1. Think big, act small.
All businesses start out small and can achieve franchise status. Each step you take leads to a bigger step and eventually you will be leaping. The idea for your business should be a solution to a problem, a business that supplies a need. Find out if there is a better way to fulfill the customer. Offer products and supplements that no other company offers or offer them with your business's own unique take on them. This will ensure that your business does not become another generic consumer experience. Attend markets and festivals as a vendor for your business to gain exposure with a variety of people. Not a lot of entrepreneurs will have the revenue to own a lease or lot for their business, so a direct approach is always more personal and efficient. Eventually, the wheel will be spinning faster and faster until you have yourself a reputable and favorite establishment.
2. Find your niche.
As an entrepreneur, you must understand the demand to understand the supply. If there are a dozen Starbucks coffee shops within five miles of each other, opening up a coffee shop in that area would be more difficult, but not impossible. What kind of coffee shop could be so different and lucrative enough to make those early risers think twice about their allegiance to Starbucks? Are their menu items that are favorites that can be kept or are there items that could be replaced with new flavorful options? What kind of atmosphere would your coffee shop have that Starbucks could never have? The niche can be similar to another business but it must be situational enough to stay uniquely yours.
3. Study similar businesses.
Conduct a field study of similar businesses. Narrow down the most important operations of these businesses and compare them to your own. The interactions you have with employees, customers, and even other businesses will determine the work you do for them and yourself. Know how to handle a customer dispute if the occasion should arise. Go through every scenario that these businesses face on a daily, monthly, and annual basis. No detail is too small to be unimportant. Anything that could go unnoticed, will go unnoticed, so look for how other businesses could improve and add the necessary improvements to your own business.
4. Be your own boss but be the customer.
Think about the core values of your business as it relates to your customers. What kind of image are you presenting to your audience? Is it a sarcastic, self-effacing, and humorous workplace or is it a serious but friendly one? Does your business have a recognizable logo, mascot, or face? Make sure it is eye-catching but not too abstract. Work on your business's name also and decide on a name that states exactly your services or the products you sell. Entrepreneurs are their own individuals with self-employed empowerment, but a good entrepreneur will keep the customer close in mind as well. You have to know what your customer is thinking before they tell you what he or she is thinking. Concrete transparency and clear outlines for your business will cast away all doubts the customer may have.
5. Have online presence.
When it comes to business, your presence is the best present you can give to your customers. They want their questions answered and they want to reach you when you are not available. Having a website will gain you more exposure than a single afternoon of networking will. Of course, networking in person is still a considerate and professional habit you should never outgrow. When building your website, introduce yourself, your business story and mission, that way new visitors will learn more about you here than they would over the course of a transaction. In addition to your website, having a social media presence will help you network even more and discover people who appreciate your work and do what you do. People who are curious enough will stay and come back for more when you increase your outreach offline and online.
Entrepreneurship is a risky business, but so is life. Take the risk and find your success.
