Building a business from the ground up can be one of the most exciting yet challenging times of an entrepreneur’s life. It is sure to be an experience filled with successes and failures. Yet, despite their challenges, successful entrepreneurs must persevere to create thriving businesses that will continue to flourish for years.
When dreaming of starting a small business, some aspiring small business owners may be at a loss for where to start. However, they should not let this overwhelm and deter them from following their dreams of owning and operating a business. Instead, they must remember building a business is a learning process filled with many trials and errors.
The path to success may not look identical for every small business owner. Some may skip over steps at first and come back to them later, while others may follow a guide to a T. Regardless, each path to success will most likely contain the same stepping stones no matter what order they are in.
Here is a Seven-Step Guide on How to Build a Business from Zero and Win:
1. Have a clear vision
When setting out to build a business from the ground up, entrepreneurs must have a clear vision of what they want to achieve. They need to spend time identifying precisely the company, its goals, and how it will benefit society. Furthermore, aspiring small business owners must plan how the business will make money. They need to determine what products or services the company will provide customers and ensure it can profit. Aspiring small business owners must also know their target audience to determine how to attract them to their business best and fulfill their needs. Lastly, they must identify what differentiates their small business from its competitors. A future small business owner needs to understand what makes their business unique from its competitors, as this will be the force that draws customers to it.
2. Ensure access to funding
Once future small business owners thoroughly understand the business they wish to build, they need to determine how they will acquire the money needed. They need to decide whether they will use their savings, apply for grants, seek the help of angel investors, or take out a loan. Aspiring small business owners must clearly understand where they will access the money they need to fund their businesses. Furthermore, if they have to pay this money back, now is an excellent time to plan how they will do so. However, small business owners should not feel pressured to completely self-fund their businesses. No one wants to put all of their savings into building their business only to be unable to pay their bills at home. Small business owners must remember that looking for outside funding is acceptable and often brilliant.
3. Take legal measures
After aspiring small business owners have defined their businesses and determined how they will fund them, it is time for them to take legal action and make these businesses official. First, a small business owner must register their business with the state where they plan to open it. This will give them the legal right to use the business’s name. Next, a small business owner must acquire any licenses or permits their business needs to operate. For example, if this small business is a restaurant, it will need food and, possibly, a liquor license. Future small business owners must also take time to get a tax ID number for their business. Small businesses with employees as small as one employee will need payroll support and find the best payroll provider to support the payroll setup and ongoing payroll efforts. Lastly, they must purchase any insurance their future small business may need or benefit from.
4. Establish the business in person and online.
Next, small business owners must take possibly the most significant step yet and establish their businesses. This will be done in two parts. First, small business owners must find a location to house their businesses. They need to determine the town or area where they wish to run their business and what office building or storefront. From there, a small business owner needs to begin establishing their future business’s online presence. They must create a website for the company and build social media accounts. This online real estate will help spread the word to the public that their business is on the way. Furthermore, a business’s website and social media accounts will be valuable resources for prospective customers. Therefore, they must contain information that can quickly answer customers’ questions about the business, including its location.
5. Hire employees
Once an aspiring small business owner has determined their business’s location, finding employees to staff it is time. However, small business owners must be cautious about whom they hire. They need to ensure they select job applicants who will be committed to the business and its success. While growing their businesses, they cannot afford unreliable employees who frequently call off and do not care about their work. Therefore, when hiring employees, small business owners must ensure they take their time hiring employees and select the best payroll service provider to support onboarding and turnover during those stressful times. Small businesses must put care into finding employees who will not only do the best work possible but also care deeply about their work and its impact on the continued success of the businesses.
6. Leverage marketing and communication campaigns.
After small business owners have hired their employees and are preparing to open their doors, they must employ strategic marketing and communication campaigns. If they do not have much money to spend on advertising, small business owners can focus on promoting their business for free on their social media platforms. They could also look into creating some paid social media ads, as these have the power to reach many people at a low price. Furthermore, small business owners could make and post flyers for their small businesses in the towns they will serve. Also, they could work with PR practitioners to secure press at the opening of their small businesses. Regardless of which strategies they select, small business owners must use each to emphasize what makes their businesses unique. These differentiating factors will help small businesses attract consumers.
7. Open the doors
Finally, after taking all of the previous steps, small business owners are prepared to open the doors of their new businesses. Small business owners should be present on an opening day to welcome people into their stores. They should be willing and excited to chat with customers, answer their questions, and tell them more about their businesses. While the opening day may be stressful for small business owners, but also immensely exciting. It begins a new chapter where they can live out their dreams while serving their communities.
As small business owners settle into running their businesses, they must never lose sight of the reasons why they decided to open them in the first place. They must strive to provide customers with the highest quality products and services possible daily while always practicing excellent customer service. If they never stray from doing so, they can build a base of happy, loyal customers who will repeatedly return.
Setting out to build a business can be daunting and downright scary. However, aspiring small business owners who remain calm, follow these steps, and take the process daily put themselves on the road to success.
PaySmart is a payroll provider in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, supporting small businesses in the Central PA region. We are dedicated to helping small businesses take care of their payroll needs. To learn more about how PaySmart may provide payroll solutions, please get in touch with us at 717-766-1777. Our New Client Concierge is waiting for you!