3 Questions you need to answer before starting your business.

1. Have you done your market research?

Have you done your marketing research on the industry in which you want to start your business? Do you know who the suppliers are? What is the value of the market? How many players are already in the market? What is the competition? Are they big box stores or small independents? What are their revenues? What is the industry profit margin?

What is the size of your community? What is the likely revenue from the community? Is your community large enough to support your business?

Who is your competition? Are they located in the same community drawing from the same customer base? What are their revenues? What is their profit margin? What can you offer to make you unique?

Are there specific niche markets where you can target your business?

 
2. Are you the kind of person who likes to do things, or are you the idea person?

Have you critically assessed you strengths and weaknesses? So you know the areas in which you are going to require employees or professional assistance?

Are you the type of person who likes to get right into the fray and ‘get your hands dirty’? Do you prefer to have a definite, repetitive procedure to follow? Are you upset with change and uncertainty? Are you an idea person who can think of great ideas, but are not able or prefer to not be the person to execute them? Are you a ‘fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants’ type person trying to start a hands-on, detailed, repetitive process?

What is the best business match for your personality type?

 
3. Do you have the financial resources in place? How are you going to support yourself and family?

You may be passionate about starting a new business, but those day-to-day living expenses will still keep rolling in. How will you pay the rent, the mortgage, and the utility bills while you are getting your business going? In essence – how are you going to keep the ‘lights on’ at home while you get your new business to the profitability stage?

Do you have a family to support? Are the kids in university or on their own? Can they support themselves? Do you have a working spouse that can carry the bills while you start your business?

While these aren’t all the questions that you need to ask yourself, they are the ones most often suggested by business owners from their own experience. They are also the most often questions asked by business financiers who want to know that you have the knowledge and ability to start the business, plus will not need to take valuable capital out of the business to live on before it becomes successful.

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