How to Start, Run and Grow your Business

Starting a business is one of the best decisions a person can ever make in life. Of course, everyone have an idea or two running through their mind, especially during those moments in the shower. A business with a solid foundation and effective management goes beyond satisfying its owners; it also impacts the environment in which it operates (employees, customers, government, competitors, etc.).?

Starting a business is somewhat of a burden or a no-go area for most people. They feel it's meant for a certain category of people. What they do not understand is that the desire or ability to start and grow a business relies greatly on passion. Most successful businessmen and women (or entrepreneurs, as we millennials call them) are not born with those attributes; they simply develop them by learning and putting into action what they have learned.?

Fear of failure is an inevitable occurrence in business. It is the reason so many ideas are never given birth and has also caused the death of many startups. One's attitude towards fear and failure is key to success in business; failure is not to be seen as a dead-end but rather as a learning process. Fear, on the other hand, can be dealt with by acquiring as much knowledge as possible about the project you have decided to embark on and believing in yourself.?

Below are well-documented steps for starting, running, and growing your business.

Choose Your Niche.

This is an easy but critical step in starting a business. A niche could be anything: a product or service that interests you or that you are knowledgeable about. It entails finding that thing you are passionate about, what your capabilities are, developing the skills you have, evaluating the ideas that have been running through your mind, scanning your environment at large to detect problems that you can solve, and as well make money from. When choosing your niche, you should also consider the fact that what consumers are willing and able to buy is of greater importance than what you can sell. An article on Entrepreneur.com, "8 Ways to Come Up with a Business Idea," can help you break down potential business ideas into implementable chunks.

Do Market Research

Engaging in market research is a must-do to achieve success in business as you are going into a completely strange environment. Marketing research will help you get to know the product or service better and will help you answer questions such as:?

• Is anyone already doing this business?
• Who are its consumers?
• What is the market size?
• What triggers people to buy this product?
• How do competitors distribute or sell their products?
• What could go wrong, and what are the available remedies?
• At what price is it offered? and so on.

This information can be gathered through face-to-face interviews, the use of questionnaires, personal observations, searching the internet, etc.

Evaluating the accumulated information will help you generate ideas such as:

• How can I rebrand this product to make it more attractive and preferable?
• Which system of production will be required?
• What type of marketing program can I adopt?
• What should be my target market size, demography, and price?

Developing a Business Plan

A business plan is a written document that contains various steps, strategies, procedures, operational plans, and policies adopted for the ascertainment of the goals and objectives of a business; it spells out the nature, type, and structure of a business, its competitive, marketing, and financing strategies, and also serves as a checklist for a business. It is developed by analyzing the resources available at the inception of a business, determining how to source other resources, and making choices among alternative decisions on how to utilize the available resources effectively and efficiently. The outcome of a business plan may not be finite compared to the result expected as regards the documented plan, as it's just a forecast of a possible outcome.?

However, a business plan should be developed in such a way that the desired goals and objectives are attainable to a reasonable level. This document contains various sections, such as:?

• A description of the products the company plans to sell or services to render
• Target customers' profile
• Plans for the expansion of the business
• Company mission & vision statement
• Principal members
• Legal structure (e.g., sole-proprietorship, partnership, or LLC)
• Market research (e.g., competitor profiles, plans on how to acquire a larger share of the market, companies' advantages over competitors, pricing strategy, and so on).
• Competitive strategy (cost leadership or differentiation)
• Research and development
• A SWOT analysis of the business
• Growth strategy
• Maintenance policy
• Production system
• Human resources
• Financial forecasts and many more

Upon the development of a detailed business plan and its implementation, effective controls should be put in place to monitor and compare actual performance against the standard, with necessary actions taken to correct unfavourable variances, ensure adherence to rules and regulations that guide the activities of the business, and also ensure that the resources of the company are utilized most productively. A well-developed business plan will attract investors, which will, in turn, enhance business growth.

Get Your Business Registered

This is an important stage in the business formation process; it is the process of incorporating a company under a particular jurisdiction. This involves choosing your preferred business structure (e.g., sole-proprietorship, partnership, or limited liability company to name a few), forming a business name for identification, filing necessary documents with corporate affairs authorities and the relevant tax authorities in your country, and obtaining operating permits and licenses.

For ease of this process, consulting a professional (e.g., an accountant, a tax consultant, a lawyer, etc.) is advised. Proshires Consulting Group renders top-notch services in this area.

The benefits of registering your company:

1. Opening a bank account: proof of company registration (e.g., a certificate of incorporation or business name registration) must be provided before you can open a bank account in your company's name. It is more professional to give a company bank account to a client. This will boost trust between the two parties. It will also help to separate business activities from personal activities.
2. Perception of customers, suppliers, and investors: Registering a company will enable it to be regarded as a legal entity, thus assuring its legitimacy, which will, in turn, attract customers and investors, and also enable you to get credit from suppliers, giving room for expansion.
3. Hiring employees: A registered company can easily attract suitable personnel to fill its vacancies to ensure the effective and efficient running of its day-to-day activities.
4. Preventing idea theft: Registering your business name will help to ensure your business ideas are not stolen by the people you pitch them to.

Financing Your Business

Raising capital for a startup is the most common problem business owners face, and it is often the excuse people give for not starting their own business. Capital (money) is the lifeblood of a business and can become an obstacle to a business if not sufficiently supplied, as some businesses require a lot of capital to start. Startup capital can easily be sourced if owners know where to look.

Below are ideas on how to raise capital for a startup:

1. Start with your savings: This is the safest means of funding a startup. Of course, starting a new thing in life usually comes with different forms of sacrifice; if you are willing to transform your ideas into their physical or monetary equivalent, you should not have any problem committing part of your income towards that purpose. Investing your money first in your business will help you to be more committed, reduce risk to the barest minimum, and also make it easier for you to convince your friends, banks, or investors in the future if the need arises. Your saving period, if utilized productively, will allow you to execute other non-monetary steps in the process. For instance, while I was saving to set up my blog, I was also busy writing, editing, and proofreading my posts and other necessary tasks.
2. Seek assistance from family and friends: If your savings is not enough to start or scale your business, your friends and family are the next reliable group of people you can seek help from. As I mentioned earlier, your commitment to saving for your business will help convince your friends and family to assist you. Moreover, you have a great influence on this group of people due to the emotional connection between you. They are always willing to see you grow. We have heard of many businessmen who got their startup capital from parents, grandparents, siblings, and friends and are still doing well to date. Some notable ones are Jeff Bezos (Amazon) and Aliko Dangote (Dangote Group).
3. Engage a partner: We all have people around us who have the capital to start a business but are either too busy to consider starting one or not interested in business at all. You can pitch your well-planned business idea to such people, who could be a dormant partner in your business depending on your agreement. You should learn how to handle rejection before approaching anyone as some of their responses could be discouraging, and some can go to the extent of condemning your business idea, so be prepared for such a scenario and don't let it affect you.
4. Pitch your business ideas to venture capital firms: VCs are companies or individuals that have funds and are willing to invest in innovative projects and startups with high growth potential in exchange for equity stake.
5. Obtain a bank loan: This is a common source of financing for a business. You can approach a bank to finance your startup, so long as you meet their requirements. Most banks usually require collateral or a guarantor before they can release their loan. Obtaining a loan might not be advisable for a startup as the high-interest rate being charged on the loan can kill the business. Furthermore, banks might not be willing to release their loan to a new business; they prefer to finance an already established business. However, you can take advantage of the financial packages being introduced by banks for the benefit of emerging entrepreneurs. Before you approach a bank for a loan, make sure you do thorough research on their loan facilities.
6. Apply for a business grant: There are so many companies or foundations out there that are ready to finance startups and talents with little or no interest charged. A very popular one is The Tony Elumelu Foundation in Africa which has already sponsored over 10000 startups. All you need to do is register by filling in the application form online and answering some mandatory questions to give them an idea about your business. You can access the application portal here: https://tefconnect.net/. These companies also assign coaches/mentors who will guide and assist you in setting up your business. Business guides are also made available in printed format by these organizations.

Note: It's advised that your business idea attend to at least one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as set by the United Nations. This will boost your chances of getting financing easily, as most investors are usually looking for businesses that are sustainable, can help to solve a problem in society and are also environmentally friendly.

Get a Location

A business location could be a store, an office, or even online (website, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, and possibly soon, Metaverse), depending on your needs. Securing a business location is essential for easy access to your prospective clients or customers.

Factors to consider when choosing a business location:

1. Proximity to the market
2. Cost
3. Government policy
4. Availability of basic materials

A business location can be sourced from advertising agencies on the internet or by consulting estate agents around you.

Some businesses can also operate from home, at least for a start. This will help you to save on rental costs.

Build Your Team

Assembling a talented and diligent workforce will help your business grow fast and compete in the market successfully. Of course, this still largely depends on the effectiveness and efficiency of the management and control system in place. Analyze the labour requirements for your newly established business venture and embed it in your business plan. At first, you might not be able to afford to hire the talents that you need. At this stage, most of the work will be done by you, but as you grow, you can start hiring the necessary talents that you need, and ensure they key into the values and vision for your company, also create an environment that will allow them to continuously learn, innovate, and solve problems.

Scale Your Business

At this stage, it is assumed that your business venture is already running successfully and ready for expansion. Therefore, proper care must be taken to prevent the business from collapsing. This stage is very critical if you want to achieve your vision of making your business a global brand, it's a stage most small business owners are scared of and instead choose to remain small. Growing and expanding your business is encouraged. However, it can be very risky and costly, so ensure you plan well.

To start your business expansion process, you must calculate your risk, accurately forecast possible outcomes and most importantly pay attention to your cash flow and working capital. At this point, you can introduce debt financing to your equity if you have not already done so, it comes with some benefits and will help put your managers on their toes to deploy their best. Consulting a financial expert is advised at this point.

Ways in which you can expand your business

1. Entrance into a new market (local or international)
2. Introduction of a new product
3. Acquiring or merging with another company to form a bigger corporation
4. Forming an alliance with another company to set up a joint venture locally or internationally
5. Turn your product or service into a franchise (both local and international)
6. Investing in technology and creating a presence on the web
7. Doing IPO (Initial Public Offer) in other words, listing your company on the stock exchange market thereby becoming a PLC (Public Listed Company).
8. You can also leverage Free Trade Agreements in your jurisdiction of operations like AfCFTA, NAFTA, CAFTA-DR and many more, to export your goods and services to other member nations at little or no tariff, these agreements help to promote ease of trading between these nations.

To ensure the continuous growth of your business, you must always measure your performance on a periodic basis and if possible real-time, compare your actual performance with your forecast/budget, competitors or the industry index, stay relevant on the latest trends in your industry and the economy at large, seek and leverage opportunities to form an alliance with supporting companies/industries, continuously work on reducing your production and operating costs while also increasing your revenue, and always leverage technology in your operations. In all your expansion measures, always make sure you maintain or improve your values, standard and quality to ensure your business sustainability.

In conclusion, starting a business is good and encouraged, but be aware it requires a lot of sacrifices, commitment, consistency, investing time and money, taking risks and building relationships. But starting one is worth it, as businesses are the only means by which wealth is created and maintained and they are the lifeblood of every economy.

Are you planning to start a business, already started one, or experiencing some challenges in your existing or upcoming business, let me know how I or other readers can help. You can also reach out to Proshires Consulting Group, they offer consulting services (pro bono and paid) on careers, branding and enterprise solutions).

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