New Idea, New Start - How to make your new business idea really happen

Introduction
Did you read all the stuff about New Year resolutions in the
press? Articles on what to do, how to lose weight, how to detox,
how to diet and how to save money. Are you fed up of the sight
of them?
Its true that Christmas and New Year is a time for reflection
and taking stock. It is often the only time that you have a few
quiet days away from work to think about where you are and what
you want to do. And it is equally true that a lot of people do
make decisions about things they want to change in their lives.
Generally if you want to make changes to your life it falls into
one of three areas: making more money, having more free time or
having more fun/a better life. Most of the new year resolutions
we hear and read about fall into the last category and relate to
improving your personal situation for example losing weight or
getting fit.
However, a few people do look at the bigger picture and decide
they want to do something completely new. If this is you your
reasons are probably a desire to take control, have more money,
totally change your lifestyle, and often the means chosen to
achieve this is to start your own business.
So if this is you – then how do you make it happen? It is true
that you can create a life with more money, more free time and
more enjoyment by running your own business, but where do you
start?
What does it mean to you?
So you’ve decided you want to run your own business? What does
that mean to you? Think about what it means in terms of your
lifestyle, the time you want to spend and what you want to
achieve, as well as what precisely you want to do as a business.
Do you know? I hear from quite a few people who have decided to
run their own business or work from home but don’t actually know
what business they want to be in! If this is you don’t worry –
you’re not alone.
Clearly until you decide you cannot move on to the next stage of
actually getting going, so if you don’t know think about what
you enjoy doing, what skills you have and what experience you
have. What could you do with these? And don’t just think about
the obvious things – you don’t have to just “give yourself a
job” doing what you did for your last employer.
Talk it over with other people, they will see different things
to you so will give you a different aspect on your thought
process. If you don’t have something of your own perhaps you
might want to look at buying a franchise – there are many
different types of business available.
Do some research. Look into the type of business you want to run
and find out what is happening in the industry, where the demand
is and how you could fit into that.
Once you know what you want to do, you want to get it right
first time if you can. We have all read the statistics about new
businesses – some 80% of them don’t make it. So how to you give
yourself the best chance?
How do you make it happen?
In order to get your business off to the best start I think
there are a number of things that you can do. In a nutshell they
are planning, passion, people and practicalities.
Firstly passion - will you be doing something that you enjoy? I
hope so! If you don’t answer yes to this question, then why are
you thinking of doing it? If you enjoy what you’re doing it will
seem a lot easier and you will ultimately be more successful
than someone who doesn’t.
Secondly planning. This comes in at all stages of setting up and
running your business and at many levels. To start with you need
to look at your goals or vision for your business. Once you have
a clear picture in your mind about what you want to do think
about what you want from the business and what you want to
achieve. This will be different for everybody, we all have our
own goals and ideas so don’t worry about what anyone else thinks
or wants. Are you looking for an income, a high profile, a good
reputation, or any combination of these and other things?
Think about how long you want to do it for, and how you will get
out of it when that time arrives. Think about whether you will
sell the business, pass it on to your family, or just close it
down.
All of these things will have an effect on how you plan and
structure your business.
“begin with the end in mind”
Thirdly – people. If you look at any famous entrepreneur and
look at how they achieved what they have done, you will find
that none of them did it alone. Most will cite a mentor or coach
who supported them. It is a great idea to get yourself somebody
like this who can help you focus your ideas, and keep you on
track with your plans. This could be a business coach, a life
coach, a professional advisor another business owner or maybe
even a friend or family member.
Start to think about building a support network of people who
can help you, and people you can share ideas with. This might be
through face to face meetings, by telephone or on line.
And once your business is up and running you will need to think
about staff, suppliers and of course customers. But that is for
later. Here we are looking at getting you going.
Finally, the practicalities. How do you Start Up Right? Where do
you get all the information about tax, VAT, employing staff,
computer software, where to work, selling and so on?
Many people start in business with no real idea of what is
involved. I don’t doubt you are an expert at your trade, or
skill or you wouldn’t be contemplating starting a business - but
have you run a business before? Do you have the first idea about
what to do for tax, financial information, and marketing? Often
people learn these things as they go, and find out about what
they need to know when it is too late – often at great cost. How
often have you heard “if only he had told me that before…”?
To avoid this it is worth putting in some time up front to find
out what you need to know. Do some research – there is plenty of
information on the internet now. And ask the experts, you will
need to use professional advisors such as accountant in your
business, so take the opportunity to find out some useful
information whilst you are interviewing them. That is why I
wrote my eprogramme, so that people could find out about all of
this kind of information in one place.
And once you have done your thinking and research and decided
that the business is right for you you need to take action! A
great idea is completely worthless…. until it is turned into
action. Without action there can be no success.
Remember Nike – Just do it!
Summary
Making the decision is often the hardest part. Once you have
decided to run your own business and know what you need to do
you can move forward with the planning and research to make it
happen.
Think about what you need to do to move towards your goals. It
helps to involve others to help you. This may be by bringing in
an expert, or it may mean reading a book, listening to tapes or
watching videos. Learn from those who have done what you are
trying to do.
Think about whether it would help you to have a mentor or a
coach. Promising someone else that you will do something usually
means you are much more likely to do it. It often helps to have
someone who can act as a sounding board, or ask you some
searching question s to help you on your way.
And most importantly of all – go do it!