When should I start a business?

A lot of people have great ideas, but when do you know if it makes sense to start a business?

I found a great video that answers this question.

How would you answer the question?

 

Search the market and find a niche.

 

Would you define a niche by lack of competition or by market size. How would you suggest finding your niche? Care to share any personal experiences?

 

You need to pick a niche before you can start your business. Pick a niche that you can harvest, if it is a saturated niche you need to find a way to differentiate your product among the competitors and deliver superior value to your customers. You can do this by having better customer service, quicker delivery, a more efficient/effective product, new design etc...

If your experimenting with a niche that is relatively new and has little competition you need to find a way to create demand for your new product. The best way to do this is exactly what your video discusses: find a pain/problem, then build your business foundation based on fixing your customers problem.

A niche doesn't describe the market (competition or size), a niche defines the type of product you offer and the features your product has. But each niche has their own separate demographics, market size, competition, demand and prices...

 

when you think about starting a business......first you have to evaluate. Determine, try to use the idea which can make money etc.....

 

The sooner, the better... In my opinion.

 

Only once you have a proper business plan.

 

I am in the wholesale footwear business manly providing footwear to schools, colleges, prisons and the general public, I started around 2 years ago, but the business really took of when Big Brother wanted plimsolls, since then I have supplied them every year since the last show.

News paper article
http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/Entrepreneur-sells-pumps-to-the.5859900.jp

 

DOn't delay too much, just do it !

 

When you have a proper business plan.. marketing strategy.. enough man power and operation from the start till finish.

 

great question - there's no definitive answer. Key for me is market research, is there evidence to support your initial business hypothesis? Competitor analysis and market opportunity studies should be your first port of call to see if it is in any way viable before you spend time or money on this.

 

sooner is better.
When you already know what you must to do, do it

 

Truth is simple these days......

Anyone with an idea and the where with all to see it through can succeed no matter the business, no matter the niche and no matter the market.

You can test the waters without necessarily having a solid business plan in hand. The best part about online business is that it is all digital and can be altered, edited and changed on the fly.

Find something you have interest in and take it to the masses. Educate yourself on the needs to succeed such as marketing, appeal, aesthetics and usability. If your idea can solve a problem, then there's someone looking for your solution!!

Best of luck and get going!

Cheers!

 

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

Once you fully planned your idea, and have enough resources in place to fund it for the first 3-6 months (at least - normally a year) then you are in a position to start.

 

@NPSF3000

10 years ago, I would have completely agreed with you... But these days, if you take a look at many of the current top players around the net, most of them didn't start with an official "plan". Many of them started as a mere idea or concept that played out into a plan. Hence, that the resource part of your statement holds more water then the earlier statement of "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail".

Cheers!

 

Planning is still important. It doesn't have to be the very first thing you do, but you have to do one early on in the business.

For example, you might start up a web host with no plan, and even be successful. However, 6 months down the track when suddenly your hard-drive fails, and you realize not only did you forget to tell make a backup you didn't tell your clients this... Its even worse when you don't have the capital to deliver on your SLA/Garuntee, and you are now plagued by debt and bad review.

There is nothing wrong with experimenting first - but to be a "Business", rather than freelance and hobbiest one still has to plan.

 

Absolutely agreed..