Do you want to start a business from scratch without investment? Thousands of offers appear on the market every day, and it becomes more difficult to surprise consumers. What is the basis of successful entrepreneurship? Why is business plan needed? Why failure is good? We will tell you the answers to these questions in the article. Ten tips from famous businessmen will be your motivation.
Proper preparation is an obligatory stage before starting your own business. Both the psychological attitude and the careful collection of information are important. Do not worry if this process takes several months. Here’s what to do.
Prepare psychologically. If you worked in hiring before and were responsible for a specific area of work, then now you will be responsible for the entire business: finances, advertising, products and the team.
Define goals. What do you want to achieve in a month? How about in a year? Any business begins with setting goals. Through them you will determine whether you are moving in the right direction.
Explore the market. Do you have a lot of competitors; what is the threshold for entering business; is there a demand for the product you are going to sell? Answer these questions before starting your own business.
What is the best way to start a business from scratch? Act step by step: identify the idea, draw up a business plan, and then do it. You can see how to do this in stages below.
An original idea that is in demand is the basis of business. Analyze what you are good at doing and which product is missing in the market. The main thing at this stage is an active search and analysis of information. Make a list of several options and gradually select the most promising ones: interview friends, subscribers on social networks, and analyze popular queries in search engines.
Business plan specifies all the information that you have collected in the previous step. In fact, this is a guide to your business, which is needed for a clear understanding of the actions. It includes next information:
• what product do you bring to market;
• who is your target audience;
• what are the sales markets;
• which starting capital is required;
• who are your competitors;
• what is the value of a unique selling proposition;
• what profit do you expect to receive and when;
• what promotion tools will you use.
After drawing up the plan, proceed to the real actions:
• start with promotion: talk about yourself on the Internet, attend thematic events;
• if necessary, rent a room for work and equip it;
• buy everything you need: raw materials, tools, supplies.
Think about whether you need a team or in the first stage you will be able to manage everything on your own. If you start to hire employees, clearly define what professional and personal qualities you are waiting for.
Look for customers and start your first sales. Optimally, if the first customers are close people who give honest feedback and tell you what needs to be improved. Do not be afraid to change tactics at this stage.
Stay active: meet people for profitable collaboration. It can be clients, suppliers, organizators of thematic events. Make a database of loyal customers: ask them to recommend you if they liked everything.
Think how to rationally distribute revenues: launch advertising, purchase new equipment or expand the team. Check the business plan, think whether you can scale the business.
Learn better from someone else’s experience. We collected ten tips from prominent businessmen of our time who talk about their mistakes, building relationships with customers and distributing finances.
1. Use someone else’s money with caution. If you attract third-party finances, do it as the founder of Oracle Corporation Larry Ellison advises: “Treat money taken from an investor as earned, and spend it as carefully as your own.”
2. Build a strong brand. Determine which philosophy and values you will spread and what feelings and associations you want to evoke in order to emotionally bind consumers. “A brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room,” said Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Elements of corporate identity, such as a slogan and logo, will help to express the essence of the brand. You can create them yourself, contact the designer or use the Logaster service.
3. Gain customer loyalty. Give feedback, organize loyalty programs, and demonstrate that you sincerely love what you do. “If you don’t win the sympathy of people, you won’t be able to sell anything to them,” said Ingvar Kamprad, founder of IKEA.
4. Be prepared for failure. No business is complete without failures. Learn, do not give up, as Sumall founder Dane Atkinson advises: “Failure is a great mirror, you will get an improved version of yourself with it.”
5. Do not miss the opportunity. “Stop acting like you have 500 years to live,” says Microsoft CEO Bill Gates. Track trends, try new things, set goals and strive for maximum achievements.
6. Do what you love. So you will have more motivation and less chance to burn out. Google co-founder Larry Page says, “Work should be a test, but trial should be fun.”
7. Be patient. Prepare for a long process and don’t panic if something doesn’t immediately go according to plan. “No matter how talented and hardworking you are, some things just take time,” says investor Warren Buffett.
8. Constantly develop. Keep track of what’s new in your niche as competitors grow. This is confirmed by one of the founders of Airbnb, Brian Chesky: “You need to live and think like a child, with curiosity and surprise. Although I am still young, I always try to look at what people much younger than me are doing “.
9. Surround yourself with professionals. Feel free to delegate tasks, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg advises: “You need a team. It doesn’t matter how talented you are, there are areas in which you will not be a specialist. ”
10. Do not be lazy. “If other people have a 40-hours working week, and you have a 100-hours one, then even if you do the same thing, in four months you will achieve what will take a whole year for others,” confirms Tesla, PayPal and SpaceX founder Elon Musk.
How to start a business from scratch without investments? There are such opportunities, but they depend on your knowledge and the type of business that you are going to do. Least of all investments will require the provision of services and the information business. This section contains 15 ideas for starting business.
Services. In this type of business, you can spend minimal costs if you already have the necessary knowledge or equipment:
• designer;
• Internet marketer;
• “husband for an hour”;
• photographer;
• event organizer;
• beautician, hairdresser or makeup artist;
• crypto-businessman.
Sales. Investments depend on whether you intend to conduct business online or offline:
• opening a clothing store, shoes or household goods;
• dropshipping (mediation in online purchases).
Infobusiness. It is suitable for professionals with extensive practical experience in their field:
• creating and selling training courses online, conducting trainings or paid webinars;
• opening your own school of dancing, yoga, cooking and so on;
• tutoring.
Production. What you can do with your hands well can be sold online or offline:
• handmade: felting, knitting, sewing;
• handmade soap;
• sweets for sale.
It is impossible to completely protect yourself from mistakes, but you can prepare for the most common ones. Here are some of the most common mistakes new entrepreneurs make and how to avoid them.
Start without preparation. Market analysis and preparation of business plan is your basis for doing business in any field.
Refuse to take responsibility for quality. Are you engaged in the info business? Make sure you have enough knowledge and experience to share with others. Do you make cakes for sale? First hone your skills with family and friends. Poor quality will damage reputation.
Wait for instant results. You will not have millions of profits and worldwide recognition in the first month. Be prepared to gradually grow and overcome obstacles.
In the article, we have told you how to start a business from scratch without investments and what ideas can be used. It is quite realistic to start a business without a large start-up capital. The main thing is the right choice of a niche, thorough preliminary preparation, an original idea and a willingness to work hard to achieve results.
