Study Business before Venturing Into It - VISION

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Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Study Business before Venturing Into It

To become a great entrepreneur, you don't necessarily need tons of money or years of experience. Anyone can soar to great heights in the world of business with the right attitude, knowledge, and plan. Seeing a venture from inception to fruition is the joy of every business person.
However, every business has its challenges, and you need the right tools to be able to overcome them. To build a real business, one that will stand the test of time, you will need to study, do your research, and have a solid plan.
As you educate yourself about business, here are a few things to remember;

1.     Do Your Research

Before taking the plunge, it is crucial to study and learn not only to prepare you for what lies ahead, but whether your business venture is worth undertaking in the first place. Once you have identified a business idea, it is time to ask a few pertinent questions.
Evaluate your business idea and ask whether your business solves a problem. What are the odds that it will succeed? Does it meet market demands? These questions will help guide your decisions going forward.
There are several ways to conduct your research. Reading and researching on the product or service, conducting focus group surveys and interviews, providing samples, and comparing competitor prices, among other things, will help provide relevant data.

2.     Formulate a Plan

Whether planning on a large scale venture or a start-up with no immediate plans to scale, you need a business plan as a blueprint to structure your entire operations from the initial, set up and growth phases.
There are business plans for every type of venture. Traditional business plans are comprehensive and exhaustive and are well suited for businesses looking to obtain financial backing from investors or banking institutions.
Alternatively, for smaller entrepreneurship, there are more uncomplicated plans that can still accurately guide a business on goals and how to achieve them. The great thing about having a business plan is that it won't leave you groping in the dark. Also, plans are not static and can always be improved.

3.     Plan Your Finances

One of the biggest challenges and hindrances to getting a business off the ground or taking it to the next level is resources. Depending on the nature of business you intend to carry out, there are various ways through which to obtain initial capital. 
Smaller ventures are not as capital intensive as larger ones, but even so, start-up capital must be obtained to cover commencing and running costs. One great way to get a clear picture of your financial needs is to input all your business requirements covering 12 months.
Do the math by thinking salaries (if any), equipment, branding costs, rents and leases, inventory, logistics, permits and licenses, and everything else. These figures will give you a reasonably accurate idea of just how much money you need.
Once you come up with the approximate amount of cash required to set up and run your business for the year before you can reasonably expect to start turning a profit, you can now explore ways to raise the money. Some common way to raise capital is financing, grants, loans, and investor funding.

Final Thoughts

A business venture that starts as an idea and grows into a great success takes hard work and determination, but proper research, a solid plan, and sufficient funds can make it a lot easier.