| Starting a small or home based business involves | | | | The next piece of research is market assessment. |
| making a lot of decisions before starting up, weighing | | | | What is the market like for your goods or services? |
| options and informing yourself. Some of this is | | | | How strong is it? Who will buy it, and why, and for |
| obvious, like digging around for market demographics, | | | | what secondary or primary purposes? Are there |
| the strength of the local economy and similar. Some | | | | services you can add to the sale of a good to |
| of this is less obvious when applying for grants - | | | | improve the value, or a good you can acquire cheaply |
| there is a lot of digging to be done before you can | | | | to sell with a service or bundle with a service as a |
| get a business started. | | | | promotional item? Are there any untapped needs, or |
| First, do the research on what sort of business you | | | | needs that you can combine multiple segments |
| want to start, and make sure it is appropriate to | | | | together to meet in a new way? What is your |
| your region. There is not much call for downhill ski | | | | competition like and what are they doing? |
| trainers in Miami Beach, for instance. If you are | | | | Assessing needs and what the audience and |
| entering a crowded field, you will want to make sure | | | | customer base wants is a critical step in analyzing any |
| your offering stands out from the crowd. | | | | business case. |
| Yo will also want to look at regional and nationwide | | | | Answers to these questions and more can be gotten |
| trends for this sort of business. Are sales up or | | | | through SCORE, which is a program put out by the |
| down? Is there a clearly identifiable reason why | | | | Small Business Administration. SCORE is the Service |
| they're up or down, and reasons to predict a | | | | Corps of Retired Executives, and is made up of |
| continuation of the current trend, or its reversal? | | | | entrepreneurs who have retired, but volunteer their |
| (One of the best ways to make money is to start a | | | | time to give consults to new businesses starting out. |
| business at the end of a downturn in a given market | | | | Listen to them - particularly their stories about |
| segment, come out with a well received product, and | | | | mistakes. Mistakes are costly, and are lessons |
| sell it to an acquisitions hungry company looking to | | | | learned. Learn from the mistakes of others, as you |
| make it into that segment.) | | | | lack the time to make them all yourself. |
| If you are doing manufacturing, you will want to look | | | | Another place to look into answers to these |
| at how raw materials get in, what environmental | | | | questions are mentorship programs, particularly in |
| regulations you need to look out for, labor | | | | technical fields, like printing. Talk to the people who |
| restrictions, warehousing and packaging and similar - | | | | have been in the business - a lot of them will be |
| this will become a fixed item on your expenses, one | | | | quite happy to help you set up and take over the |
| that recurs monthly, so take the time to comparison | | | | jobs they do not want to be bothered with |
| shop now. Moving is never fun or easy. | | | | anymore, the smaller accounts that require more |
| When it comes to production, and providing services, | | | | work than their payoff justifies with their higher |
| you are going to need an accurate assessment of | | | | overhead. |
| how much time it takes to do things. One of the big | | | | Once you have got answers, it is time to tally up |
| places where new businesses fail is that they | | | | expenses and the balance sheet. Look at the money |
| undervalue the time of their founders; when you are | | | | you will need, generate a very pricey estimate of |
| short on capital, sweat equity looks very tempting. | | | | three months of operating expenses, including your |
| There is a time, however, where it is worth it to pay | | | | own salary, and see what funding sources are |
| someone else to do things, and an absolute limit on | | | | available. |
| the growth of your business if you choose not to | | | | Do not forget to advertise; its how customers find |
| have employees. | | | | you! |