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It takes a special woman to decide she wants to open her own business. Such a woman has brains, guts, perseverance, and doesn’t mind a lot of risk and hard work. A woman who wants to start her own business also knows it is important to be prepared. If you’re planning to start a woman owned business, read on.
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Here are 10 things by Olivia Carter that you should do if you are thinking about jumping into the exciting world of entrepreneurship. Every woman owned business needs to read this.
Table of Contents
10 Things To Do Before Starting A Woman Owned Business
1. Do your research
This can involve a lot of work and can seem overwhelming at first. You need to figure out things like:
- what rent and property insurance would cost
- how much it really costs to hire a staff including the cost of staff benefits
- what kind of taxes you’ll be paying
- what kind of permits you’ll need
The idea is to make sure that a business is feasible before you even spend any money on the project. You can only do this by trying to foresee what you’re in for every step of the way.
Check out these inspiring books that will help you in your business.
2. Come up with a business plan
A business plan is not only for you but it’s also in case you need to borrow money from the bank and show them that you know exactly what you’re doing.
Your plan also includes:
- who your competition is
- how you will compete against them
- how much it will cost you to stay in business
- how much you need to charge your clients
Finally, your plan is a nice way to lay out your goals for the coming year which you can always change over time if you just don’t know where to start you can check out entrepreneur.com. They have some free business plan examples for several different industries
3. Put a marketing strategy together
Yep! You guessed it. More research:
- who are you trying to sell to
- how can you successfully get your message to them
- where will your marketing dollars and energy really be spent
4. Decide on how much money you’ll need and where you will get it
This is something to give a lot of thought to. Borrowing money from friends and family is a notorious way to lose them forever.
For everyone’s peace of mind, you might decide against this. There are always credit cards, but before you use them check with your bank and see what kind of deal they can offer you
5. Look into free money
There are grants available for small business owners, especially women in business. Check out the Small Business Administration website for more information
6. Decide how you’re going to organize your business
Deciding how you’re going to keep your accurate financial and customer records is very important. At first, they may seem like a nuisance, but you need to get organized so you know how much money you’re making or losing and what does work to attract customer.
7. Get help if you don’t know where to start
Free help might be more available than you think. Some University business schools have programs specifically designed to help small business owners get off the ground.
Enrolling in a program will also help you to network with other aspiring business professionals.
8. You can do it on your own
Many college courses caters to specific businesses that people want to start such as planning a wedding.
9. Jump in and get started
Once you have done all of that important research and secured your funding, what’s stopping you? Just jump on it!
10. Stay positive
The majority of businesses aren’t a huge success right away. It takes time and you have to make sure you’re ready for the long haul to see if your business is really going to work.
Do you have what it takes to make your dreams come true? There’s only one way to find out: start working on your business plan today.
Know any women thinking of starting a business this year? Make sure you share these tips with them.
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