succeed in business.

  2. Barkri says:

    It’s time to make your business a business. If you’ve been using your social security number when you join affiliate programs and conduct other business, you may want to rethink things.

    As your business grows, there are a number of reasons why you might want to incorporate.

    http://blog.clickandinc.com/

  3. NaijaEcash says:

    Whatever gain an entrepreneur may get by operating without incorporation it will be lost and quickly forgotten when a lawsuit arises.
    Too many small business owner has lost their fortune this way.
    Incorporation keeps the assets and liabilities of the business separated from your personal assets in the eyes of the law.
    It is safer running your business that way.

    • tunji says:

      hello…I’m yet to start-up a small scale business,but I’m scared of falling into scam cos a friend told me he can assist me to register my small business with less than 4000naira…kindly get back to me if you know how much it will cost me without being scammed

  4.  Canister Set says:
  5. You are doing a good job but many of the target audience are yet to know your blog. please circulate more. God be with you

  6. Isabella says:

    small business are great for start-up ventures to know if the market is good

  7. Curtain Lining  says:

    small business are great for trying out new markets

  8. Joy says:

    Am planning on starting an hair saloon business. Do i need to incorporate.

  9. Elijah Ucha says:

    A successful business starts with your mind i.e. your ability to think and bring out something that the outside world need and at the time they need best

  10. ALH. D.A. YUNUS says:

    THANK U MAY THE LORD INCREASE U IN KNOWLEDGE, GOOD HEALTH E.T.C.

    • NaijaEcash says:

      Thanks for the compliments. I’m glad this post made an impression on you. You can always come back for tips on how to run your small business. Just like the saying that Rome was not built in a day. Great businesses starts as small business. Wishing you success in your entrepreneur journey. Cheers.

  11. Nwefoh says:

    i want to start a nanny services agency but dont know how go about pls i need ur help.

    • NaijaEcash says:

      I wish I could help. But I have no clue what it takes to run a successful nanny services. I do hope someone who knows will come along and drop a comment for you. Wishing you success.

  12. WALIU SANNI says:

    Wish to register my appreciate the promoters of this wonderful site.
    Please keep up the good work.
    Cheers

  13. Nelly Donatus says:

    I want to start a small scale business but i have a lot of them….clothing and shoes biz, hair salon,weavons and hair products. the one i would go for am scared of alot of competitors around. please advice.

  14. @for those asking if they need to register their saloon business Yes of course if not for anything at least for the sake of being effective

  15. John O Jerry says:

    Thank you for the great work you have done in showing how i was start my own small business , may God bless and guide you so you can post more , anyway how can i make a business plans for example someone who is starting up a nanny or babysitting service agent , please get back to me soon

  16. Opey says:

    Am about starting an online busness, using my home as office pls do i need to incorporate online home biz. Pls i realy need the answer cuz i want to take every precaution in my planing. Thanks

  17. Fisayo says:

    Good work!

  18. […] A business plan is not meant to be an excuse to procrastinate your business startup! If you are starting a home base business, it is not necessary to write volumes detailing all the […]

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    hey – this is some serious biznax you’re talking here. All in for this one.

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    i want to dabble into raw foodstuffs on large scale . the reason for this is because i know even if people will not buy clothes , shoes or bags they will surely buy food. my problem is funding, as i do not know how to raise funds. anybody have useful information?

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