Developing a new business idea involves very detailed planning. A large part of owning a business is running it day-to-day. This idea may seem easy at the onset, but it's the details of the steps that you take to deliver your products, or fulfill your services, that can sometimes make-or break your business. The whole point of process development is to document and establish specific, actionable steps that will help you accomplish your business goals. When developing your idea into a business follow these practical steps:
RESEARCH
Does your idea solve a problem or fulfill a need? The best business ideas make life easier either through innovation and launch of a unique product that no one else offers, or a product that has been improved making it more convenient or easier to use than its predecessor.
What licenses or certifications should you have? Are there particular skills you should have? More than likely, you are familiar with your niche and and have experience in it, but if you there's a chance you can sharpen your skills or there's a certification that will give you an edge, you need to invest in yourself to make sure you're ready.
Who are your competitors? This is uncomfortable, but watching your competitors will give you an edge by helping to ensure that you remain competitive.
Who will your targeted market be? Who are you targeting- Teachers? Women? Men? 20 something year olds? Local members of your community? Knowing your target market will help you plan how to REACH them which is so important for a business. Especially starting out.
Where will you run your business out of and what does that require/involve? Will you need a to rent a commercial building or can you work from home? Does working from home require permission from your landlord or permits from your city? How much will these options cost and how will it impact your bottom line?
PLANNING
What will your business structure be? Sole Proprietor? LLC? S-Corp? Corporation? Your business registration not only legitimizes you, it greatly impacts your liability (if anything should go wrong) and your taxes on the state and federal level. Do your research and choose which structure will be best for you.
What is your inventory process? Inventory is more than making sure you have enough product on the shelves. Develop systems that will help you keep track of the products that your customers buy and love the most. This gives you the advantage of not only keeping what your customer loves in stock, but also keeps you from spending money on products that aren't selling as well. For example, it is very important if you sell many products under one brand, to be able to differentiate which product sells the most so that when you reorder from them, you buy only what you need. It would also help if you had a way to track trends like time periods that certain products are most successful so that you can anticipate those fluctuations.
Will you need a staff? Whether it's an official #employee or you decide to go the 1099 route, you need to determine if you will be able to run your business on your own when you are starting out and the costs associated with that.
Your checkout process. How will you receive payment from your customers? Will you invoice them online? Will you accept checks? If you accept debit or credit cards, how will you process them? Will you need a physical POS (Point of Sale) system? Will you bill your customers one-time, on a monthly basis? Or before their order is fulfilled? This mainly, depends on what you are offering, what is customary to your industry, and your preference, but either way, you should make sure that the process you choose is easy and seamless for your customer.
What will be your #marketing strategy? You really can't expect to open a business and have an automatic guide light up that will lead your customers to you (Though that would be AWESOME would't it?). One of the most important processes to establish is how you will get your customer base to notice you and trust you enough with their business. How much will it cost? What will you price your products/services at? Will you need a website? (You should definitely have one!) Will you lean on social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook to spread your awareness? Will you use paid, targeted ads, or will you follow all the latest TikTok trends to make sure you standout? Maybe you will use more traditional means, like newspapers and business cards displayed in local businesses? There isn't a wrong answer, here. Your area and targeting demographic will help you figure out what is best for your business. It may be one or the other, or a mixture of all.
What does the process of making your product or carrying out your service look like? Will you need a manufacturer or are you the manufacturer? What vendors will you have to have a relationship with in order to make that product (raw materials)? Do you offer shipping of your product? Which shipping service will you use and what will the costs be? Will you incorporate that cost into the final sale price of your products? Or list it separately? What kind of packaging will your product require? What are the costs to brand that packaging if applicable?
How will you finance your business? Every business needs to start with capital and until it is making enough money on its own to be able #finance it's own overhead, investments from your personal stash (or 3rd party's such as a partner, bank loan, or angel investors) will be necessary.
EXECUTION
This is the time to execute! If you decided that you needed staff, get your interviews lined up. Get all of the licenses and certifications that you will need - you should have checked at local and state levels. Take your required steps to carry out everything that you discovered in your planning phase. Buy that POS, get that brick and mortar, purchase your inventory. It's launch time!
Your path to innovation. Although, sometimes uncomfortable, knowing how to compile feedback and suggestions from your customer base is very important. It allows you to always make sure that you are keeping your customer first by making improvements that will most likely not only make their experience better, but also your job easier.
ADAPT
Maybe your initial launch was perfection or maybe it wasn't, but there are sure to be some tweaks required either in your process, your products/services that you offer (maybe pricing) or both. This is not a failure. Use that feedback you received in the execution phase to adjust. The great thing about business is that you can take the obstacles and turn them into opportunities to get better.
CONCLUSION
While these are only a few examples of the things that you should consider when starting your business, if you take what you want to accomplish and look at it from a customer's perspective, you will most likely create a strong foundation and a good starting point. It's okay for you to have to tweak your processes along the way. The more that you are able to stay consistent and aware of the details, the better you will be at identifying those changes.
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