Are you thinking about starting a new business? This post will help you get started.

Did you know that there are over 28 Million small businesses in the United States? That’s 99.7% of all U.S. businesses.

And that means almost everyone trying to build their own empire or business. But in the attempt to do so, many people lose motivation and fail due to various reasons.

That’s why a good plan or strategic moves are incredibly critical in business. Especially if you are a startup and you don’t have the funding.

So let me share some knowledge and steps that you should follow to avoid such kind of things.

10 Steps To Starting A Business

Step 1: Do Your Research

If you think that you are the only one who is getting unique ideas to start a business that will become the next big thing, you are wrong.

And the statistics that I shared above are there to prove it.

However, not everyone makes it to the top or even survive, and one of the common reason for their failure is lack of research.

I get it that when we discover an idea that can change your life or potentially many more lives, it’s easier to get lost in dreams. But that’s where we need to be calm and do thorough research if your business idea is worth it or not.

And if it worth it, who will be your target audience? What type of marketing channels will you need to use? Whether you’ll require funding or you’ll do bootstrapping with your savings? And you need to ask yourself many other questions before moving on to the next step.

Step 2: Make A Plan

Now when you almost finished with your research, it’s time to make your plan. We have all heard that famous saying, haven’t we?

Those who fail to plan are planning to fail.

A classic one and true.

No matter how awesome your business idea is or how talented you are, you will need a solid plan. Studies show that those who write or prepare a business plan are 2.5 times more likely to succeed.

Develop a business plan, then a marketing plan.

Not having a proper plan can deviate your business towards failure despite being a fantastic business idea. You may spend all your savings or funding without even realizing it.

Trust me, it happens! And it happens a lot.

Planning without getting your finances right is like not putting the wheel on the proverbial wagon, and crucial for starting a business; see our next step.

Step 3: Plan Your Finances

Like I said above, if you don’t manage, estimate, and organize your finances well, you’ll end up losing everything. It doesn’t take long to spend all your savings or the raised business fundings.

Companies or businesses that pay regular attention to their numbers are 30% more likely to grow. And those numbers are not only the statistics. They are also your money or finance. So pay closer attention to your spendings and use your money wisely and keep track of everything.

Step 4: Get Your Business Name

The name of your business or brand is one of the most important things, and you should spend a significant amount of time deciding it. It would be critical that you come up with a perfect brand name.

Make sure to avoid any legal issue by doing your research and avoid using someone else’s trademark or copyrighted name. Also, don’t forget to make it relevant, easy to remember, and as unique as possible.

Once you are ready with a name, it’s time to make it official.

Step 5: Make It Official

So you did your research, made your plans, get your finances secured, and you’ve also decided a name. That’s amazing!

And now, you should make it official by registering the name legally for business purposes. Depending upon where you live, the process would be different, and there might be additional fees and different policies.

Make sure you understand them well and choose what is right for you. Most of the small businesses start as sole proprietorship businesses or LLCs in the U.S.

Choose what makes the most sense to your business and make it official to move to the next step.

Step 6: Set Up Your Team

Now your business is officially registered, and everything is almost ready. But you aren’t planning to do it alone, right?

I don’t doubt you, but having a good team with you is always the best decision you will make. I’m not saying that it is impossible to do it alone, but having a team from the beginning will make everything more manageable, and your business will take shape faster.

So go ahead and gather the best team possible, or if you want to go solo, please consider this as soon as possible, and you will be ready to do it.

Step 7: Promote Your Business

Your business is impressive, and you have a fantastic team working with you now, but if people don’t know about your business, it will fail.

That’s where the marketing comes into play.

If you went through the steps, you already have a plan. Use your marketing plan, follow its blueprint for promoting your business, and market your products or services.

Now take action, and let the world know.

Step 8: Get Feedback

No matter how hard we try to eliminate all the issues in our businesses or products, there will always be something that needs to be improved.

And if you think everything is perfect, that doesn’t mean it is. Most of the time, we don’t see it.

That’s why it’s important to take feedback from your customers and your teams.

Conduct focus groups, tests, surveys, polls, whatever it takes to get the data back to your team.

Step 9: Improve

What’s the point of taking feedback if you don’t work on it, right? Now it’s time that you pay attention to the feedback you are getting, and you must work on it to improve the situation.

Take the feedback, analyze it, and readjust.

You may again need to plan and research to improve your business and eliminate unwanted issues. Never ignore them if you genuinely want to succeed in your business.

Step 10: Repeat What Works

A few months after launching, and according to the plan, your business should be running smoothly, and that is because you are doing something right. Focus on that, and keep repeating while doing experiments in between.

Find out what works best for you, your business, your team, and stick to it, amplify it.

But don’t be afraid to experiment though; after all, that helps you take your business to the next level.

To Conclude

«Test, measure, adjust, and repeat.»

Doing business is an art and discipline. You need to be creative; you need to experiment and explore while following some fundaments.

If done right, you’ll keep growing your business by discovering the right path and following the planned steps to succeed.

That was it from my side. Got any ideas? Do share them in the comments.