From the time we enter school, we are taught and trained how to be good employees who work for someone else.  We are not taught about entrepreneurship; how to start our own business.  By the time we reach our senior year in college or high school, we are offered internships or job opportunities to begin to work for companies where we later find that we either don’t like what we do, are not passionate about what we do, or do not like the people that we work with.  Now, more people are beginning to rethink whether or not they want to invest their money in attending college or if they want to invest the money into skipping college and opening up their own business.  Depending upon what your career goal is, there is nothing wrong with pursuing entrepreneurship instead of college, unless you want to be a doctor, lawyer, scientist or other occupations that requires a college degree. 

 

If you are thinking about starting your own business, there is nothing wrong with investing in you.  Isn’t it about time?  Before considering the path of entrepreneurship, first think about what you are passionate about and what your purpose is in life.  Starting a business is not as difficult as you think; but it is not for everyone.  The hard work comes in when you actually start running the business, especially if you don’t have supportive people in place to help you sustain the business over time.  The best thing that anyone can do before starting a business is to conduct research on what it takes to run a successful business, then research what other people are doing that is working, and determine what other like businesses are doing that is not working, so that you can avoid those same pitfalls. 
 

Not every business will be successful with the first few years, so keep in mind that if you are truly passionate, determined and dedicated to working towards having a successful business, do not give up if you see evidence of potential growth.  If you do not see evidence of potential growth, then perhaps you can consider other ways to expand on your ideas and offer services that helps grow the business.   Below are some suggestions on what to do if you are planning on starting your own business. 

 

-Research companies that are doing well in the business area that you are interested in starting

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-Compile a survey and send it to your target audience to find out what their business needs are in regards to your products or services to find out how you can meet that customer need.

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-Create a business plan.  The Small Business Administration has a free business plan template on their website that can help you write a business plan. www.sba.gov
 

-File the proper business paperwork with your City and State as well as with the IRS for tax purposes that will allow you to own and operate your business.  Make sure you check the City website to find out what is required for you to open up a business in that town and select the appropriate type of business you want to operate.

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-Open up a bank account for your business to help you track your money.

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-Work with a professional web designer to develop a website for your business.

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-Plan to save money to start a marketing campaign to promote your business.  Do not solely rely on friends and family or word-of-mouth to help grow your business.  Advertising and marketing can be quite expensive, so you can also use the power of social media by creating a social media page for your business and market your products and services for free.   When you start to develop a customer base, send out email marketing campaigns about your business and offer returning customers discounts and refer a friend incentives.

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-Put your business in front of the public eye by getting out there and attend vendor, trade shows, and networking events to brand and market your business. 

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-Track your business revenue and expenses to determine the profit and losses to determine where to invest future money.

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Good luck, Entrepreneurs!

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For more information watch this Youtube video:

 

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By: Jason Torrents