Do It Your Way: Starting Your Own Business

Beginning in the early 1990s, increasing numbers of women grew tired of climbing someone else's corporate ladder or grew tired of not climbing it and decided to create their own. Today, approximately 10.6 million firms in the United States are 50 percent owned by women. These businesses employ 9.1 million people and generate $2.6 trillion in revenue. These numbers are expanding every day: two out of the three businesses being launched are owned by women.

Opening your own business can be a solution for women attempting to balance work and family or for women desiring to work independently. When you are the boss, what you say goes. By owning their own businesses, women can set flexible schedules or even involve their children in the work itself. If you are interested in this career path, here are a few steps recommended by the Office of Women's Business Ownership on how to create your own successful business.

Understand your capabilities. Focus on your personal skills, experience, and successes (don't be modest). What are your strengths and weaknesses? How would someone else answer that question? What specific talents do you have? Make a list of your business knowledge, especially the knowledge of the industry in which you plan to work. Also, understand how you make decisions. Entrepreneurs must often make decisions quickly and without the help of others. As a guide, you could take this Entrepreneurial Test for a quick, preliminary assessment of your entrepreneurial skills.

Choose your direction. Most small business start off as one of the following: a spin-off from your present occupation, a hobby or special interest, an answer to the question "Why isn't there a…?," a shortcoming in the products or services of others, a new way of using ordinary items, an observed need, a technological advance, or changes in social customs. Spark any bright ideas? It is important to find a niche or position in the market that is not being served properly by existing businesses.

Consider your financial situation. Most experts recommend having six months of savings before beginning a business because a gap exists between starting a business and making money. As a result, you can list your fixed expenses (insurance, home or property payments, car payments, grocery bills, and utilities) and your flexible expenses (clothing, entertainment, gas money or other transportation expenses, personal spending). After calculating these, subtract them from your expected annual income in order to see how much money you can set aside for starting a business. Then, take a look at this page for determining how to finance starting a business, how to calculate potential start up costs, and how to understand leasing, insurance, and general accounting for a business: the Finance Center

Approximately 75 percent of small business owners use money from their personal savings to begin a business; however, there are other options such as bank loans, family members, partners, friends, venture capitalist firms, mortgaged property, or loans from the government. It is important to remember that the more money you borrow, the less control you will have.

Research the market. Market research is a systematic, objective collection of data about the customers you would like to target, the industry in which you would like to operate, the competition in that industry, and the general economic environment. This information can tell you general characteristics of potential customers, their financial capabilities, the perceived values or beliefs of your target audience, the strategies and products of competitors in an industry, the external environmental factors that could affect your business (i.e. politics, interest rates, international relations). You should set aside some money and some time to conduct informal research in a library or on the internet and to conduct more formal research such as questionnaires, surveys, or focus groups.

Design a business plan. With this research, you can then develop a business plan, which includes an Executive Summary, Market Analysis, Company Description, Organization and Management, Marketing and Sales Strategies, Services or Product Lines, Funding Requests, Financials, and Appendix. This stage involves setting goals and applying the research you have gathered. See the Essential Elements of a Good Business Plan for in-depth explanations for each of these areas.

Choose a name that is easy to pronounce and easy to remember. Make sure that the name is not similar to those of other competitors and that it could be easily found in a telephone listing. It is also important to allude to the general service or product offered by the business in the name.

Find a location. When choosing a location, you should consider the availability of potential customers and of potential employees, the general business climate in the area, the proximity of competition, zoning regulations, ease of access, and the future growth or decline potential of the area. Once you have found a general location, you should ask yourself about the rent of buildings, about available utilities and electronics, adequate storage facilities, room for expansion, and parking access.

Sound daunting? It is important to recognize that starting your own business takes work. However, it can offer benefits as well as personal rewards that can make your hard work worthwhile. Do not give up: persistence is key. Here are some more resources to get you on your way!

* Browse through the links offered by the Center for Women's Business Research for more information.
* You can also look into the programs offered by the Office of Women's Business Ownership in your state.
* Check out the list of Women's Business Organizations available through the Women's Business Center.
* Stay updated on Entrepreneurial News with StartupJournal.com - a section of the Wall Street Journal Online for entrepreneurs.

delicious

digg

technorati

Email this page