Thinking About Starting A Small Business? 10 Pre-Business Questions You Should Ask Yourself

If you’re thinking about becoming self-employed, there are plenty of aspects for you to consider. In this article we’ve detailed some of the initial questions you should ask yourself before making any commitments. These questions should help you determine whether you’ve considered everything you need to when it comes to starting a small business…

1. Are you a determined and capable person? Do you give up at the first sign of a struggle? Most people have the ability to be strong and positive, but whether they can maintain it when the going gets tough in small business is a totally different thing. Unfortunately, if you do give up easily, you probably won’t get on very well in the self-employment field. There are plenty of scary factors in business, but of course these ease with time. You will need to be dedicated if you are to survive any time at all.
2. Are you in the right circumstance to start a business? Many like the idea of starting their own business, but circumstance will determine how and when you might be able to do this. This is the wonderful thing about the internet and an internet based business, because you can work on a business idea around your other commitments – just don’t be too quick to give up you current job, should you have one, particularly if you rely upon this income to pay any current commitments, such as a mortgage or credit card debts.
3. Are you a people person? Another huge disadvantage in business is to go it alone and take on all the pressures business can bring. Many often proclaim that they will make it by them selves, without anyones help… Big mistake – it will take you more than twice as long to become successful in business and it will cause you a lot of unnecessary heart-ache! Working with others will help your dream become a reality much quicker than doing it all alone.
4. What market are you interested in joining? This is of course an important factor in business, and you will need to research everything about your industry, from your competition to economical patterns; weigh up whether you can offer anything different to what your competition offers - find out what they are doing and whether it is working. If there is no competition, however, then there may not be a market. By doing your research you can learn a lot about your industry and you can find out what your consumers want; observe what is user friendly and what isn’t.
5. What audience are you aiming to reach? It is essential that you identify your target audience because this will determine which tools and routes to market you will use for your business. Get right down to the nitty gritty…gender/age/location/income/size – every aspect of your audience that you can identify. This will help you to establish the type of places you might like to be seen (relevant to your sector/industry) for the best return or awareness strategy, which will be essential for your imminent success.
6. What are you going to offer your customers? What exactly have you got to offer your consumers? Is it original? Is it of value to them and are you addressing a need or desire of theirs? An increasingly popular form of building relationships is offering something to your consumers for nothing; for example, free advice, tips and ebooks, so they get to know a bit about your work and you first, and it has proven to work very well for business.
7. How are you going to present your self or your business? You may think that this is less and less important, but you would be very wrong. First impressions are so important and they essentially will create the relationship between you and your customer, whether it is through a website or face to face. Your image represents your work and your service, so make it good! Originality and difference is the key.
8. Will you be looking to link with a complimentary business? Linking & back-linking is a recognised and popular way of optimising your business site for search engines (Search Engine Optimisation is often referred to as SEO). If you intend to use this type of tool, (you should) try to make sure that your ‘complimenting’ links are complimentary back. i.e. don’t just place links everywhere – make sure they are relevant and useful to your consumers, otherwise you may as well delete your subscription list now! The other form of complimentary products and services is discussed in this article.
9. What communications will you be using? Communications is a vague word because there are all sorts of different things you can do, but an increasingly popular form of business communication is e-marketing. E-mail is used as an alert for new products, news and services, but it doesn’t stop there – increasingly popular and new forms of marketing, such as video and audio marketing, add a personal touch to your business communications and have a proven success rate. This is not to say, however, that the older paper communication forms are not good – we are sure you will agree, it is still nice to get a piece of post with your name on that is not a bill…
10. How do you deal with failure? Most successful business people failed before they succeeded, but they didn’t give up. How do you react when things don’t quite go to plan? You need to be motivated in business and very willing to face up to and learn from your mistakes.

These 10 questions, and your answers, should give you a good idea of whether you’re a budding entrepreneur. We hope you are, but there’s nothing worse than deceiving yourself when it comes to business!

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