How to start a business from scratch: the first steps towards a successful business. We open a small business in trade and other areas: where can I start? How to start a successful business from scratch

It is an analytical document that clearly calculates all the pros and cons of doing business, additional operations and everything from which the foundation of entrepreneurship is laid. A business plan helps throughout the life of an organization. It describes the main tasks of the company, the problems that may arise and methods for solving them.

For example, you decide to start your own business, but your finances cannot afford it. Then a business plan comes to your rescue.

Proper planning will open up an opportunity that will help solve your financial problems.

In the process of compiling it, you will study in more detail economic structure firms, calculate all the financial aspects and decide for yourself whether you can manage the project.

That is, creating a business plan from scratch is primarily necessary within the organization: to analyze the performance of the company. Secondly, he needed to consider strategy in order to secure the investment of investors' funds.

What will help in compiling?

In drawing up a business plan, it is not necessary to have an analytical mindset. If you decide to open your own business, then you are probably aware of all the specifics of the process. It is important to know what needs to be target audience(demand of potential customers), financial costs, possible losses and ways to increase the profitability of the company.

If you experience difficulties in the initial stages of planning, we recommend that you contact a highly qualified organization providing business drafting services. Together with you there develop the business form of the requested document.

Main points and sections

Different projects differ in the amount of content and activities of the company.

Main Points must have goals and company description, in order to show interest in financial assistants companies.

The main sections for compiling a business plan:

• summary (the main topic of the project, author's summary);
• the main goals and objectives of the organization;
• general representation of the company (product description, location and other functions);
• relevance and development analysis;
• consumer market research;
• competitiveness;
• sales policy and planned marketing;
• intra-company targets: personnel, finances, organization, etc.

We invite you to download some examples of business plans:

What are the calculations?

For the implementation of a clear organization of the enterprise, there is a system of calculations within the company:

• calculation of funds;
• forecasting;
• document flow ( securities, risk factors, insurance services);
• occupation period (especially important in case of attracting investors);
• internal profitability of the company;
• volume of production.

The calculations of each company are made on the basis of the specific activities of the company.

How to build a business plan from scratch?

Each project is compiled individually, but we will try to analyze the standard view of the project.

Short biography:

Higher economic education. Graduated from NSU, managing a small business.

The main goal and task of opening a grocery chain

The prospect of job creation. Expansion of the product market. Creation own brand. High financial profitability of the store, due to the lack of grocery chains and high demand for these services.

General view of the company

This product will present a list for all age categories. The location will be located in the center of the settlement, which is convenient for consumers.

Range provided: food, household chemicals, etc.

After analyzing the development, we came to the conclusion that within 2 years the payback period will increase by 120%.

Competitiveness

Having studied the competitor's market, we found that in the next year and a half there is no active activity of the competitor, due to financial and social problems.

Sales policy and marketing research

In the first month sales "by zero" are possible, due to lack of public awareness. Later, when the whole locality knows about our store, the planned indicators should exceed 100%.

Spanning the spectrum of marketing, we explored the implementation of low volume promotions, which will significantly save on the budget of the enterprise.

For each employee, a target will be entered: sales volume, customer acquisition, freshness of goods and cleanliness of the store. It will also be managed financial indicators and other money transfers.

When deciding to start a business, you need to consider full information about possible losses, risks, characteristics and much more related to the initial stage of starting a business.

In conclusion, we invite you to watch the video: how to create a business plan from scratch - step by step technology.

Starting a business from scratch is not as difficult as it seems. After all, there is a very clear and well-thought-out scheme, supplemented by instructions from professionals. And if you follow it, slightly adjusting to fit your realities, you can achieve success.

Statistics show that 99% of those who want to start their own business never start it. And there are quite a few reasons for this - starting from banal laziness, ending with the inability to navigate the situation.

How to start a business from scratch

The first question that needs to be solved when planning to open your own business is where to get the money for it. Experts offer a whole list of where you can get finance to develop your own business. It includes:
- own funds(this option is possible if you have start-up capital: savings, sold real estate, etc.);
- a bank loan or leasing (borrowed funds today are provided at reduced rates);
- attracting investors or partners (it is not uncommon for a company of friends or relatives to open one business);
- loan from friends or relatives;
- receiving grants and subsidies from the state (valid in most cases for social species business).

It is difficult to do without money at all, but the advantage of a small business is that it does not require such investments, as it could be with a factory or other large enterprise.

To save money, at first you can do without a chic office, a leather chair and a secretary. Moreover, you can also perform some of the functions yourself. At the same time, when collecting money, remember that the main idea should not be where to get money for opening, but how you can implement your business more efficiently.

Next, you need to decide on your knowledge and experience in the field of the opened business. That is, you must be well versed in the topic of your business, otherwise you will have to hire a lot of additional employees, which at first will entail costs. There is also a problem of a psychological nature - it is difficult for someone who has worked for someone for a long time to adjust to the fact that now he himself has become the owner of the business. In this case, it is easier to adapt to those who already had at least a little entrepreneurial experience.

Such personal qualities as self-confidence, perseverance, work will help you open your own business and develop it.

Business types

To open your own business, you need to decide on the options. Today you can choose:
- start a business from scratch, developing your business idea;
- buy ready business;
- buy a franchise;
- network marketing.

Business from scratch involves the existence of its own business project. It can be compiled independently by analyzing the facts, using statistics, etc. Alternatively, you can involve experts in the preparation of a business plan. A business plan must have a highlight that will distinguish your project from other similar ones and make it unique. You also need to explain what the value of your proposal is, how it will be better than others.

Today, ready-made businesses are often sold. Buying one is not so difficult, the main thing is that there is enough money. It remains only to actively engage in the development of the project, which will already have all the necessary base.

Direct marketing can also be quite lucrative. If you have certain character traits, the case may burn out.

To open own business you will need a lot of strength and patience. The main thing is not to give up in difficult moments, which are sure to be. And everything will work out.

We all know that in the capitalist world it is impossible to live without money. To be more precise, without a certain amount of them, which will be sufficient to satisfy at least the basic needs of a person in food, food and a roof over their heads. For me, this is a very simple and rather cynical fact that should be taken for granted, since this is how the world works.
Let me introduce myself - Vitaly Larin, an active businessman, I want to tell my story of how to start your business from scratch.
Realizing that big earnings are needed, I began to think about how and where I can get the amount of money that will allow me and my loved ones to live in abundance.
The first thing that came to my mind was to get some kind of job as a hired employee. As for me, this is the easiest way to earn money and it is quite good, because it has a number of advantages:

1. In essence, it is not you who earns money, but your boss, because the main entrepreneurial burden falls on him;
2. The hired worker does not risk anything except his time, maximum salary for the last month of work;
3. If you don’t like the job, you can always quit and look for something better – there will be enough work for everyone.

As you can see, being an employee is really easy, in terms of commitments. And one could say that this is just a great way to earn money, if not for one huge minus - the salaries of employees are given by the boss and their size is almost always insufficient. Which is quite normal - the higher the salary of the worker, the less profit the employer has.

And what should a worker do if he is really not satisfied with the monthly salary or he just wants more? The answer is quite simple - he should become the boss. Understanding this path is more difficult, but the benefits of this kind of activity more than compensate for all the difficulties:

1. First, you decide what, how and when to do it.
2. Secondly, you will be financially independent.
3. Thirdly, starting your own business is an excellent incentive for self-development and self-realization.

And frankly, everything will not be so difficult if you know in advance what and how to do. This is what I will try to help you with by describing how I decided to start my own business from scratch, what it took for me to do this, and what you may need if you decide to become an independent entrepreneur.

I want to be the boss!

To be honest, I quickly abandoned the path of a simple worker and decided to become a boss, because I did not want to work 10-14 hours a day and receive a small salary for this.

In addition, I was always frightened by the thought that I would be deprived of bonuses or fined at the whim of my superiors, just at the moment when I urgently needed money. Which has already happened to me.
Realizing this, I began a vain study of everything related to how to start a business with minimal start-up capital and with even less experience on my own. entrepreneurial activity.

Here I was a little lucky, having a very extensive and deep knowledge of economics, I clearly understood that the generally accepted opinion that you need to be engaged in some kind of production in order to earn a lot is a big nonsense. Money in modern capitalism is earned in two ways - through speculation and through the provision of services.

It should be mentioned here that I used my economic inclinations mainly to predict the exchange rates of the CIS countries. Thanks to which he had a stable Additional income trading binary options.

This may seem like a difficult activity, which is partly true. However, if you understand this issue, then even a beginner will quickly realize one thing - in the long run, the price of the dollar can only grow, because this is how the global financial system works.

Therefore, anyone who wants to make money on binary options should only predict how much the dollar will rise in price in the near future. What is done through technical analysis, which is easy to learn if you are diligent and patient.

Experienced Tips - 7 Basic Principles From Those Who Started Their Business From Scratch and Succeeded!

1 . Henry Ford - founder of the Ford car brand: “Everything can always be done better than it has been done so far.”
In other words, you always have the opportunity to start your business from scratch in any field of activity.

2. Elon Musk - Founder and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Motors: “Study the sciences carefully—learn to reason according to fundamental principles, not analogies.”
The pioneer of space as a market for commercial activities, speaks of a simple law - you cannot copy the success of another person without understanding what caused it.

3. Steve Jobs - founder and CEO of Apple: “There is no point in hiring smart employees and then telling and ordering what they should do. We hire smart, educated and experienced people to talk and tell us what to do.”
If you need to hire a person, then take only sensible people and do not stand over their souls, commanding them.

4. Grant Cardon - founder of What ever It Takes Digital Network and best author, describing the methods and ways of selling according to the New York Times: "Most the best investment what you can do is invest in yourself.”
So Grant's grandmother said, and one eminent grandfather said something similar: "Study, study and study again." And I completely agree with them - a businessman should develop by reading a lot, improving his skills and communicating with successful people.

5. Mary Kay Ash - Founder and CEO of Mary Kay Cosmetics: “If you think you can do what you have in mind, you can. However, if you are in doubt and unsure, you will not be able to.”
The most successful business woman of the 20th century speaks of confidence, without it you will fail at the first difficulties.

6 . Bill Gates - Microsoft co-founder: "Your most unsuccessful clients are your richest source of knowledge."
In business, not only the experience of success is important, but also the experience of failure. Realizing this and analyzing your mistakes, you will understand what not to do, and where you can do much better.

7. Many many busted entrepreneurs : “You should not borrow money if you are going to start a business from scratch. Also, do not use funds for this that were intended for the education of children, medical treatment or mortgage payments.
You must be aware of all the risks and understand that there is always the possibility of failure. Therefore, you should not go for broke.

Dream! Dare! Rejoice!

So, I decided to become an entrepreneur. But can I, do I have the makings of a businessman?
Looking for an answer to this question: “how to start a business from scratch”, I read a lot of literature and several autobiographies. successful businessmen. And this is what I understood:

1. First, you need to thoroughly go to the question of choosing the scope of your activity.
2. Secondly, without strong motivation and willingness to overcome difficulties, you can’t do anything.
3. And, thirdly, it is always necessary to set clear goals - the common good and happy life is not the goal of a business, its main task is to make a profit from its activities.

Motivation is 95% success!

First, I decided to deal with my motivation. To do this, I asked myself the following questions:

1. What do I want from life in material terms?
My answer: an apartment, a car, lots and lots of books and prosperity for my loved ones.

2. Can I get what I want through the business?
Answer: yes.

3. Are there easier or faster ways to achieve your goals, other than personal business?
Answer: You can try to win the lottery, but I'm unlikely to be lucky.

4. Can I make difficult decisions on my own, or have I left these decisions to others in the past?
Answer: yes, I got used to it from early childhood.

5. How quickly do I make decisions?
Answer: with a slight delay, I like to think things over, but I do it quickly enough.

6. Am I strong enough to overcome possible difficulties?
Answer: I'm not 100% sure, but I definitely don't like to give up.

To me, these are the answers of the average person, except that I want to have a large collection of books with the writings of philosophers and key scientists.

You should also ask yourself these questions and think carefully about the answers. Remembering that it is not worth lying or embellishing - you are doing it for yourself, and no one will know about it.
Because at this stage, you, like me, should find out what motivates you.

It can be the desire to buy a car that you have dreamed of since childhood, an apartment for your family, the opportunity to travel, or a strong desire to prove to yourself and everyone around you that you are capable of more than just vegetating at work from 8 to 18:00 all your life.

In essence, the reason for your “I want!!!” not significant. The main thing is that it should be a desire with three exclamation points - the strength of motivation and its constancy are important.

My main "I want!!!" - these are books, each time overcoming difficulties, I thought about a new rare edition or a whole series of books. Which gave me the incentive to continue after the first difficulties with suppliers appeared and then when I was simply tired of daily petty annoyances.
By the way, I spent my first serious profit on the cycle "Philosophical Heritage" from the publishing house Thought. As far as I remember, it cost me two or two and a half thousand dollars.

What will you buy with the money from your first earnings?

What makes a profit - Business ideas!

Realizing that I had enough incentives to start my business from scratch, I moved on to the next stage - a business idea. With my resources and opportunities (no experience, no connections, almost no money), I picked up the following options.

1. Training and consultations.
This is a good way to earn money if you are good at something and can teach it to other people. In addition, it does not require a lot of money. Let me explain with two examples how people make money in this area.

Example #1. You are a professional plumber, locksmith, welder of the highest rank, working in the ZhEK and you are not satisfied with your salary. If I were you, I would buy a good video camera and shoot some instructional videos on how you repair or do something.

Next, I would create my own YouTube channel and upload the captured video there. After through the social networks and specialized forums began to advertise their training. If you do this systematically and do it well, then over time you will have a sufficient number of subscribers and your YouTube channel will start making a profit.

Later, having gained considerable popularity (from 20 thousand subscribers), you can engage in hidden advertising, using or mentioning certain tools, brands or store names in the video.
The thought may come to you, they say, no one needs it, but you are mistaken! I myself recently changed the fittings in the drain tank, guided by the video instruction. In addition, by doing such a business, you do not need to leave your main job.

Example №2 . I have a friend named Evgenia, the proud owner of a red diploma in psychiatry from one of the eminent universities, specializing in human archetypes and family psychology.

So, two years ago, when the economic crisis hit in 2014, she lost most of her clients, as people began to save on everything and on her services in particular. And she has two small children in her arms and a husband who has a high chance of losing his job.

Realizing the direness of her situation, she decided to take matters into her own hands by opening her small business for seminars. To do this, she called her colleagues and classmates, found among them those who were also experiencing financial difficulties, and invited them to her home for a cup of tea.

At the meeting, Evgenia told about her situation and suggested that they unite to create a company for training and advising people through seminars. But she did it wisely, having found out in advance:

• How much do these teachers earn?
• How many competitors will they have;
• How much does it cost to rent a room with an open area for lectures;
• How to formalize such activity from a legal point of view;
• What is in demand among the local population, what problems do they have.

In other words, Evgenia did not propose an idea, but a normal business project with sufficient justification. Several of her colleagues decided to give it a try, and after a couple of weeks of preparation, they held the first workshop on how to survive a crisis.

I will omit the details of how they prepared for the seminar, as these things are individual. Let me just say that a year later, their small "troupe" began to be invited to other cities. And that says a lot.

2. Trading on the Internet.
This is probably the easiest way to make money. Since this is a common purchase and sale of goods (speculation), only in this case, customers do not come to your store, but to your website.
Therefore, for such activity you need:

1. Analyze possible options about what you will trade;
2. Establish a legal face;
3. Create your own website or social media page networks where you will offer your product to visitors;
4. Find suppliers and make the first purchases;
5. Advertise your store and product by all available means;
6. Make the first trade and continue in the same spirit, increasing the pace.

This is how a medium or large online store is created. But there is another option for speculation on the Internet - trading on avito or Olkh. These are web portals where people post ads about what they want to sell or want to buy.
To trade like this, you only need to do four things:

1. Understand what you will trade;
2. Register on avito.ru and/or other similar site;
3. Post an ad about what you are selling;
4. Wait for the buyer and make a deal.

As you can see, it is not difficult and accessible to everyone. The only difficulty is to understand what you will trade. But given the audience of such sites, which is tens of millions of people, it is best to choose what you are knowledgeable about. And do business on it.

3. What I can do, I do, but without the authorities!
This section includes all types of entrepreneurial activities for the provision of a wide variety of services. For example, if you are a repairman gas equipment and work for an intermediary firm, you can drop the extra link and communicate directly with your customers.

Let me give you an example from my personal life. I have a friend Victor, who used to work as an auto mechanic at a large automatic telephone exchange, he earned relatively good money, but he had enough for his own car. And after another conversation with the boss about a salary increase, he got angry and quit.
When the anger passed, he was a little frightened and even thought about the humiliating return to the automatic telephone exchange from which he quit with all the suggestive pathos of an offended employee.

But he can be said to be lucky. One of the leaders of the construction company, which often repaired its equipment at the mentioned automatic telephone exchange, was surprised that Victor was not there. Remembering the professionalism of my acquaintance, he found him and offered him to repair several cars at their station. Thus, another private entrepreneur appeared.
I must have been wrong. Victor was not lucky - it was entirely his merit.

5. Banal, but very simple earnings on the Internet - advertising!
Surely you all already understood what I will write about from the title. Yes - it's trite, yes - everyone and sundry do it, yes - this ad got you. But it does bring in a lot of money. Therefore, this way of earning fits into the category of how to start a business from scratch.
So what do you need for a novice advertiser?

1. First, you need to create a place where advertising will be placed - a page in the social. networks, blog or website.
2. Secondly, you need to attract as many people as possible who will regularly visit your site or page - to create interesting and constantly updated content.
3. Thirdly, after you need to find advertisers and make them an appropriate offer to advertise their goods and services on your portal.

The last point can be done independently, or you can use special advertising banners from internet search engines. By placing them on your page, you will make a profit without making any effort to find an advertiser.
This is one of the most simple ways earnings, but it has one significant disadvantage - a lot of competition. Which is natural - the easier it is to enter the market, the more people want to enter it.

6. How can you make money if you have a lot of money?
The options listed above worked for me and may work for you if you have little experience and little to no money. However, if your resources are not as limited as mine, then you should probably consider other, more costly options.

1. Startups- this is, roughly speaking, making money on the business ideas of other people. There are two types of them: the first is the search for people with ideas and the implementation of their ideas; the second is to act as an intermediary between people with ideas and investors.
2. Classic production is the creation of goods by processing any raw material. For example, the creation of clothes, cast iron pans or children's toys.
3. Agriculture- apart from growing mushrooms in the basement, this is a difficult and very expensive undertaking, requiring very specific knowledge of what you will grow.
4. Mining is the extraction of fossil resources from the bowels of the Earth. Difficult, expensive, requires connections.

What kind of entrepreneur am I? Which one of you?

So, we have determined that we have a reason and motivation to start our business from scratch, and we have considered the possible options for how you can make money.
Our next step is to select the most suitable for us among the types of entrepreneurial activity.
To do this, I used a method borrowed from psychologists. It consists of the following:

1. We take a piece of paper and divide it vertically into three parts: my pros, cons and what excites me. Regarding the latter, this is something that you can do for a long time, and it does not cause you negative emotions. We fill in all the columns.
2. After, in a similar way, we divide the A4 page in MS Word and send it to all our relatives, friends, classmates, colleagues, clients. At the same time, we kindly ask you to take some time and fill out the document with all seriousness and honesty. Justifying the request with the fact that you decide your fate or, alternatively, it is necessary to participate in a seminar on advanced training.
3. After receiving the answers, analyze them, highlighting the repetitive ones. Compare the result with your answers.

This simple method will allow you to understand how you see yourself and how others perceive you. Among the answers, we are most interested in observing people about what you are interested in and what inspires you. Once you find this, you will know what to do.

Given the responses I received, my skills and education, I came to the following conclusion:

1. The only services I can provide are teaching philosophy or consulting from an economist.
2. But making money on buying and selling is not new to me. I worked for a construction company for several years wholesale trade. And judging by the reviews of my colleagues and former clients, I did it pretty well.

I decided to become a speculator. Understand in the best sense of the word.
After reading a lot of success stories of entrepreneurs and tips on how to start your own business from scratch, I have chosen for myself the easiest and at the same time the most budget option for starting a business - this is an online store selling clothes and shoes.

And that's why:

1. First, the cost of opening such a store is very small. It is enough to buy office equipment, open an individual entrepreneur and make a small supply of goods.
2. Secondly, ease of entry into the market combined with ease of management. Of course, there is competition in this segment, but it does not satisfy all existing demand. And management comes down to technical solutions, understanding which is sufficient once.
3. Thirdly, footwear and clothing are in stable and steady demand. I decided to trade in those clothes that are considered branded in our country, although in fact they are not. That is, this is what costs from 50 dollars in our country, and in Europe from 5 euros.

Using the scientific method to build a business from scratch.

You probably already understood that I have a technical background and I love philosophy. Therefore, you are unlikely to be surprised by my approach to the process of creating your own business.

To achieve my mercantile goals, I applied the Scientific Method of Cognition to solve the set tasks. Which proved its effectiveness 2 thousand years ago and is successfully used to this day.

It consists of 5 steps:
1. Definition of the task, goal or problem.
2. Observation.
3. Making hypotheses about how to accomplish a given task or solve an existing problem.
4. Conducting the experiment, that is, the implementation of the hypothesis in practice.
5. Summing up: if the goal is achieved, then this leads to the end of the process; if not, go to the first point and start a new cycle.

Next, I will tell you how to apply the Scientific Method to starting a business. But first, I suggest you read Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It is a bestseller, the best-selling book of American literature of the last century, which is considered by many people and publications like The New York Times to be among the 100 best books world literature.
In this case, it will be useful to you for two reasons:

1. It tells a lot about how to apply the Scientific Method of Knowledge in everyday life;
2. There is also a whole chapter on estimating in the book.

Regarding the latter, this is an old word that combines three concepts: will, desire and enthusiasm. The book describes how to work smart so that it does not disappear, and you always have the motivation to do what needs to be done.

The first step is understanding the problem.

Where can I get money to start my own business? This is the problem faced by 95% of new entrepreneurs! In the article, we have revealed the most relevant ways to obtain start-up capital for an entrepreneur. We also recommend that you carefully study the results of our experiment in exchange earnings:

After you and I have decided which business is best to open, we must take the next step - to set ourselves clear and very specific goals. Both intermediate and final.
In my case, this is a monthly stable income of 2 thousand US dollars, buying an apartment, creating a collection of books.

At the same time, I should receive such a profit a year after opening the business, I planned to buy an apartment in a maximum of five years, and the collection of books should be replenished monthly.
As you can see, by scientific method, goals should not only be highlighted, it is also necessary to set a time frame for their achievement. By not doing this, you will always find a reason to put off something important until later.
Relatively ultimate goal, then I have this prosperity and well-being of my family. You may have something similar or something more specific. For example, earn $222 million and retire. You can also wish to become a leader in your market segment.

Step two - observation (market analysis)

After setting the goal, it is necessary to understand the environment in which we will act, highlighting the subjects and objects, cause and effect in it. What will happen in our case marketing analysis market.
In other words, you need to conduct research on your own or turn to a marketing campaign. During which we must understand the following:

1. Who is our consumer and what are their needs;
2. What about the competition;
3. What will we sell - specific items of goods or services.
4. Where will we get the goods from if we trade;
5. What are the advantages of our product and what are the advantages in my organization compared to competitors;
6. How to attract customers and how to stimulate sales by increasing the average bill;
7. How to increase the number of regular customers;
8. In what legal field will we act.
9. Who is the most successful among my competitors and why.
10. What is the stability of the market, and what are the risks in this area of ​​activity.

In my case, the answers will be:

1. Women from 15 to 45 years of average income, men from 20 to 35 years of average income, parents and guardians of children from 15 to 18 years of average income. Their need, which I focus on, is the purchase of branded, high-quality clothing at low prices.

2. My competitors are divided into two types: stores and private sellers selling via the Internet, as well as ordinary boutiques. I decided to select clients in the latter.

3. Sports shoes and clothes from famous sports brands, budget category. AND outerwear mostly female from famous brands. I don’t remember the exact names, it was a year and a half ago, and fashion, as you know, is highly changeable.

4. We bought goods almost directly from manufacturers and transported them on our own, we also bought goods with big discounts on Aliexpress and similar portals.

5. Our main advantage is the price. Also, we have offered many discounts for customers and made generous drawings of coupons for free shopping in our store.

6. It was decided to attract clients through the Internet and acquaintances. In addition, in front of several boutiques, we bought banners and showed a couple of goods on them that are sold in boutiques nearby and with us. Comparing prices. Very effective, but there may be problems with boutique owners.

7. We attracted regular customers with the quality of service and its speed, as well as promotions and discounts.

8. To open a business, it was necessary to establish an individual entrepreneur and hire a contractor to provide accounting services. In general, nothing complicated.

9. The most successful competitors are boutiques in crowded places (we cannot repeat their success) and several online stores that have been operating for a long time. The latter were successful thanks to excellent (I would say expensive) advertising. They also had a huge assortment and big seasonal discounts. From this, at first we adopted only seasonal discounts and some positions of their Top Sellers.

10. Given that our segment is budget clothing and footwear, we can say that the market is very stable and there is always demand. But there are also risks, for example: border closure for trucks, changes in legislation in terms of duties and customs clearance rules. I bet you will come up with something similar in many positions. And like any novice entrepreneur, you will earn on the market by offering the same, but: cheaper, faster and better. Just like Gerald Ford said.

The third step is prediction and hypotheses. Business planning!

Having understood what our environment is, you can start laying the foundation - creating a business plan. It is a fundamental document for any enterprise. Because it prescribes what, how and why to do in a given situation. In other words, this is the instruction by which you will act by opening your business. As a rule, a business plan consists of the following sections:

1. Description of goals, objectives, environment, current state.
2. Description of what you will do, what services or products your company will offer to customers.
3. Marketing part. How you will sell, to whom you will sell and by what means., including advertising and other marketing tools
4. Where will you get the goods or how will you create services for sale.
5. Organizational part. It describes everything about the staff and the technical aspects of your activities.
6. Budget. More precisely, its planning for several years ahead.
7. Methods of control and methods of summing up the final results.
8. Description of critical situations, such as ruin or force majeure.
9. In what ways, if necessary, the legal form of your business will change.
It is necessary to draw up a business plan in such a way that it prescribes the most probable development options, as well as extreme options. With the addition of instructions for action to each of these options.
It is important to note that a business plan is very often a document of internal (secret) use. You understand that you should not disclose your action plan to potential or current competitors.

Step Four - Practice!

I will not describe this step too much, since a scientific experiment in our case means the implementation of a business plan in practice. And everyone at this stage will have their own personal and unique experience. I will describe only the basic details.

I did not want to get involved with legal issues, so I used the services of a firm that specializes in this. Their employees opened an individual entrepreneur and took care of my accounting.

This was over a year and a half ago. problems with tax service and there were no other government agencies, so I have no desire to refuse this cooperation and hire a full-time accountant. After creating the IP, I bought the necessary office equipment and set up an office at home. I also hired an assistant. By luring him away from a successful competitor, offering a partnership if the store starts to make a profit.

This, by the way, helped me a lot, both with the creation of a client base and with the search for suppliers. And frankly, at the beginning I was a subordinate, and my future junior partner was a boss. Which for sure saved me from a lot of growth problems.

In parallel with the solution of legal and technical issues I also started a small advertising company. Which mainly consisted of the distribution of advertising cards on the Internet.

On one side, they showed celebrities in casual clothes, and on the other, photos with an assortment of boutiques. At the same time, price tags were drawn on the image, showing how much it cost to buy clothes for celebrities and how much they cost in boutiques. And at the bottom of the picture are small slogans like “feel the difference” or “not everything is gold that costs a lot.”

We also placed such pictures on banners near boutiques. Which had a twofold effect. We have increased our clients, but the owners of these boutiques “noticed” us and decided to “help”. Sending the tax and fire departments to visit us for a cup of coffee was fun.

Step five - preliminary results and amendments to the primary action plan.

This step, according to the Scientific Campaign, is carried out to monitor the effectiveness of the tasks and draw conclusions about the success of the hypotheses.
In entrepreneurial activity, this is the preparation of quarterly, semi-annual and annual reports. What is needed to understand the general situation and control the level of sales, profitability, availability of goods in warehouses, etc.

Having compiled a report, it must be compared with the forecasts described earlier in the business plan. If there is such an option for the development of events, then you need to continue to do everything, as it is written in the instructions. However, if the results achieved and the state of affairs go beyond what was predicted, it is necessary to make adjustments to the planned action plan.

At the same time, you need to once again compare the tasks and your resources, because sometimes everything changes so much that you will not be able to make a profit even with the optimal development of events. In addition, sometimes there are risks that outweigh the possible benefits - this means that you need to close your business and start from scratch in a different market segment.

In my case, everything was very successful. After organizing everything and buying the goods, my store started working.
The first clients were my friends and acquaintances, who knew that I would not deceive them. After that, acquaintances of acquaintances came, and then their acquaintances, and in such a simple way, my shop found the backbone of the client base. Which gradually grew over time, thanks to advertising and satisfied customers.

A year and a half later, my online store ceased to be only mine - I had two partners. What made it possible to increase turnover, and more importantly, it freed up a lot of time that I can spend on what I like.
I have not changed my plan for the development of an online store, it still works.

The big problem is where to get the money for start-up capital?

As you can see, my example turned out to be very simple and easy to repeat. The only thing you may have difficulty with is the formation of start-up capital.

Frankly, it is the money to create your own business that is the main obstacle to most new beginnings. For this reason, I missed this point in describing my experience as an aspiring entrepreneur.

However, I did this not in order to bypass this detail, but in order to pay more attention to it by devoting an entire section to it.

Where can I get the right amount?

To begin with, let's look at all the possible options from where, at least theoretically, you can get money for start-up capital.

1. The first option - take a bank loan either lend money to relatives, friends or private lenders. I will write about this in more detail a little later in the text.

2. The second option - use of personal funds and savings. According to me, this best option if you have free money or savings without a specific purpose for their use.

3. The third option - search for an investor. That is, you need to find someone who will give you money to implement your business plan. Not a bad option, but as a rule, this way you will lose some control over your business even before it opens.

If you want to find an investor, you can contact special startup structures or put your business plan on one of the crowdfunding sites.

Crowdfunding is the group financing of something on a voluntary basis.

In the CIS, these are such platforms as Kickstarter and Boomstarter. By the way, posting your idea on one of these sites, you can understand how feasible it is and how much investors believe in it. Big and small.

4. The fourth option - earn. It’s hard to add anything here, just work and accumulate funds until there are as many as you need to open a business.

5. Fifth option - sell what you don't need property, but one that you can do without. For example, a house in the village, a summer house, a car or an unnecessary decoration. In this case, carefully weigh everything and think about whether it is worth risking what you already have.

6. The sixth option - few people know, but there are many international foundations that donate funds various kinds of undertakings. As a rule, this is everything related to the environment, the fight against poverty, the development of society, and the like.

If your business project directly or indirectly affects these goals, then you can receive a grant to create your own business.

How to start your business from scratch without loans?

Remember the advice from those who built their business from scratch? Among them there is one who says that you should not take a loan to form start-up capital. This is really not worth doing for beginners, and here's why:

1. First, without experience in a novice entrepreneur, the risk of ruin is very high. By taking out a loan, you take on financial obligations that will remain even if you go bankrupt.
2. Secondly, loan payments will eat up the lion's share of your income, which will hinder your development or completely deprive you of income.
3. Thirdly, by taking money on credit, you by and large become under the control of the lender.
4. Fourthly, the need to pay money to the lender every month almost always has a detrimental effect on the emotional state. As a result, the quality of decisions made decreases.

Where did I get the money?

Having calculated in the business plan how much money I need at the initial stage: about 10 thousand dollars for solving technical problems, about 5-10 thousand dollars for promotion and about 3-5 thousand more dollars in order to live until the store will start making a profit. I realized that I was missing half of this amount - 10-15 thousand dollars.
I did not want to take a loan - it is unlikely that they will give it to me without collateral, and if they do, then the interest rate will eat up all the profits.

There was another option with loans to relatives, but as smart men say on television, “modern economic realities did not allow this idea to be implemented, and therefore it is necessary to look for other options to achieve the optimal development of this situation.” Therefore, I decided to follow the proven path - I began to trade binary options more actively.

For those who do not know what it is, I will explain. Binary options are a kind of tool for trading contracts for the purchase of goods with a predetermined time for their execution at a cost predetermined in the contract. With such trading, the trader makes a profit if he correctly determines the movement in the value of the goods.

In other words, if you bought an option on Rosneft shares for $100 with an upward forecast, and the price of these shares increased by 40% before the contract expires, then you will make a profit of $40. If the value of the shares fell, you will lose $100 in full or most of it, depending on where and under what conditions you trade.

As you can see, earnings on binary options come down to predicting the movement of the value of goods. And it's actually not that difficult. In addition, trading can be entrusted to a third party, in which the percentage of successful transactions by binary options quite high - 85-95%. And just make a profit, like with investments, but faster.

Examples of successful stories from new entrepreneurs who built their business from scratch!

Summing up my story beautiful words and I probably won’t praise myself. Let me tell you two more stories of successful business start-ups from scratch that can serve as a good example for you and maybe you will repeat them.

Masha, who could!

I have a great friend Masha, who received a diploma in ethnological history a couple of years ago. When asked why she needed it and how she would earn money, Masha always answered - I like it, but I will somehow get the money.

So, after graduating from the institute, she got a job as a waitress, because of which many made fun of her. And what to dissemble - I also often did it. And to her, at least henna, she was always cheerful and self-confident. Which we attributed to her friendly nature. But after some time we realized how wrong we all were. It turned out that all this time there was a grandiose plan lurking in her lovely head, which she gradually embodied in secret from all of us.

The essence of her idea was simple - to find those who make authentic things of the 16th-19th centuries and find those who need them. You will say that it is simple and everyone can do it! However, by doing so, you only show that you do not know what is at stake.
Yes, there are many copies and surrogates of antiques, but there are very, very few truly authentic, authentic products of antiquity. It's like selling Katanas - there are genuine swords from masters of their craft, which take months, and sometimes even years, to make. And there are simple stamped copies in souvenir shops.

Let's continue the story. It took Masha a little more than one year to carry out her plan. During this time, she traveled around the darkness of cockroach towns and villages, where she sought out blacksmiths and craftswomen needlewomen who do everything the old fashioned way. When enough of them gathered, Masha arranged an exhibition of these products, inviting representatives of the press, owners of firms involved in organizing various kinds of celebrations. In addition, there were many lovers of historical reconstructions.

At the exhibition, our heroine offered everyone to try everything on and with extraordinary generosity handed out her business cards "Representative of the best masters of needlework and blacksmithing." In the end, the idea worked out. Six months later, she put this case, as they say, "on stream." And now he makes fun of us, sometimes.

From photoshopper to head of an art studio.

The second story will be about a simple guy named Dima. He did not stand out in anything special and lived a quiet, calm life, working in a photo studio, receiving quite normal money for this. Dima, as they say, was a professional “photoshopper”. But as often happens, he was not lucky - he met my friend Alla. I love her of course, but frankly, such a "saw" still needs to be looked for. Yes, and her requests are not small.

And when everything became serious with them, she began to eat away his brain with talk about the future, about children and the need to strive for more, which means earning more. Dima, as a true man, of course, resisted for a long time. About a week, but at the end he unconditionally capitulated.

At first, he began to work as a freelancer, fulfilling orders that he received on specialized exchanges. And very quickly, he began to add money. Literally after two months of work as a free mercenary, his salary increased two to three times.
During this time, Dima acquired regular customers and began to cooperate with several freelancers like him, only those who were engaged in programming and copywriting. Together they from time to time made websites for one customer.

Surely you already understand what is going on. Yes - Alla got her way and Dima opened an Art Studio.
I won’t talk about what happened next, as they say - this is a completely different fairy tale, but with a “happy ending”.

Epilogue.

I will probably end my story with one of my favorite quotes: “In baseball, like in business, there are three types of people: those who make things happen; those who look at what is happening and those who are surprised that this is even happening. This was said by the famous basketball coach Tommy Lasorda.
Of course, he talked about his own - about baseball. But, as for me, this is the best parting word for a novice entrepreneur. You have learned how to start your own business from scratch, now act!
Be the one who surprises, not the one who wonders!

Many of those who decide to start their own business cannot decide for themselves what to do with it?

Naturally, if finances are limited or none at all, the ideal option would be to start a small business.

It does not require large investments, like a medium or big business, you can do it without outside help.

Plus, its formation and development is fast.

But there are many questions associated with ideas for small businesses, choosing one of them and then implementing it.

However, the main question is:

How to start your own business?

We develop a business idea

The main thing that a novice entrepreneur should remember is where and how to look?

Decide what you want to do and what properties your idea should have.

An excellent property of a business idea is its uniqueness!

Do not confuse such concepts as a unique business idea and a new business.

They are drastically different.

New business brings to market absolutely new service, not provided anywhere else in principle.

And the uniqueness of a business idea is determined, firstly, by the place where it is planned to be applied, and the time when it should be implemented.

The idea may not be new, but it may become unique in a particular area or city, and the chances of its positive implementation increase dramatically.

For example, if you build new shop products in your area, it will be in high demand, since the nearest such store is only in the neighboring area.

The idea is not new grocery stores enough, but relative to your area, it is unique.

It can take a lot of money to implement a good business idea.

You need to be ready for this. Because of this, many people postpone the implementation of their ideas indefinitely, as they are simply afraid of losing large financial resources.

How to start your own business in this case?

Sometimes such behavior is quite justified, but if something really worthwhile came to your mind, if you thought it through to the smallest detail, you can safely turn to investors!

Real experts in the field of business will never miss the opportunity to invest their money in a worthy project.

In this case, the risk will be justified.

Search for a business idea

First of all, start searching in ordinary life. Look around, watch people.

Remember what they like and what they don't like.

There is a high probability that they require goods of a certain category or services that they are not currently able to receive.

Take this into account and use the collected information as the basis for a future business idea.

The Internet is a great help in finding business ideas.

Special resources will help you find an idea for a small business or you will find an offer to open a new business.

In addition, such resources contain business plans, condemnations, schemes for implementing a business idea, and much more.

But the situation of searching for an idea through the Internet can lead to a paradox.

Many aspiring entrepreneurs, surfing the web in search of a new business idea, begin to consider other proposals in order to find the best option for themselves.

There is such a situation: some ideas are absolutely not suitable and are not considered at all, others need a lot of money to implement, others will not bring much income in a short time.

A novice businessman will not achieve success if he is constantly in a situation of searching for an idea.

He will constantly think about how to start your own business?

New small businesses are being created daily. Some of them will succeed, but many will fall by the wayside. Will your business prosper, or will it join the thousands of others who stumble along the way? Below you will find ten rules that will ensure the growth and prosperity of your small business.

Find a Niche

For a small business, you just need to find a niche. A small company with limited resources can operate very effectively in a narrow market niche. Concentrate your efforts on a narrow enough market supply. What this means is that you should stick to what you do best, you should become an expert in that field.

Realize that you can't be great at everything. By focusing on a narrow market niche, you can avoid an immediate encounter with a larger competitor. If you run a hardware store selling everything from paints to building material, then be sure that the large hardware stores in your area will predict your failure.

However, you can try to limit your offer to, for example, table materials. You can become the best retailer in this segment.

Be small, but think big frequently asked question start-up small entrepreneurs next: “How can I compete with big companies?” A small business has inherent advantages over a large enterprise, including: flexibility, responsiveness, and a more personal approach to the customer. Make sure your business is taking advantage of these areas as they represent the strength of small businesses.

Highlight your product

Explain to your customers the benefits and differences of your product and service. Emphasize the unique solutions you offer them. Avoid copying, very rarely imitators succeed in the market. Therefore, study, but do not copy your competitors. Your product should have easily distinguishable packaging.

First impression matters

Strive for quality and precision from the very beginning. Often you won't get a chance to make a good first impression. And this means the following: well-laid out goods in the store, polite employees, an attractive voice on the phone, etc. However, if your business is a one-man business, remember that you are the center of your business and marketing efforts.

Every person you come across is your potential client or *referral (*i.e. someone who will bring in new clients) in case you impress them as a person or impress them with your professional skills or product.

Make sure that you always look presentable, work professionally and show sufficient knowledge of your business.

Good reputation

Your business revolves on his reputation. You need to build a good reputation for your product and your customer service. Remember that there are two ingredients to success: quality goods and excellent service. Always care about quality. If you are a tax advisor, always strive to create a perfectly accurate, perfectly executed tax return for your clients.

Continuous Improvements

Entrepreneurs know that they should not be rigid in their thinking and should always look for ways to improve products and services. You run the risk of being left behind by fast-moving competitors if you are inclined to the "this is how we've always done it" mindset. The business environment today requires you to find new solutions quickly!

Listen to your customers and clients

Let the market dictate your move: listen and respond to the needs of your customers. Your customers need to feel that they are important to you because they are your customers. By focusing on your customers and gaining their trust, you will not only gain loyal customers, but also people who will recommend you.

Plan your success

An entrepreneur must understand the power of planning. A good plan will help you increase your chances of success, as well as help you define your business strategy, help you choose the right prices, predict sales, and manage your risk levels. The plan tells you where you are going and how you will get there.

Starting a business without a plan is like going to a foreign land without a road map.

Be an innovator

Constantly innovate, keep up with modern technologies. Use change as a springboard to improve your products and your reputation. Always look for new ways to perform operations. Use those that can improve the quality of your products and the effectiveness of your actions.

Work smart

As an entrepreneur, you must have self-confidence + a never-ending sense of urgency to develop your ideas. Research shows that entrepreneurial success is achieved by forward-thinking people who can accept existing conditions as they are; that are subject to these terms and conditions.

They know how to manage their time, realizing the importance of both rest and work. These people often change direction quickly when they see that their previous plans are not working. More importantly, they are aware of their weaknesses and move in the direction of acquiring allies and improving their skills. After all, all this is necessary to put the business on the right track.

They realize the importance of working with the mind. After all, what matters is not the amount of work done, but what exactly you do and how well you do it.