What do you need to do to start a business? There are dozens of sites on the web including ours that have checklists that remind you of the many tasks you should perform to start a business. While such checklists will help you remember a lot of important steps you might otherwise overlook, they are rather impersonal To Do lists. They won't make or break your success.
What will make or break your business? Here are 13 important guidelines for turning your business idea into a successful business.
1. Know yourself, your true motivational level, the amount of money you can risk, and what you're willing to do to be successful. Sure, we all want to make millions of dollars. But what are you willing to give up to reach that goal? How many hours a week will you work on an ongoing basis? How far out of your comfort zone are you willing to stretch? How far will your family stretch with you? To be successful, keep your business plans in line with your personal and family goals and resources.
2. Choose the right business for you. The old formula – find a need and fill it, still works. It will always work. The key to success is finding needs that you can fill, that you want to fill, and that will produce enough income to build a profitable business.
3. Be sure there really is a market for what you want to sell. One of the biggest mistakes startups make is to assume a lot of people will want to buy a particular product or service, because the business owner likes the ideas or knows one or two people who want the product or service.
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