A Beginner’s Guide to Starting Your Own Business -

In the modern world, nothing is more exciting than starting your own business. You can be educated or uneducated, experienced or inexperienced, young or old – it really doesn’t matter. Anyone can launch a start-up. All you need is an idea and a healthy dose of ambition. If you’ve already ticked these two boxes, then you’re ready to go.

However, you’re probably going to need a helping hand. Remember, starting and running a business isn’t straightforward. There’s the financial side of everything, as well as marketing and sales. Basically, there’s a ton of factors that need addressing.

Don’t worry, though, because this guide has got your back. Let’s go through a quick run-down of everything you need to do.

Plan How You’re Going to Ship Your Products

Right now, the best way to sell products is online. For a lot of people, online shopping is a hobby that they’re extremely passionate about. Therefore, it’s hardly surprising that, by 2022, global e-commerce sales are expected to reach US$5.4 trillion – ‘t’ for trillion. If that doesn’t blow your mind, nothing will!

Selling your products online is actually pretty easy, and there are several options to choose from.

If you’re inexperienced, it’s best to start off by selling products through mainstream e-commerce platforms, such as Shopify and eBay. As your experience grows, you’ll be able to sell products through your own website, as well as social media platforms.

For every order you get, you’ll need to ship your products to the customers. However, for efficiency and safety, you need to get insurance along with risk intelligence software. As an entrepreneur, doing this will make your life so much easier. To get started, visit eCabrella.com.

Research Your Target Markets

Every new business needs to identify target markets. Otherwise, they become directionless and struggle to gain relevant market share.

This is why it’s essential that you research your target markets (like Apple does) and the customers. Ideally, you should identify the ages, sexes, and statuses of the customers you want to sell to. This way, you will be able to craft better marketing and advertising content, as well as provide better customer service.

Create an Outsourcing Strategy

In business, no individual can do everything alone. Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Sheryl Sandberg – none of these businesspeople made it to the top with just their own efforts. The truth is, you’re going to need some help: and this is why outsourcing exists.

Outsourcing is when you hire a third party to do certain business functions for you.

Here’s a good example: you might be terrible with numbers. But rather than torture yourself trying to do the finances alone, you can outsource your books to an accountant.

So, think carefully about which business functions you’re going to need help with. From marketing to sales, there’s potentially a lot.

In the first six months, focus intently on customer feedback

The first six months to a year of running a business are usually the most testing. This is the period of time when a lot can go wrong and it can start to feel like you’re never going to make it. However, the key is to push forward and keep growing.

The best way to do this? Simple. Get customer feedback.

If customer feedback was a currency, it would be gold. You can learn so much from it, it’s beyond exciting.

To get feedback, you should supply customers with surveys, either by email or social media. In addition to this, don’t be afraid to speak with customers over the phone for more in-depth (and personalized) feedback.