How to Start a Business
The following is a simple step-by-step plan for starting a business. It’s presented in 3 parts. Below is part 1.
1. Decide on a product or service: Example – Joseph wants to open a used video game rental and sales shop. This is a product and a service oriented business; one he knows inside and out as an avid gamer himself.
2. Decide who your customers are: Example ““ Joseph knows his customer base is young men ages 13 to 19. He knows what they are looking for and what they are willing to pay.
3. Determine how large your market is: Example ““ Joseph used census figures and got the number of his customer base within a 3 mile radius of his intended location. He determined how many sales he would have to make each day / week / month in order to achieve his goals. He further broke it down into how many purchasers he would need to have within the market area to achieve his goals. Was it realistic? In Joseph’s case, he only needed a 0.25% of his customer base to find his shop and make regular purchases in order to be successful. That didn’t seem so tough, but he would later need to figure out how to reach that market and let them know his shop was open.
The second installment will be in the next post.
