Product / Service

This is the part that most people will think is the most important and I will not agree. I will agree that having a good product or service is important, but it is not the most important. If you have the best product in the world but don’t know how to find customers or if you find customers and your customer service is terrible then you will loose business. When considering your product you need to make sure that your product and message are congruent. If you have an expensive product and every other part of your business is non-professional then your potential customers will not buy from you. Some experts also say that if you find something that you love to do then “you will never work again”. The challenge that you need to figure out before you start this business is if what you are passionate about is something that you know how to market.


• Choose a business

Most people will have already chosen the business they want to start before reading this information. If you have not chosen a business, I will give you some questions to ask yourself.


What am I most interested in?
What things do I do well?
What business will give me the lifestyle that I want?
When have I said to myself “there has got to be a better way to do …”?
What kind of training have I had?

• Raw Materials

If you have a product then you need to get some materials to make your product. This is also called the Cost of Goods sold COGS. You will need to find suppliers or wholesalers to provide these materials for you. In the restaurant business you find a supplier that will sell you food at a discounted rate that you use in making your product to sell for a profit. In the construction world this would be the nails, wood, and concrete that you use to make your finished product.

• Storefront

Many businesses do not require an office or a retail store, but if you do need a place for your customers to go there are a couple of things to consider. The first is to find a place to lease. One of the easiest ways to do this is to find some local real estate agents and see if they are managing any properties that have places to lease. You will want to study your lease very carefully and I recommend that you have an attorney look it over before you sign. The other thing to look at is how the place you want to lease is zoned, because you might not even be allowed to operate your business in the neighborhood that you are looking in. If you need to make changes to the building in any way you will usually need to get a permit to do so. Lastly Location, Location, Location can not be overstated you will need to do a ton of research on the area in which you plan to lease and make sure that the demographics work for your type of business

• Equipment / Tools

List every piece of equipment or tool that you need with a price. If you need to purchase expensive equipment you can find a leasing company that will allow you to make monthly payments to help your cash flow. Tools for some businesses are very important and if you are starting out can be very costly. If you are a little short on cash only buy the tools that you really need first and make a plan to purchase more as you start bringing in revenue.