Tips for those who want to open their own business - or, what the hell is not joking - to further develop your own?

Tips for a beginner businessman are offered in a certain sequence. That is, it is something like steps. In principle, you can jump from step to step - however, it will probably be better if you work through them sequentially. Plus - importantly - in writing. In writing - so that there is no temptation to deceive yourself.

The first advice to a budding businessman is to “develop readiness”

Business Readiness  - this is a state where there is an understanding that you want it or when you decide that you want to work for yourself and only for yourself. When you will not plow for days and nights at some uncle ... When you are ready to devote yourself to this cause ... When you are ready to face problems. When you live an idea, when you breathe it, then you are ready.

What to do if there is no readiness? Well, at least there is some willingness, otherwise you would not read this article. Therefore, the procedure is very simple - develop preparedness. Develop it. As you like - affirmations, self-hypnosis - develop readiness for your own business.

The second tip for a novice businessman is "cultivate confidence"

You may ask: "Confidence in what - in yourself?" Well, self-confidence is formed in the first step. The second step is confidence in the idea. In your future business. What you want to open must be successful. It cannot be otherwise. When you definitely tell everyone interested, all employees, friends - YES, I will do it. YES, I will definitely do it. And only then take the idea. If you are not ready to speak, if you are not sure, do not even try. If your idea is a fix idea in your brain, accompanied by the words "I want or it seems to me that I will do it" - this is not the case. When will you burn with an ideawhen you are confident in her - then take her.

The key to success of any business is a great idea and a great desire to turn it into life. Where to get such an idea? Borrow an existing one or come up with an original one. Having borrowed a ready-made business idea, we will be able to avoid the mistakes made by beginning entrepreneurs. This will be an advantage over competitors. It is desirable to come up with an original idea in the field that is familiar to you. Come up - and, attention - catch fire on it!

You can say: " A dream is already good, but how to turn them into reality?"In order to start turning dreams into reality, the most difficult thing is to get together. That is, to develop the very business preparedness that was mentioned in the first tip. What rules should be followed to make dreams a reality:

1. Explore the business you plan to do. Understand your potential buyer and his needs.
2. Your dream should be different from competitors.
3. Quality and service should be the key links in your business.
4. Love and know how to work.

Following these principles - remember that you NEVER lose the determination to go through anything for the realization of a dream in reality! Your base is business readiness. When it is strong, then the foundation is strong. Grow it, cultivate and improve it. And any difficulties will be on your shoulder.

It's time to move on to the next tip:

Third tip for business development: enterprise is the key to success

You must be a non-worker. You must be a businessman. You have to organize a business. You must lead people along. They should see you entrepreneur. Feel it through conversation and business. You have to see ideas, you have to take everything you need ... You have to be ideological. You must be adventurous.

That is, on the basis of readiness for business and confidence in business, entrepreneurship is formed - the ability to take certain actions to achieve success. Plus, when people feel this ability, your inner core, then they really will follow you.

Thus, we voiced the first three tips for a novice businessman - and we hope that they really helped you.

Based on materials from http://www.openbusiness.ru/html_sovet/11zapoved.htm

In this publication I want to consider the most common mistakes of beginning entrepreneurs  and give some advice on how to avoid them and not repeat the bitter experience of others. I think that this topic is quite important, because, according to statistics, not everyone who decides to go about their business can achieve this.

Many of them leave business and return to, having received not only negative experience, but also financial losses. Often the blame for this is precisely those mistakes, which will be discussed later.

So, I will describe the main mistakes and allow myself to give some useful tips for start-ups  about how to avoid them.

Error 1. Focus on the success of others without taking into account the details.  Very often, a novice entrepreneur makes a decision under the impression of the results of someone else's work. It can be some success stories read on the Internet or books, or personal observations of the development of a business project in your city or on the vast web.

Of course, the positive experience of other people can serve as a good help and motivation for a novice entrepreneur. But the problem is that in most cases he sees only the “tip of the iceberg” and does not know how things are in reality: what difficulties the successful businessman now faced, and how he overcame them. Very often it may turn out that business success depended on some subjective factors that were inherent in a successful businessman and which a novice entrepreneur does not have.

A trivial example: A novice entrepreneur sees how a certain store is developing successfully, opens its own one, but then “falls” under a bunch of inspections by regulatory authorities that find a lot of violations and literally prevent them from working, and even write huge fines. In fact, it turns out that the owner of the store, taken as an example, is the son of a large official, therefore they do not “touch him”, and he himself sent all these checks to eliminate the competitor.

Tip: if you decide to build a business on someone’s example, you need to carefully study all of its “ins and outs,” not only visible, but also hidden, and even then make a conclusion whether you can repeat such a success.

Error 2. The desire to make money selling business ideas. Another common mistake of novice entrepreneurs is the belief that they came up with some kind of super-profitable business idea, for which the richest investors in the world should literally fight. A novice entrepreneur tries, but it turns out that those who are able to invest money in his idea do not even take it seriously.

In fact, selling a business idea to an investor is one of the myths that a novice entrepreneur believes in. In fact, there are many resources on the Internet filled with business ideas and even ready-made business plans, access to which is absolutely free. Question: why should an investor buy something that can be easily found for free, and, most likely, even in the best possible way?

Tip: If you want to make money on the sale of a business idea, you need to start implementing it, even in small volumes, so that you can see the actual, rather than the predicted result from its implementation. This is one of the most important conditions for (the link can read about the rest). Yes, at the same time you have to risk your money - in no other way. Even if you yourself are not ready for this, the investor is even more so.

Error 3. Perfectionism.  Very often, a novice entrepreneur seeks to create an ideal business, which is impossible in principle. Now literally every business will necessarily have its own shortcomings and vulnerabilities. Therefore, expecting an ideal opportunity for starting a business, a novice businessman, at least, will lose a huge amount of time and potential profit, and most likely will never open it at all. Meanwhile, competitors who are not striving for the ideal will capture the market and earn.

Tip: A novice entrepreneur does not need to strive for excellence; perfectionism is his worst enemy. If you want to develop an ideal business idea, find ideal conditions, an ideal time for starting a business - most likely, you will never start your business at all. Therefore, open not a perfect, but a profitable business.

Error 4. The desire to grab as much as possible.  Of course, in most cases, a novice entrepreneur opens a business, primarily to make money. This is normal, and there is nothing wrong with it, the main goal of the business is to make a profit. But the mistake here is when a novice businessman thinks nothing more than money, money literally overshadows his eyes and turns off his brain.

The fact is that it happens when a business, as they say, “hit the stream” and brings a good income, which once you could only dream of. A novice entrepreneur rejoices in this and “bathes in money”. However, this phenomenon is almost always short-lived, the trend will soon change, and the business will turn from super-profitable to super-loss-making. And all because the beginning businessman, making mistakes, did not think about the development of his business, did not invest money in it, but used all the profits for his personal needs.

Tip: A business whose main goal is to “squeeze” as much profit out of it as possible will never be long-lived. If you want your business not to be focused on one-time profit, but to become a source of constant cash flow, you must also constantly take care of its development by investing labor, time and, of course, capital.

Error 5. Mixing business and friendship.  It often happens that a novice entrepreneur, not knowing how to say “no”, takes on a job (or worse, in partners) some friend, relative, relative of a friend, etc., which, in fact, is completely not suitable for this role. In the future, he is forced to constantly face the problems that he creates, to suffer losses from this, because he feels obliged to this person and cannot say goodbye to him, so as not to lose a friend.

Tip: There is a saying: "Friendship based on business is better than business based on friendship." A novice entrepreneur must understand this, and share the business with friendship, so that in the end not to lose both that, and another.

Error 6. Opening a business without prior market analysis.  Another important and widespread mistake of beginning entrepreneurs is that they introduce their business idea to the market without conducting preliminary research and not knowing whether the market needs it? That is, they are sure of what is needed, but this is only their self-confidence and nothing more.

It also often happens that one business idea can be very much in demand in one place, but absolutely not in demand in another. All this, of course, leads the novice businessman to losses.

Some people think that market research is a waste of money, which is already not enough to start a business, but here, in fact, they go nowhere at all. This is the deepest error. Look at the most successful global companies - they regularly spend huge sums of money, millions and billions of dollars on marketing research, and therefore they always know exactly what their consumers need and strive to satisfy their needs as much as possible. Don't you think that this is where most of the secret to their success lies?

Tip: before you open your own business, you must definitely research the market to determine how much it is in demand, and whether it is in demand at all. Moreover, with a small business scale, it is not difficult to do it yourself and even at practically no cost. For example, by conducting surveys on social networks.

Error 7. Excessive self-confidence.  A novice entrepreneur is sometimes overconfident, believing that his business idea has no equal, and its implementation will be successful. A positive attitude is one thing, and excessive self-confidence and, as a result, a loss of vigilance on this basis is another.

Something completely new, in demand, can only be created by units of millions. If what you have in mind is not yet on the market - maybe it is not because no one else has guessed before, but because it is not in demand, and previous attempts to introduce such a product on the market ended in failure?

Tip: Never, under any circumstances, in business should you be overly confident and lose your vigilance. Perhaps your competitors are only waiting for this to drive you out of the market - do not provide them with such an opportunity. If you are not able to independently objectively evaluate your actions and opportunities (sometimes it can really be difficult) - ask other people to do it. If their opinion diverges from yours - perhaps there is reason to think.

Error 8. Do not tackle several things at once.  The well-known proverb “We’ll chase two birds with one stone - you won’t catch a single one” can be fully applied to starting a business. Very often, a novice entrepreneur tries himself immediately in different areas, as a result, he does not manage to develop well any of them.

On the one hand, it is always a plus. But, on the other hand, business is a business that requires, in addition to capital investment, large investments of labor and time. And one person simply physically cannot simultaneously use his labor and time in several areas of business at once.

If you want to open a business in several directions at once, then do not start all these directions at the same time. It is better to bring at least one case to a level that will allow you to devote less time and labor to it, and only after that switch part of your attention to the second case, etc. So it will be much more effective.

Error 9. Forgetting about customers.  I have already written more than once, and I repeat again that one of the main factors of success in business, without which it is unlikely to even be able to open your own business, is a customer-oriented approach. That is, first of all, a novice businessman should think about the interests of his clients and how he can satisfy them.

However, it often happens that at some stage in the development of a business, when profits are already beginning to flow, an entrepreneur forgets about customers, stops paying special attention to them, thinking that they already exist, and then “and so it goes.” This is a huge mistake that can easily lead to ruin.

Tip: Under no circumstances should you forget about the interests of clients and stop focusing your business on them, even if you have a million of these clients. As soon as the consumers of your goods and services feel that your product no longer satisfies their interests by at least one important criterion, you will begin a recession tendency, which can be very difficult to stop.

Error 10. Lack of a specific target audience.  Very often, a novice entrepreneur opens a business, not clearly imagining who he is focused on. He may reason like “the more customers there are, the better.” This is a very serious mistake, because in this case there will be, on the contrary, no more customers, but fewer, perhaps - in general, critically few.

Tip: Any business should be focused on a specific target audience, otherwise for whom is it? No audience - no business.

Here they are - typical mistakes of novice entrepreneurs and tips for resolving them. You must understand that all of the above is the result of the negative experience of a huge number of starting businessmen, which cost them huge monetary losses. In business, as in any business, it is better to learn from the mistakes of others than from your own. So take this information seriously and take note.

A site is a lot of useful and relevant information about different ways of making money and investing, and correctly managing personal finances and the family budget. Join our regular readership and increase your financial literacy. See you soon!

Have you decided to start your own business, but feel indecisive? Are you afraid that you may not succeed, and see a huge number of obstacles? In 2013, according to a study National Association of Innovation and Information Technology Development, in Russia there was a decline in innovation activity: a decrease in the number of appeals and proposals of innovators, a general decline in interest in innovative projects. Among 538 developers of innovative projects from 21 regions of the country, about 31% of the participants planned to change their activities to permanent work in the real sector, and 13% already left their projects. Such dynamics resembles the similar processes of 2008-2009 that took place against the backdrop of the global crisis. Daniel Newnamco-founder We make play  and author of the book MedMenofMobileBased on her interview with successful entrepreneurs, she advises to stock up on optimism and confidence and offers nine tips to help you launch a successful project. Which of them are you ready to adopt?

1. Do not be afraid to share your idea with everyone

It is notorious that entrepreneurs are overly suspicious people. Do you think that someone will steal your idea if you openly discuss it, for example, in social networks? Not at all! Develop an idea that will be difficult to steal, and surround yourself with trusted people. The important thing is how you plan to translate your idea into reality, and not the plan itself.

The number of people who dare to launch their startup is much less than the number of those who simply speak about their desire. And the thing is that there will always be such “wise men” from among friends, relatives, colleagues who want to moderate your ardor, advising: “You are too young / old”, “You have absolutely no experience” or “You have absolutely no of money". Is that familiar? In reality, no one understands the situation better than you and is not able to assess possible risks. Trust your heart. Take a chance. And very soon you will understand what you are capable of: holding a tit in your hand or hunting for a crane.

3. Do not delay with the start date of the project

Nothing stimulates people more than the specific deadlines for completing a project. If the realization of your idea in life lasts an indefinitely long amount of time, then you will find hundreds of reasons to postpone this date. Remember: you cannot create something perfect right away. But over time, you can refine your idea, for example, based on the wishes and feedback of customers.

4. Responsibly choose your business partners.

Evaluate your partners as meticulously as if you were choosing a husband / wife. After all, at first you will spend much more time with these people than with your family. Many unions of young entrepreneurs break up just because of interpersonal differences. Before the start of the project, make sure that associates not only support your idea and are professionals in their field, but that you are psychologically comfortable working with these people. After all, the success of a business largely depends on the team. In this case, everyone should give all the best for 100%.

5. Love your work with all your heart

If a person is madly keen on his work, then the business has every chance of success. Such people think about their business day and night. And nothing matters to them. This drive will help the company survive in difficult times, which will certainly be many. As he once said Chris Barton, co-founder of the project Shazam: “Perseverance is the main component of a successful business. If you are not ready to realize the impossible, then your chances are zero. ”

6. Do not get hung up on money

All entrepreneurs with whom I talked Daniel NewnamThey say that when they opened their business, they didn’t even think about selling it. If you are not obsessed with your own business and only think about money, then all is lost. You should want to work in your company happily ever after. Over time, you will be surrounded by loyal people who know their job and are ready to help in difficult times. Enjoy your startup. You will definitely be able to create a successful company, which at first was just an idea.

7. Do not select employees only on the basis of "the smartest"

Recruiting is a complex, lengthy and expensive business for those who start their startup. You need like-minded people who are ready to work overtime, sometimes for an idea, in order to achieve what you want. Not always a red diploma is the key to success, but a person with charisma, to some extent an adventurer, is just the one you need. Over time, you will be able to thank him in full.

8. Remember that there are no irreplaceable people

In your project, you must understand every little thing. Then you will not be seized by a state of panic if the CFO suddenly wants to leave, or you once quarrel with your partner. Even at the initial stage of a startup, do all the work yourself, because then you will clearly understand what you need and what needs to be done.

9. Don't be afraid to make mistakes

In America, people are not so afraid of failing in business because of the fear of error, as in Europe. But all of us are not perfect and we make mistakes. It `s naturally. As they say: under a lying stone and water does not flow. Now imagine a different situation. How will you feel when you find out that your idea was brought to life by another person, not you? And all because you were afraid.

In preparing the article, portal materials were usedinc.com

Beginners are often faced with problems. Due to their inexperience, fear of problems and difficult situations, they make commonplace, one might even say that standard, mistakes. Having talked with dozens of different entrepreneurs who started, or are still working, in the field of Internet commerce, we tried to highlight 9 basic recommendations that can help any beginner online entrepreneur.
They say that you need to learn from mistakes, but let them not be your mistakes. Believe me, even the most successful, most famous businessmen in their lives found themselves in very difficult situations, and did not always find the right solution to get out of them. But, all of them have learned a good lesson, received knowledge, which today we will share with you.
  So, tips from practitioners and 9 recommendations for beginners online entrepreneurs.

Those of you who have read our article “Tips for Beginning Businessmen” may notice that there was a similar point in it. The beginning of any business, and it doesn’t matter whether it is online or offline, is preceded by a good, clear and detailed business plan.
  Many startups believe that a business plan is a waste of time, that if the project is excellent, promising, then it will “shoot” without any planning. A large number of startups do not start to work normally precisely because the founders neglected planning, and at some point I don’t know at all how to behave, what to do, where to move.

A business must be profitable, and if for a long time profit does not cover expenses, then you need to think about something going wrong. And best of all, when drawing up a business plan, calculate all the pros, cons and risks that may appear during the development of the project.
  Also do not forget about yourself. Of course, you can sit for some time on a starvation diet, deny yourself a salary for the benefit of the development of the company, but you won’t last long. Over time, motivation will begin to fall and you will abandon the matter.

Do not take on more than you can do in the near future. Do not come up with an ingenious plan how to drive Apple out of the market, while occupying their multi-billion dollar niche. Believe me, even the most interesting and brilliant idea, in your opinion, can not always translate into a good startup. What you and your team likes will not necessarily appeal to all other people.
  Before entering the market, serious work needs to be done to study demand, poverty, poverty, forecasts and prospects for this industry, study the activities of competitors and understand what problems they face and prepare yourself for possible difficulties.

Whatever a promising and interesting idea, but it costs nothing if you do not understand how to implement it. If you can’t make harsh, firm, balanced decisions regarding the action plan and the future of the company, then no money will help.

In the last article, “How to Attract an Investor,” we already said that one should not be afraid of competition. If it exists, it means that the niche is interesting, in it someone works and earns. Thus, you have the opportunity to earn your money. Significantly worse if there is no competition. Here it is worthwhile to beware and analyze why this is happening.
  But back to the advice itself - evaluate the competition. See if the market is full of supply (as it is now with plastic windows and doors), see how your competitors work, what methods they use, what attract customers. Be sure to pay attention to their sites, traffic, traffic sources. You need to study competitors in detail and submit your products much better.

To implement a promising and large project, you need a good, motivated, purposeful, and most importantly, an experienced team. Engage only those who already have work experience. Understand that there is no time to teach someone, try something, test, make mistakes on trifles. We need to take and work today, and tomorrow to receive the first to arrive. This is possible only with the availability of good and professional staff.
  If you are all amateurs, or the key functions are performed by those who have never encountered this before, then in 95% of cases there will be a failure.

Good start-ups, as a rule, receive certain sums for development. It can be money from investors, or it can be collected by the founders of the project themselves. But it doesn’t matter who, how, and under what conditions agrees to invest in a startup. More important is how to manage this money. You must calculate all the costs, all the risks, understand what, how and when you will do with money. Very often, young entrepreneurs spend start-up capital on completely unnecessary things - expensive advertising, the work of PR specialists, some specialists, etc., without completely understanding what they want to see as a result of such work.
  Try not to invest large amounts until the project begins to bring at least a small, but profit.

Not a single startup can reach the proper level without good advertising. And if we are talking about online business, then advertising is simply necessary. Be sure to think of various ways, use search engines and, use all the features of social networks, affiliate and banner advertising on other sites. But do everything wisely, study each advertising platform in detail and calculate the potential benefits of working with them.

Know how to wait for your high point. There is one wonderful Chinese proverb that reflects the essence of most modern startups:
  “The temptation to surrender is especially great when there is a step to victory”
  And in fact, the reason for the closure of most startups is not bankruptcy, not the departure of a key person from the team, namely apathy. People cease to believe in themselves, their strengths, their capabilities, and surrender. Perhaps they just had to take one step, and everyone would start talking about their project. But no, they give up and leave sadly hanging their nose.

I will give you one piece of advice, always remember. He was 30 years old when the board of directors kicked Steve out of the company he created. He himself admitted that he did not want to do anything, that he did not believe in himself, but gathered his thoughts, and ... and then you know what happened. About Apple and Pixar - the companies that he created - are known around the world. Of course, the example is not perfect, but it shows that even in the most difficult situation, you can find a way out.
  In general, we advise you to read our section in which you will find the best thoughts about money, business, success, aspiration from the most famous and successful people in the world. Pay special attention to the thoughts of Steve Jobs and other successful businessmen who made their billions on high technology.

Hello dear readers. Remember I wrote an article? There I mentioned one good book, “Start Small. Rules of doing business from the founder of Subway. " And in this article I just want to write a short review and my opinion about the book, and also say why I consider it one of the best for a novice entrepreneur. So, let's begin!

What is this book about

In the book, author Fred DeLuc talked about how he and his friend opened the first Subway eatery and how the business developed further. I was surprised that such a large network of eateries was open with $ 1,000 of initial investment. The author also talks about his acquaintances who opened their business projects from several tens of dollars to several thousand initial investments, and came out with huge profits. The message is precisely that you can make a business with small investments if you are driven by passion, big goals and desire.

It really is! I completely agree with the author, because I started with 500 rubles in my pocket to create this site “How to make money.ru”, and all my other projects with a slightly higher amount, but still this is a penny compared to what income from the projects were the result.

Why is this book one of the best

For a novice entrepreneur who is just starting, support is needed and there is one in the book. In a book in simple language, the author gives recommendations that will really help a novice entrepreneur in difficult situations, motivate him and show what he is doing wrong and what is right. There are no step-by-step instructions or anything similar, the book sets out everything from the point of view of the psychology of business, which provides food for thought. And this is awesome!

Subway founder business rules

1. Start small. This is better than not starting at all. (True!)
2. Earn a few cents before you start earning dollars. (Pure truth. The main thing is to start earning at least a penny.)
3. Start is an idea. Perhaps she’s under your nose. (Many try to invent something super-unreal, but more often than not, ideas lie on the surface.)
4. Be far-sighted. Always imagine the big picture. (You need to know what you want to come to in the end. Learn to set goals.)
5. Believe in yourself and your business, even when others do not believe. (Faith must always be.)
6. Get ready, fire, aim! If you think too much, you risk never starting. (This is the mistake of many beginning entrepreneurs. Everyone tries to “suck” the idea to the smallest detail, find a bunch of difficulties and don’t start. But the process could be different, you need to solve problems as they arrive and try everything.)
7. Profit or loss. Increase sales and lower prices. If you do not do this, then your business will perish. (Without profit, your business will not last for a long time and you need to try to get it as soon as possible. About the price reduction in the book, the author means that you need to try to reduce costs and make the cost of the product or service less.)
8. Be positive. Then the blows received at the school of life will not knock you down. (Positive should always be otherwise you will quickly burn out.)
9. Constantly improve your business. This is the best way to attract customers, make sales and generate revenue. (There is no limit to perfection, you need to constantly improve your business, come up with something new for its development. If you stop, then soon you will be overtaken by others.)
10. Trust your people, otherwise you are in trouble. (You need to surround yourself in business only with the best people and without fear of delegating work to them. It's difficult, but you need to be able to trust.)
11. Never spend all your money. This is the most important business lesson. (This is so. You should always have reserve money and this is not only in business, but also in everyday life.)
12. Attract new customers daily. The model of consumer behavior always works: getting to know the product, testing - using. (Each new customer is an investment in the future. If he did not buy it now, he can buy it later.)
13. Be persistent. Do not give up. If you quit, you will definitely lose. (I would advise you to apply this rule not only in business, but also in life. If there is at least some chance, use it to the last. Be persistent in everything and achieve your goal.)
14. Give the brand a name. Treasure your reputation. (When you are already known, the risk of stumbling increases for you and you are more thoroughly approaching decision-making processes.
15. Opportunities do not wait for anyone. Fractures happen, but the way you use them makes them good or bad. (This point goes all the way to the goosebumps. I often talk about this. Do not miss the opportunities that come up to you. Every opportunity can change your life beyond recognition. I am grateful that I learned this lesson a long time ago and only because of this gradually develops as I want.)

Conclusion

This is just a small review of the book, and I highly recommend that you read it. You can buy at Ozone  in electronic version (it’s cheaper just like that). But I'm used to printed books, so I spend a lot of time in front of a laptop and my eyes get tired. In general, read and do not forget to share your opinions about the book in the comments.

Regards, Schmidt Nikolai