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What to
Consider When Starting a Small Business
Are you interested in starting your own small
business? If so then join the millions of others worldwide who have a
similar goal and ambition. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to achieve
their goal of starting their own business. Many will give it a try, but
regretfully the vast majority find that their venture into the work of self
employment ends up costing them more money than they made.
Various studies suggest that 40% of start ups
never make it beyond year two and this failure rate increases to 60% at year
four. To prevent yourself from being one of those small business owners you
will want to make sure that you carefully choose which type of small
business you want to open.
Where Will Operate From?
When it comes to deciding which type of small
business you would like to open, there are a number of important factors
that first need to be examined. Perhaps, before focusing on the type of
business that you would like to run, for example what products or services
you will end up selling, a good starting point is to focus on how you plan
on running your small business. For instance, do you plan on running it out
of your home? Do you want to rent a commercial building space? Do you want
to run an online business? Do you want to do a combination of them all?
How you want to run your small business will have a significant impact on
the type of business that you are interested in starting.
What Are Your Interests?
When examining the type of businesses you can
start, sit down and create a list of things that interest you or topics that
you are knowledgeable about. You have more chance of success if you are
passionate about the subject.
For instance, do you like working with wood and
making things? If you do, you may want to think about starting your own
workshop specializing in handmade furniture. If you have a little bit of a
teaching background you could even supplement your income by offering
woodworking classes. Another example can involve your love for pets. Do
you enjoy working with pets? If you do, you may want to think about
starting your own pet supply store, dog grooming business, or pet sitting
service. Starting a small business based on something that you not only
know, but also love, will increase the chances of your business being
successful.
Who Will You Be Competing Against?
Although it is advised that you choose a start a
small business based around something that you know and love, that shouldn’t
be the only factor that you examine. You also need to examine your
competition. When running an online business for example, you can expect to
receive a lot of competition. The barriers to enter the online business work
are so low that competition is very intense.
When it comes to starting your own local
business try to find a potential business that has a relatively small amount
of competition. In fact, the smaller the amount of competition, the better
it will be for you and your business. For instance, if you live in a small
town and there are already two or three pet setting services available think
hard about starting one in the same line; the demand will not be as high as
the supply so making it tougher for you to succeed.
Do Your Research
If you are still convinced that there is room
for another similar business it’s a good idea to check out the competition
before you decide to start. You need to establish their weak areas so you
can focus on doing that aspect of your business a little bit better. This
will give you the edge.
What you will want to do is examine the products
or the services available for sale, as well as the costs of each and all the
standard customer services issues that surround doing business well.
If after doing this additional research you
think that it will be hard to compete with your intended competition because
you can’t find any weak spots, take a step back on decide if this is really
the business for you. You will want to refrain from going into a business
where making a decent profit is going to be tough.
Take these point into consideration and you will
substantially increase your chances of setting up a successful small
business.
For more tips on starting a small business read
my free e-book ‘The Steps to Setting Up a Successful Small Business’
available from the Small Business Success website.
© Robert Warlow
Small Business Success
http://www.smallbusinesssuccess.biz
Small
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