1. The Right Idea – Coming up with a right idea can be one of the hardest things to do. Think about your hobbies, values, and skills, and fundamentally what do you really enjoy in life…. look at industry trends and the latest innovative ideas. You might think of a few before you find the one that wins your heart! Starting a business is really hard work, so you have to love your idea 100%. 
2. Get to Know Your Market - Researching your market is essential to starting any business – understand the dynamics that underpin your competitors and their marketing strategies, suppliers and how they operate, customers demands and industry trends.
3. Get to know your Competitors – It helps to have experience in your market.  If you are starting a business in a completely new market to which you have experience it might be worth bootstrapping – i.e. working for a competitor to understand how they operate and how you can do it better! You need to define your Unique Selling Point so you can distinguish your brand. 
4. Understand what it will cost - All this research will inform the finance needed to start a business – start to estimate the costs required for the infrastructure of the company, your supplies, an effective marketing strategy, and the human resources you will need. Be realistic, always overestimate your costs as is it will always cost you more than you imagine.
5. Get the price right – Spend time getting your pricing strategy right, in line with your competitors, costs and consumer purchasing power. What is your break even point and desired profit margin for the business and does it make sense to give it ago.
6. Raise the finance - Once you’ve estimated the costs, explore the finance options available to you. Make sure you have sufficient finance to start the business, as it will be very stressful and hard without, particularly if you are financially relying on its success. If possible maintain a reliable income until your business shows sign of sustainability. 
7. Build a network around you –  Invest your money in joining social and business networks from the beginning as they will help you to build relationships with individuals who will underpin the success of your business. Networks will help you connect to suppliers, partners and clients, as well as connecting you with like-minded people to offer inspiration and motivation.  
8. Build a Team Around You – Running a business requires many skills and it’s impossible to do it alone. Make sure you focus your time on your strength’s and delegate the rest. You can recruit new team members, volunteers, or professional experts to help you with the different areas of the business.

Striding Out offers one to one coaching to help you develop your business plan www.stridingout.co.uk

Are you born with entrepreneurial drive or is it something that can be developed?  I have heard discussions on this issue on many occasions, it is another element to the nature v nurture debate and something that people just can’t seem to agree on.

I have heard descriptions of people with plenty of business knowledge starting out on their own, they have commitment at the outset and want to succeed but ultimately fail.  In many cases the road to success is how an individual develops within themselves as well as the development of their business.

We all know that business knowledge is essential, however, without the right mindset it will be tough going.  No matter how much enthusiasm an entrepreneur shows if they neglect their own development it could mean their downfall.

There are many courses on negotiation and presentation skills which are important skills to have but personal development can be stretched even further.  To develop an entrepreneurial mindset takes a great deal of self-belief which many people don’t have.  Belief in their own abilities, willing to take risks, recovering from setbacks, facing challenges and willing to learn from past  mistakes are all essential qualities to adopt.

The road of any successful entrepreneur is never easy and lots of people fall down at the first hurdle.  Where some see this hurdle as a signal to give up, others will see it as something to overcome.  How can the people in this first category rethink their position?  By becoming more aware of how they think in certain situations and being prepared to change their patterns of thought can be extremely powerful.

For example, they may have developed the habit of comparing themselves with others instead of with themselves, they many be concentrating on their past failures instead of their past successes or they may think they are just not the right type of person to achieve.  All these negative thoughts determine how an individual behaves.  Our self-perception is not always a reality and by becoming more aware of our ‘mind-talk’ and developing the positives we can all change a way of thinking that does not serves us.

Enid Pinder, Career and Business Coach

How do you know if you ready? Well here are some questions to ask yourself….   

Are you Confident in your Idea?

• Does your market research give you confidence that your idea will work?  e.g. have you piloted your idea and tested it with potential clients?  
• What would you potentially gain if you didn’t give it a try?
• What would you potentially gain if you did give it a try?
• Do you feel excited and comfortable when you are talking about or selling your service or product? 
• Have you written yourself a business plan which details who, how and when you are going to take the business forward?

Are you Emotionally and Professional Prepared?

• Do you have a good support structure in place e.g. a business coach and professional adviser. 
• Have you accessed training to gain knowledge and understanding of how to run a business?  
• Are your family and friends supportive of what you are doing? How important is this to you?  
• Do you need additional skills or team members to make the business happen?  If so, have the got the right team in place or do you need to sort this out?

Are you Financially Prepared? 

• Do you know how much your start-up costs will be for the business?  
• Do you have sufficient funds to cover the start-up costs to get the business to the level and quality you require? 
• If not, have you sought out other investors - friends, faBy  mily, business angels, banks etc.

Having gone through the questions above, how confident and prepared do you now feel?

In an ideal world you should feel confident in selling your idea to friends, family, investors, and potential clients and be ready and raring to go! You need to make sure you have the emotional, professional and financial support to hand, so you are ready to stride out in business!

If you need help starting or planning a business then check out www.stridingout.co.uk our sister business.

By Heather Wilkinson, Career and Business Coach 

Contact: enquiries@figuringout.co.uk

Copyright 2009