Have Skills, will Start Business

The entrepreneur in me

Find the entrepreneur in you

I have entrepreneurial flair, passion and I can prepare a business plan. I have always had a dream about running my own business my way and making it my success; now’s my chance!

It may be time to follow your dream

They say you should follow your dream and entrepreneurial passion. You are more likely to succeed when you’re doing something you love for a living and, besides, small businesses have shown they stand a good chance of flourishing in tough economic times. If you’re an entrepreneur at heart, this year may be the ideal time to launch that business you have been dreaming of. The tough economic times are in good supply.

How to start

If you a true entrepreneur, there will come a time when you will know that you have to take the plunge and quit your day job. If you don’t grab this opportunity, you will probably never do it.

A business plan

Create a business plan

Look for and identify a gap in the market where you can transform your business idea into a workable plan. A well-presented and researched business plan will convince a bank, the small business administration or prospective financier that you have thought your idea through from A to Z and that you have taken eventualities into consideration. Hone your business plan, work out cash projections and know the bottom line down to the last cent. A sensitivity analysis should be part of the business plan so that interest rate fluctuations are catered for.

You must do your homework

You must do a fair amount of research, not only on the finances of what will be needed to run the business for 6 months, but also market research to ensure viability of your service or product.

Learn the basics of business. There are many stories about people who make it in business without having had any training. You will feel more confident and those you approach for financing will probably be more accommodating when they see that you have invested in gaining some necessary entrepreneurial skills. These skills will also protect your personal business interests. For example, in order to understand your financial position you must be able to read and understand the balance sheet.

Take a course

There are many courses which you can take and which are designed to teach the basics of running your own business and how to communicate effectively with customers and suppliers. Such courses have modules on business accounting, practical bookkeeping, advertising, general office practice, spreadsheets and word processing, among others.

There are other courses which include modules such as how to apply innovative thinking to the development of a small business, researching the viability of new venture ideas, management of finances of a new venture, ethical conduct in a business environment and the productive management of time.

Do not…

Open up the shop without any idea of what will happen. You may have fun for a few months and think that you are doing well, but when it comes to analyzing the business finances, you may find you are slowly losing everything.

I recommend taking the first steps while you are still employed in your job. Enroll in a couple of course to make sure you are well-prepared when you open your own business.