Independent Woman: Starting A Small Business

Independent Woman: Starting A Small Business

This article is the first part of the first in a series that will focus on making you tap into every aspect of your femaleness in building a successful, complete, independent woman.

Starting anything new is often challenging, causes anxiety, and is riddled with uncertainty. The odds are much better when you plan out every stage of the process. This article provides practical guidelines for starting your own business. Go through it carefully and keep a copy handy for when you need to implement it.

1. Write and Review Your Business Plan

a. Ask trusted friends or professional advisors to review your business plan to make sure that you are not overlooking anything critical or making inaccurate assumptions.

b. You could ask;

a friend who owns his or her own business

a loan officer at the bank where you do business

an accountant (ask for an estimate for reviewing your plan first)

2. Be Creative and Ingenious. Market Smartly

• Starting a new business when the economy is in a downturn takes creativity and ingenuity. Marketing is vital to getting ahead of the game and your competitors.
  • Take your business plan and really flesh out the marketing components.
    • What exactly are you going to sell,
    • who are your targeted customers,
    • how will you price your products or services,
    • and what is your plan for promoting your business?

3.Start Small But With A Plan To Expand

• Manage your expectations and your expenses by starting as small as possible. Then plan to expand when business takes off.
  • Review your business plan and reconsider what you need to start.
  • For example, could you start in a smaller and less expensive location, or stay virtual by eschewing a physical office completely?
  • After deciding the best, most affordable space for your business, think about your staffing needs.
  • Before hiring full-time employees think about filling needed positions with independent contractors, temporary workers or part-time staff.
  • Remember, save money but save smartly: Ensure they are still really good!

NB: Tailor each piece of advice here to your specific need.

Watch out for the second part of this article. And every article in the Independent Woman series.

Thank you for reading.

Have a lovely day.