How to Get Your Business Idea Out of Your Head and Into Real Life

We’ve all heard it before. When watching a success story on TV or hearing about it in conversations, there’s always someone who “had that idea first.”

I thought up Facebook, AirBnB, Uber, Amazon, DropBox and countless other ideas long before they became the giants they are today.

Right, right?

Anyone can have an idea, but the difference between success and failure is the ability to execute on your idea and transform it into a business.

The purpose of this article is to guide you through what it takes to get your business idea out of your head and put it to use in the real world.

A lot of people want to start a business.

But few people actually do.

What distinguishes the starters from the dreamers?

The main thing is hustle. I’ll get to that at the end.

But there are some technical (and sometimes confusing) steps between “I’ve got an awesome idea” and “I have a legitimate business.”

Hustle will get you there, but that hustle must be combined with intelligence about what you’re actually doing.

Here’s what you need to know.

1. Tell everyone

If you’re serious about your business, the first step is to tell everyone. You can’t have a business without customers, and you’ll need to constantly promote yourself to obtain them.

Start with friends and family, as you have the most impact on their purchase decisions. A recent survey by Social Media Today found 86 percent of people think friends and family are the most influential on their decisions to buy.

Even if you don’t get a direct sale, you can encourage them to spread the idea to their friends, family, coworkers, and anywhere else. Your social circle is your most powerful marketing tool when first starting a business.

If you can turn your social network into brand advocates, you’ll have a powerful word-of-mouth marketing campaign to get you started.

Here are some more statistics on the power of word-of-mouth advertising.

Business is all about trust, and you should already have a level of trust built with your inner circle, so use that to your advantage to get your business started on the right foot.

2. Fill out the paperwork

If you’ve never started a business before, it requires a bit of paperwork. You’ll need to register your business name with the federal government and file articles of incorporation and media announcements, depending on the state you’re doing business in.

There’s also tax forms and other legal considerations, depending on the nature of your business.

For example, food-based businesses need to register with the health department and submit themselves for regular inspections.

Businesses that sell alcohol need to work with the state’s liquor control board. Make sure you’re properly registered and licensed to do business, or you risk being shut down.

Filling out paperwork (and paying the appropriate filing fees) is what’s known as the cost of doing business, and it’s unavoidable.

Get all legally compliant by making sure it’s all done correctly the first time to avoid expensive fines or closedown.

3.  Register online

Even if you’re in business, nobody is going to know until you have a web presence and are listed on all the appropriate business listing sites.

Marketing budgets for companies large and small are increasingly being dedicated to online, with 37 percent of respondents to a recent survey stating they’re spending more than 75 percent of their marketing budgets on digital.

People search for businesses online through search engines, GPS and mapping programs, social media, and online review sites. You should have a respectable presence on all of these and register your business everywhere you can.

Google, Yahoo, the yellow pages, the BBB, your city’s Chamber of Commerce, Yelp, Foursquare, Bing, there are endless places to register your business, and you can spend several days setting them all up, but once you’re done, the ROI is definitely worth it.

Don’t forget to also create social media accounts on all the popular networks like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Tumblr, and Reddit.

4. Create a website

Whenever I want to see if a company is valid, I look to see if it has its own website before even checking out the reviews.

A website tells me this business is serious and knows what they’re doing, so long as it’s well designed, of course.

Web design is constantly evolving. Today’s Facebooks and Amazons look nothing like the Geocities of yesteryear.

Users’ tastes and sophistication have grown alongside the Internet for the better part of three decades now.

Here are a few helpful tips to designing your next website based on trends for 2016.

Most recent web design changes have occurred because of the rise of mobile computing.

People are more frequently using their smartphones and other mobile devices to access the Internet. If a site isn’t mobile-optimized, it’s difficult to navigate on smaller screens, and 40 percent of visitors will simply leave.

When creating a website, be sure to thoroughly A/B test it by viewing it on as many different devices, browsers, and operating systems to ensure it looks and functions well across the board to avoid alienating any users.

5. Build a portfolio

Once you have everything set up, you need to build a work portfolio. Every client you work with is a case study that can prove the success of your business.

While NDA’s may prevent you from showing off your full body of work, you need a portfolio to show potential customers, clients, and business partners your business’s proof of concept.

Business portfolios help you generate leads, build your network, and gain a reputation in your chosen industry.

Your portfolio can be a simple page on your website showing off major brands you’ve already worked with, links on LinkedIn that show your business partnerships, or even customer testimonials published on your site or externally.

If you’ve been doing business a while, search your business name (or even your own) online to find out what people are going to see if they decide to do a background check.

Always put your best foot forward, even if it means outsourcing some of the work.

6. Outsource and crowdsource

Outsourcing and crowdsourcing are easy ways to accomplish tasks you may not have the aptitude or time for.

Menial and repetitive tasks such as data entry can be crowdsourced, while more advanced tasks like web design, programming, or creative work can be outsourced. This leaves you free to focus on running the actual business.

Here’s a breakdown of the difference between crowdsourcing and outsourcing.

Both crowdsourcing and outsourcing are popular methods utilized by Fortune 500 companies and top ranking brands in every industry. When you have your business running, you can start networking with the established professionals in your industry.

7. Attend conferences and trade shows

Every year hundreds of professional conferences and trade shows are held throughout the U.S., mostly in Las Vegas, Chicago, and Orlando.

These shows are increasingly attended by industry professionals who have buying power, as found by a recent study.

Simply attending these industry events is enough to learn more about the industry, who’s involved, and what trends are emerging. However, if you have the money to rent an exhibit space, you’ll be able to court customers directly from the show floor.

Exhibition costs range from $1000-$1 million, depending on the intricacies of your booth, and I’d recommend attending a trade show at least once before investing in a booth, because you want to make maximum impact.

Here are some more trade show statistics to consider:

Despite the costs, there’s no better place to be seen than a trade show, where a whopping 64 percent of businesses search for new prospects and business opportunities.

Once you get your business established and a dozen or so trade shows under your belt, you’ll be on your way to speaking at them yourself, which brings me to my last point.

Conclusion: Hustle

Life is all about the hustle. Neither me writing this list nor you reading it will replace the hustle and grind of hitting the streets and making it happen.

Although online marketing and ecommerce is important, there needs to be quality substance behind what’s out there. I’ve built several businesses from my hustle and understand there’s no replacement for sweat equity.

Offline marketing the old fashioned way is still nearly half of business prospecting, according to a survey of professionals.

The average person puts in over 8 hours of quality work time every day, and you need to put in double that to get your business going. You’re trying to compete with the best of the best.

There’s always somebody hungrier, and you’ll be swimming with sharks in the business world, so you need to put in real actions every day in order to compete.

Nobody ever won an Olympic medal by sitting around dreaming of ideas all day. Those world-class athletes got where they are today by training and putting in the work.

Everything else you read is just directions, like a map, but it’s up to you to take those necessary steps to make it happen.

Everybody thought of Facebook before Mark Zuckerberg, but he’s the one that put in the work and executed the idea.

What have you done today to make your business idea a reality?