Are you someone who is stuck in a 9-5 job? Do you wish to follow your passion and become your own boss? If the answer to one or both of these questions is yes, then I’m sure the thought of starting your own business has crossed your mind.
Here is a simple guide on how to become independent and start a home-based business that will kickstart your business and move your goals closer to reality.
Presenting to you, the ABCs of building a business – right from creating a sustainable plan and developing a customer base to curating convenient modules for online payments for your business, we have got everything covered!
Without any further adieu, let’s dive into how you can get the key to a successful business and that too from the comfort of your home.
These 10 steps are here to serve you as the building block of your dreams:
Step 1. Think about a Business Idea
Great ideas make great businesses! An interesting idea is what you need to sow the first seeds of your business. I know, I know, things can be exhausting in the beginning and you might find yourself puzzled but hang on!
Think about the problems the world is facing right now, or consider the ways you can help people and turn these ideas into a business.
Here, I may be oversimplifying the struggle but honestly, if you’re unable to brainstorm any idea in the first go, don’t worry, keep trying new things and you’ll definitely land on something brilliant.
Quickly outlining a few resources that can give you a solid business idea.
- Think about the topics you are good at. Which subject interests you the most? What are you passionate about when you are talking with your friends and colleagues?
- What is the work you do that people appreciate about you? What do they find helpful and convenient for them? Can you solve the problems they have? If yes, what are those problems?
- Ask your friends, colleagues, and family what are the things they find you’re good at. Sometimes, we are unable to recognize our own talents and asking your dear ones may prove to be helpful.
- You can use free apps like Mindmaps App, or simply take a pen and paper and create a ‘Skills Map’ where you arrange your skills in branched forms to get a clear picture of your abilities.
However, landing an idea for a business is just the beginning. Now, you need to work on it and make it sellable and there starts our next step.
Step 2. Decide what you want to sell
Every business requires a loyal customer base to thrive in the market and to create that, you need to offer products, services, or stuff that benefits them. Thus, once you decide on the business plan you want to work on, you need to think about the benefit you are going to offer your customers.
Here is a list of products and services you can sell:
- You can sell actual products to people that can be obtained from a wholesaler or you can make these products yourself. For instance, if you are good at making hand-crafted objects, then you can sell these and also customize them if the consumer demands so.
- Additionally, you can sell your skills as a service that will benefit the customers. Services like delivering tutorials, creating graphic designs, and providing astrological predictions are a few skills that can be sold online.
Suppose you are a professional nutritionist, then you can offer tailor-made diet charts to your patients in your clinic or provide fitness consultations online.
- If you are an expert in a particular field, then you can publish an e-book, start an online course, or conduct webinars on that subject to benefit your target audience.
Step 3. Get your legal requirements sorted
When you’ve put everything – your sweat, blood, and tears into your business, legal troubles are the last thing you’d want to mess up with your dealings.
Keep in mind to stay legally secure and get your permits, certificates, and licenses properly issued by the authorities of your country. That’s not it. You should also renew them before the expiry date and get a professional lawyer to see the official legal work.
Step 4. Conduct a thorough market research
Ideally, before selling your material, you should know the market well, that is, you should understand your customer and your competitors. Few things you should keep in mind when you’re doing the research:
- The demand for your product online/offline
- What is your target audience? Who wants to buy what you’re offering?
- What are the prices your competitors are setting for a similar product?
- How do the other businesses carry out their job? What are the marketing tricks?
Along with these, you can also use apps like SimilarWeb to get information about the reach companies to get in the market.
Having a clear understanding of the market is an essential step in building a successful business model, so you might also need expert advice. You may hire a market research specialist, or a competitor analyst to do a better job.
Step 5. Know your Target Audience
Your target audience is most likely to be your consumers. So, it’s better to gather some knowledge about them. You can have general information about their age, gender, locality they belong to, the device they use, and others. Being familiar with their needs will enable you to better cater to them.
You can use various persona generators to find your target audiences. Persona generators allow marketers to visualize key differences between groups within their target audience and create user personas that give insight into who might be interested in buying from them.
Step 6. Make a product management strategy
If you’re selling physical products, then you need to have a foolproof plan. Beginning from sourcing and storing to packaging and delivering – you need to have a well-curated system so that your customer does not suffer due to negligence and receive what they paid for.
Here are a few things to keep in mind:
- If you’re making your own goods, then make sure to source quality raw materials.
- Contact a wholesaler if you want to source your products from outside, maybe from someone who’s more experienced.
- Take the total cost of production and delivery into consideration, when sourcing stuff from outside
- Develop easy ways for placing an order, through the company website, or social media sites
- Find a safe and spacious place for storage
- Packaging should be done meticulously to avoid spoilage or breakage during transit.
- You need to communicate the timelines of purchased products to the concerned customers
- There should be easy ways in case of any returns made by the consumers and a fair refund policy.
Taking care of these endless things can be overwhelming so having an efficient team can always be a plus.
Step 7. Create that uniqueness in your product/service
Products or services that are exclusive have a better chance of being a hit amongst the general public rather than the typical ones.
Nowadays, in a market full of copies and replicas, your product needs to be original and authentic to stand out.
Consider selling something that is hard to find elsewhere. That way, you will be able to increase your sales and you’ll face the least competition. Maintain a realistic profit margin while serving as much authenticity as possible.
Step 8. Style your Brand Identity
Recall some of the most famous brands in town. PUMA, Toyota, Gucci, and similar others. By merely mentioning these brand names, you can visualize their logos and colors.
I’m sure you’ve understood what I’m trying to say here. You should make your font, color, and background appealing and convey the feel and energy of your business.
Moreover, you need to work on the user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design to take care of your customer’s overall experience when they interact with your brand.
Also, choose the right and user-friendly e-commerce platform for selling your products hassle-free and make your content easily understood. Use simple language that can be comprehended just with a brief look.
Ensure no grammatical errors and engaging information to communicate with your people.
Step 9. Implement impressive marketing strategies
Marketing strategies are game plans that will turn your audience into your customers. These are tricks to promote your reach in the market and achieve remarkable success.
A few marketing strategies you can apply for fantastic results:
- Create awareness about your product or services online and try to offer a sneak peek into what you’re selling through platforms like Instagram, Facebook, your official website, and similar other online platforms
- You can also consider video marketing, blogging, and email marketing as potent options for promoting the sale of your goods.
Step 10. Assess your growth and look for room to improve
Once your business is on the go, the hustle doesn’t stop here. You need to keep an eye on the growth of your online store to maintain your continuous streak of success.
Follow these steps to always ace the game:
- Pay attention to the reviews posted online or any complaints sent
- Offer seasonal discounts or rewards to loyal customers
- Sent updates about new products and services through email and social media
- Monitor the number of sales, customer conversion rate and other KPIs through the online business website
- Hire a web analyst for a precise business performance
Conclusion
Since we are in the age of a digital revolution, I think it’s a great time to start small and take baby steps toward achieving your dreams.
There are numerous free online tools and social media platforms that can help you create websites, advertise your content, and interact with your buyers easily. You just need a little passion and a dash of courage to dive in!
This article will give you some clarity on how you can plan to start your business and what you need to keep in mind to satisfy your patrons.
Please let us know if you have any queries regarding this topic.
