Getting clear on your goals so you start the business financing Process on the right foot.
Okay, you've had that epiphany where you've decided that you simply have to give this small business idea a shot, and you're ready to get started.
Your mind is buzzing with a million questions, most of which you don't even know how to find the answer to.
Usually, one of the first and most integral pieces of the puzzle is how you should go about acquiring startup capital for your small or home business.
As we all know, the financial landscape is a constantly changing beast, with up cycles and down cycles.
If this happens to be a down time, you shouldn't let this discourage you, as the down cycles also produce incredible opportunities for those with vision and the guts to put it out there and see what happens.
Presumably you've got an idea of what kind of business you want to get into.
Perhaps it's something to merely augment your current income, or it could be that you've come to the conclusion that you want to replace your job altogether, and work from home as an entrepreneur.
Whatever the scenario, you're probably going to need a few bucks to get started, but before we rush into just how you go about that, let's talk about something even more important:
Your hopes and goals for your new enterprise.
You need to challenge yourself to determine and write down specific goals and aspirations for your business. Yes, I said write them down!
Research has shown that people who write down their stated goals are but a mere 3% of the population!
Is it any surprise that this group is wildly more successful than those who do not write down their goals and business objectives?
Be as specific as you can.
Don't say, “I want to make an additional $10,000 this year.” Break it down. Chunking it into smaller, more manageable goals will make the process much easier.
Try saying something along the lines of, “I'm going to generate an additional $27.40 a day this year.” And if you manage to do that, you'll find yourself $10,000 richer at the end of the year!
Make goals that stretch yourself too. A bar set too low will not bring about the change you desire.
Make your goals ones that, if achieved, will have dramatic results.
This would be the place in a book about small business startups where you'd expect to find a few paragraphs on creating a business plan. Sorry!
Not that you don't need one. At the very least, you need to have an internal document for yourself that details what you want to do.
A formal business plan will be useful only in applications such as traditional bank loans, venture capitalists, sometimes angels, and a few other scenarios.
Most of the time small and home businesses are more bootstrap operations, and the necessity of a formal business plan is not as great.
However, if you do feel as though you need one, don't scrimp on it. Have it done well by someone who knows how. It can be the difference in getting financing or not.
It's also very important at the planning stage to make sure you are doing something that you really want to do.
That may sound like a given, but many times a would-be entrepreneur starts an enterprise based on how much money he or she thinks it might make; never minding the fact that the day to day minutiae of that particular business isn't any better than the job they are trying to leave, and in fact could be worse!
If you are going to take on a small or home business, make sure it is something you don't mind doing, or can outsource. No sense trading one prison for another!
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What Type of Company Will You Form?
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