Building a strong business foundation is a crucial piece of the ‘business success’ puzzle. Your structural foundation needs to provide long-term stability that won’t fall apart under pressure.
It’s so important that I dedicate a whole module to business foundations in my online course ‘The Ultimate Guide to Starting a Business’
The problem when starting and building a business, is that for every legitimate offer of help, there are so many more offering short-cuts that promise extraordinary levels of success, but in reality, they don’t produce the results claimed.
We’ve all come across the self-proclaimed ‘experts’ who offer to teach us the secret to ‘overnight success’ if we pay them thousands for the privilege!
If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is!
My advice: spend some time mapping out your business idea and building a strong foundation on which to build your business. This way you’ll set yourself up for success instead of failure.
Let’s explore a few questions to help get you started on building a strong business foundation…
Do You Have a Viable Business Idea?
In the most simplest of terms, have you done your market research? Is there a need for your products/services? AND are people willing to pay for them?
If you have skills and natural talent, there’s no reason you can’t be successful. Businesses based on trends or fad products have a harder time with sustainability because trends constantly change, which can leave you needing to adapt pretty quickly or close up shop entirely.
Thorough market research will help you to determine the viability of your business idea
Do You Have Start-Up Funds?
Opening a service-based business online is usually a low-cost option but you may still need some form of financial support as you are getting started. You also need to think about the bigger picture and your long-term goals.
Do you plan to employ staff? (Either from day one or further down the line) If so, where will they be based? Will you hire independent contractors? What costs will be involved?
What systems do you need to put in place for recording and reporting your business finances? Will you hire an accountant or bookkeeper? Will you use accounting software? How will you prepare for your tax bill?
As your business grows you may need to upgrade your equipment. Will you need state-of-the-art expensive equipment, or will a simple computer upgrade do the job?
Start-up costs will differ for every individual business
Do You Have a Professional Online Presence?
What does your website look like? Does it portray a professional image, or does it look more like a DIY job? If the latter, how can you improve it? Can you hire a web developer? Or if you’re on a budget, could you take an online course to improve your website skills and knowledge?
Also, look at all your social media profiles. Do they look similar, with current headshot photo and co-ordinated branding? Do your posts talk about your business and field of expertise or are you chatting with your college buddies?
Take an objective review of your online presence and ensure that all your posts and images convey a professional, expert image.
Every business needs to have an online presence
Do You Have a Marketing Plan?
Of course, planning is another vital part of running a successful business. And marketing is an essential step within that plan. You can’t rely on friends and family continuously sending customers your way to keep your business afloat.
Instead, you need to create a marketing plan that is tailored to your business. And with so many options available, deciding where to start with marketing your business, can be overwhelming, this is where a marketing plan comes in.
If you start by building a strong business foundation and have the desire to succeed, you can certainly make it happen. Focus on creating a stable foundation for your business and continuously tweak your marketing plan to attract your ideal customers.
Not a fan of planning? My quick and easy business success planner could be just what you need…
If you keep thinking about starting your own business but don’t know where to start, my new business success plan could be EXACTLY what you need. The Start-Up Success Plan is designed to help you sort out what you want to do and discover if it’s a sustainable idea, all within one weekend. Get started on the right foot with the exercises in this business success plan. Find out more here
