Aspiring Business Owners: The First Two Critical Steps.

If you have been daydreaming about your new life story as a small business owner, there are two steps to turn your dream into reality.

The two most critical steps in your journey to success as a soon-to-be business owner are your early-stage business research and validation.

For some people, it requires self-discipline. Others who are more analytical will love it. I admit, as a creative type, I fall into the former category. So I am not here to judge if you resist. But the life of an entrepreneur is about stepping out of our comfort zone and putting on our least favorite hats.

To succeed, we must adapt and embrace discomfort when needed.

So, if you want to succeed as a business owner, this is one of those uncomfortable things you need to do.

Tragically, this is a step that most new small business owners skip or skim to their regrets.

It’s unfortunate because it is 20% of your effort that can help you achieve 80% of your successful results.

Which is why it is worth your time.

Even big companies, with their vast resources, do not skip these steps when launching a new product or a new business.

So why not do it when you’re about to make one of the most transformative decisions of your life: becoming a small business entrepreneur?

Why do aspiring business owners skip research and validation?

First, research and validation are not as sexy as naming your business, designing a logo, or coming up with a product based on your inspiration and creativity.

I know from experience how easy it is to fall into the trap of shiny objects when procrastinating on other, less fun but more critical tasks.

So, where does one even begin with researching the best business idea? And how do we exercise the most objective validation?

When exploring your options as a soon-to-be business owner, you will encounter biased opinions. They can influence your decisions.

These biased opinions can be of your own making. As entrepreneurs, we are known for following our gut feelings, a great skill to develop as long as we have the discipline to prove or disprove our assumptions.

These biased opinions can also be from external sources. This is especially true if you are buying a business or a franchise. You’re relying on the advice of a seller, broker, consultant, or franchisor. So keep in mind they all have a vested interest in your decision.

However, most people skip research and validation because it’s overwhelming.

A while ago, I realized what an enemy “overwhelm” is to aspiring business owners. For years, I gave monthly entrepreneurship workshops for recently laid-off employees at the California Employment Department.

There, I met countless workers who had burned out on the corporate job track and dreamed of starting or buying a business for more freedom, income, and meaning.

Yet, the vast majority didn’t know how to begin transitioning from employee to entrepreneur.

As a result, most stayed stuck in the same painful cycle. They kept seeking jobs, interviewing, joining a new company, and getting laid off, usually through no fault of their own. Others would blindly jump into a business idea to their eventual regrets.

Why early-stage research and validation matters:

1- Research avoids misfit businesses: By researching your business idea, you reduce the risk of getting into a business that doesn’t improve your life. The key is to pick a business that aligns with your strengths, purpose, and life goals. It requires a bit of introspection to gain clarity on where you will thrive as a business owner. However, this internal research helps you dodge businesses you will dislike or fail with and pick the business where you will thrive. It keeps you from leaving the devil you know (the job grind) for the devil you don’t know (a business that makes you miserable).

2- Validation saves your resources. Careful validation avoids wasting a lot of time and money on a business that isn’t viable. It’s better to discover potential issues on paper rather than after significant investments. There are two ways to validate your assumptions. One is much costlier and riskier than the other.

• #1- Letting the market validate the business concept and/or the product. This means taking an idea from your gut or from other people’s advice and running with it. Off you go and start or buy the business. You might get a logo, build a website, and if it's a brick-and-mortar business, even sign a lease contract, pay for leasehold improvement and equipment, put up the signage, etc., and boom! You’re Open for Business, with recurring expenses to pay as soon as you open the doors! Then, you wait for the customers to give you feedback with their wallets. Unless you’re lucky at the gambling tables, you’ll soon discover through this trial and error method that too few are buying your stuff. So what do you do now? You return to the drawing table and adjust, change, or pivot your product offering or look for a new audience. Or worse, you spend more money on marketing and advertising to sell the same product. The Small Business Administration reports that 42% of businesses that fail, fail not because they didn’t deliver what they intended to offer. They fail because they spend money and time to create something that customers are not buying. This is the riskiest and most expensive way to prove and disprove a business. Sadly, this is how most small businesses are started.
• #2- Building a solid foundation first: The second way to validate your business idea, or the business you want to buy, is in advance of quitting a job and before investing. Here, you will create a business model on paper before you spend a dime on the business. This is what it means to build your business on a solid foundation before launching it:
• Identify the problem you are solving
• Who you are solving it for
• Where and how to find your customers
• And what solution/product your ideal customers are able and willing to buy
• Then, you build the business model by projecting expenses and revenues and your business’s unique value proposition.

If this sounds lengthy or complicated, don’t worry. With a roadmap, you can complete it in a few weeks. It will be the best investment of your time! Most importantly, it gives you the option of changing your mind or picking a new business idea before you invest in any venture!

At OPEN FOR BUSINESS LAB, we’ve developed a framework to guide you step-by-step through picking and proving your best idea for a business you might create from ground zero or buy. Our methodology, titled RIGHT BUSINESS RIGHT LIFE formula, helps you build a solid foundation to succeed by focusing on these two critical areas:

Researching the right business idea: Whether creating a new business or considering buying an existing one, choosing the right one is essential. This means finding something that aligns with your strengths, purpose, and the life you envision. To get you started, I wrote a book on this topic. It walks you through the milestones of researching and identifying your best-fit business or idea. You can get the book here .

Validating that it will make money: Then, we guide you through the process of proving or disproving your idea or your business acquisition on paper before you invest significant time and money. Once you are confident that you have the right idea and that it will make money, you’ll be ready to plan the grand opening of your business and the launch of your new life as owner of your business!

The best part? You can and should do most of this early-stage work before quitting your job and before investing significant sums into any business. The Right Business Right Life formula gives you clarity and confidence, ensuring you’re on the path to success.

Whether you want to create or buy a business full-time, part-time, with an absentee model, or as a side gig while keeping your day job, the research and validation phase is your safety net in starting the right business for success.

The right business is one that can deliver your ideal life with faster and greater profits.

I invite you to brainstorm the possibilities and start your journey to business ownership with confidence in your success!

Thank you for reading! I’d love to hear your thoughts on the topic. If you enjoyed the article, please give it a nudge by liking it. Cheers! Patricia Bottero Saint-Jean

How to Reinvent Your Life and Career for Freedom and Purpose with UNBIASED Business Research

Before you start any type of business, buy a business, or join a franchise network, read this book. ??

Click here to access it.

Strategize your new life chapter with your business!

If you‘re ready to create your new story with the right business as a vehicle for the life you envision, I invite you to a strategy call.

We will explore your best path in the small — to mid-size business sector as the owner of your livelihood with the right business.

Before you choose any type of business, before you quit a job, and before you invest significant time, money and energy, mapping out your new chapter will help you begin it with confidence in your long-term success.

Click here to book free call.