Step 1: Find a Need
Find out what people want and where to get great ideas to start your business. Consider visiting trade shows; reading trade magazines, looking at catalogues or visiting retail stores. Look around you and pay attention to advertisements, brochures and fliers. Consult directories in reference libraries or visit foreign trade commissioners. Use the Internet to find ideas or buy wholesale on eBay and sell the products individually. Consider selling on a consignment basis Expand a hobby into a business or create your own products.
Step 2: Conduct Research
How to use the Internet as well as traditional sources to conduct your market research. Conduct a market survey and use your own "Gut Feel" marketing. Use the Internet and search engines together with traditional sources of marketing information.
Step 3: Prepare Your Plan
How to go about preparing your plan and the topics it should cover. Look at the structure of business plans for different industries such as manufacturing, the service industry, retail or the construction trades.
Step 4: Locate Financing
An extensive chapter shows you how to use your plan to obtain financing and what an investor or lender is looking for in your plan. Why the deal structure is so important and how to decide between debt or equity. Learn about the characteristics of informal investors (or "Angels"); what they are looking for and where to locate them. Examine debt financing and the different types of bank loans. Consider the preliminary steps to take before you apply for a loan and take a view from the banker's side of the desk on how your loan application is reviewed. Beware of collateral requirements.
Step 5: Start Operations
Take a look at the choices you have for the legal form of your business together with registration for sales taxes. Also, learn how to protect your trademarks. Prepare your operating plan.
Step 6: Advertising & Marketing
Take a look at the "Hooks" for the business market and the different ones for the consumer market Learn how to use direct mail to sell your products or services and discount rates that are offered for bulk mailings. Find out how to develop your own internal mailing list or how to use the services of list brokers. Take a look at the basic ingredients of the mailing piece. Learn the basics of telephone marketing, fax broadcasting and the role of the Do-Not-Call List. Find out about the secrets of newspaper and magazine advertising; using the classifieds, the Yellow Pages, professional and trade directories. Take a look at advertising on radio and television. Find out how to display in trade shows, fairs and flea markets. How to get free publicity and how to sell through house parties. Learn to use permission based e-mail and e-newsletter as advertising and marketing tools and avoid being labelled as spam.
Step 7: Monitor Your Progress
Constantly review how you are doing and be prepared to change your strategy.