3 Practical pieces of advice for entrepreneurs starting out.

As the new year starts a lot of you may be thinking of starting a business. Below are 3 pieces of advice I wish I had before going into business.

• Is there an actual demand for the product or service you are offering?

The service or product you are offering may solve some of the world's biggest problems but if there is no market or demand, it will be extremely difficult for you to get your business off the ground. You will need to spend and invest a lot of money upfront solely on making people aware of your solution which may not even result in a sale, download, acquisition or whatever you are trying to achieve. Be aware, if there is no demand in the market, it may not be the right time and you will likely need a lot of investment.

On the other hand, if you launch a niche product/service that is in demand with few competitors, your main challenge is to present and put the service and product in front of the right people.

• Profitable from day one

If you are just starting, you should aim to be profitable as soon as possible, everything becomes a lot easier when you are profitable, you have a proof of concept, you can reinvest, you can attract investors a lot easier. At the end of the day, the goal of a business is to run a profit.

If ever you are successful in raising a lot of capital do not let this fool you and make sure your goal is still to turn a profit as quickly as possible.

• Choose if you want a lifestyle business or a business to scale and sell 

Both are run very differently. 

Do you want a business that will generate you a nice steady income year after year, that you can see yourself running for many years to come and maybe until your retirement? 

Or do you want to commit your life and make sacrifices for a couple of years for a big buyout? 

It’s important to realise which of these 2 categories your business falls in. A lot of business owners want the big buyout in a couple of years but do not realise that they are running a lifestyle business. Be aware of this and decide at the beginning what type of business suits you best for your life and happiness.

I hope you found these 3 pieces of practical advice helpful and would love to hear what practical advice you would give. Please comment below!