How to Start a Profitable Business from Scratch

Human needs are unlimited and this is thus, the cause of its insatiability. That's why we keep searching for better jobs. That's why we keep waking up early so we don't get fired. That's why we keep trying harder and expecting promotions at work. That's why we keep looking for other means of earning extra cash and better places to spend this hard earned money. That's why we keep working as long as we live. To earn money—to make profit. Looking at life from a very critical point of view, you'll agree with me that everything we do to survive is all about making profits and to me, that's what business is.

Alternatively, the term business refers to an organization or enterprising entity engaged in commercial, industrial, or professional activities. Businesses can be for-profit entities or they can be non-profit organizations that operate to fulfill a charitable mission or further a social cause. Businesses range in scale from sole proprietorships to international corporations and can range in size from small to large. The term business can also be used to define the efforts and activities of individuals to produce and sell goods and services for profit. [1] 

Haven said that, in this article, we're going to be focusing on how to start up a profitable (or for-profit) business from scratch. You don't have to be an expert to start up your own business and earn good money from it. All you need is an idea and this article, and you're good to go. But be sure to properly follow all the instructions here to avoid making mistakes while laying the foundations for your tower. Below are the steps, enumerated chronologically and expatiated.

1. Draft a Good Business Plan. 

"He, who fails to plan, plans to fail". In the same manner, coming up with a very creative and strategic business plan is basically the major step you need to setup a business that pays cool cash. This is because your plan is what you execute later on; It is what tells you what to do at the end of the day. So if you have a bad plan, then every other decision you'll take in the future will be based on it and that won't be good for you and your business, right? I'll advice you to take your time while drafting your business plan. It shouldn't be something you rush into, because you may as well end up rushing out. Ask yourself questions like: Do I really want to do this? Do I have passion for this? Can I keep up with this even when things around me get hard? And believe me, you'll find out what you really want to do. Someone around may tell you that you don't need to be passionate about your business, all you have to do is "just do it and earn your money!" But that's a lie. We are all humans and we need passion and motivation to do whatever we do, or else we'll get bored and eventually, won't last long. Below are the most important parts of a business plan that you really need to consider:

• Executive Summary. The executive summary is the first and one of the most critical parts of a business plan. This summary provides an overview of the business plan as a whole and highlights what the business plan will cover. It's often best to write the executive summary last so that you have a complete understanding of your plan and can effectively summarize it. Your executive summary should include your organization's mission statement and the products and services you plan to offer or currently offer. You may also want to include why you are starting the company if the business plan is for a new organization.
• Business Description. The next part of a business plan is the business description. This component provides a comprehensive description of your business and its goals, products, services and target customer base. You should also include details regarding the industry your company will serve, and any trends and major competitors within the industry. You should also include you and your team's experience in the industry and what sets your company apart from the competition in your business description.
• Market Analysis and Strategy. The purpose of the market analysis and strategy component of a business plan is to research and identify a company's primary target audience and where to find this audience. Factors to cover in this section include:
• Where your target market is geographically located
• The primary pain points experienced by your target customers
• The most prominent needs of your target market and how your products or services can meet these needs
• The demographics of your target audience
• Where your target market spends most of their time, such as particular social media platforms and physical locations

The goal of this section is to clearly define your target audience so that you can make strategic estimations as to how your product or service will perform with this audience.

• Marketing And Sales Plan. This part of your business plan should cover the specifics of how you plan to market and sell your products and services. This section should include:
• Your anticipated marketing and promotion strategies.
• Pricing plans for your company's products and services.
• Your strategies for making sales.
• Why your target audience should purchase from your company versus your competition.
• Your organization's unique selling proposal.
• How you will get your products and services in front of your target audience.
• Competitive Analysis. Your business plan should also include a detailed competitive analysis that clearly outlines a comparison of your organization to your competitors. Outline your competitors' weaknesses and strengths and how you anticipate your company to compare to these. This section should also include any advantages your competition has in the marketplace and how you plan to set your company apart. You should also cover what makes your business different than other companies in the industry, as well as any potential issues you may face when entering the marketplace if applicable.
• Management and Organization Description. This section of your business plan should cover the details of your business's management and organization strategy. Introduce your company leaders and their qualifications and responsibilities within your business. You can also include human resources requirements and the legal structure of your company.
• Products and Services Description. Use this section to further expand on the details of the products and services your company offers that you covered in the executive summary. Include all relevant information about your products and services such as how you will manufacture them, how long they will last, what needs they will meet and how much it will cost to create them.
• Operating Plan. This part of your business plan should describe how you plan to run your company. Include information regarding how and where your company will operate, how many employees it will have and all other pertinent details related to your organization's operations.
• Financial Projection and Needs. The financial section of your business plan should detail how you anticipate bringing in revenue and the funding you'll need to get started. You should include your financial statements, an analysis of these statements and a cash flow projection.
• Exhibits and Appendices. The final section of your business plan should include any extra information to further support the details outlined in your plan. You can also include exhibits and appendices to support the viability of your business plan and give investors a clear understanding of the research that backs your plan. Common information to put in this section includes:
• Resumes of company management and other stakeholders
• Marketing research
• Permits
• Proposed or current marketing materials
• Relevant legal documentation
• Pictures of your product
• Financial documents [2]

2. Raise your Capital for the Business.

This is the point where you start executing the contents of your business plan; where your pocket starts "speaking". There are a couple of ways to get raise funds for your new business. You can probably get a loan from a bank or withdraw your big savings or ask for help from your family, relatives, friends or loved ones. You'll definitely get some cash to get started from one of the above mentioned places. All you have to do is just be genuine and true to them, and things will hopefully go well.

3. Get your Product(s) Ready.

Now you have cash at hand, the next step to take is to use part of your capital allocated to taking care of the goods and services enumerated in the Product And Services Description section of your business plan to get these commodities ready to be supplied to customers. Let's take bag making for instance: This is the point where you and your accessorises designer purchase bag fabrics, purse locks, zippers, sliders, purse hooks, purse chains and other things you need from the market - depending on what type of bags you intend on making; making the bags; finishing them; and packaging them to be sold out.

4. Look for a Strategic Location.

The success of a business relies on whether it is reaching out to its target audience or not. Yeah! Now we're talking about the business geographical location. For instance, if you plan on going into commercial fishing, your storage facility should be located around a big market or better still, a fish market (your target market). In that way, you'll make crazy sales on a daily basis. Proximity shouldn't just be the only thing to be considered. Accessibility in terms of good roads and bridges (in riverine areas) is also another factor thus, make sure that where your business is located is also very accessible by your customers.

5. Promote the Business.

We're in the twenty-first century; the world is now a global village. Gone are the days when you have to appear on the front pages of the papers to actually reach out to people. The world's connection has evolved over the years with the advent of the internet. Today, you can easily promote your business on your website, a television station or even social media. Not sure how to go about the last one? Then keep reading! Below are some "tested-and-working" ways to do that:

• Choose the Right Platforms. There is no shortage of social media sites on which to share your content. The number of sites is growing every day. Sharing your content on the right platforms is crucial to your success. When determining which channels to use, you should consider your customers and your business. It’s important that you create accounts on the platforms your target audience uses, so they can easily connect with you. Conduct some research to determine what sites your audience probably uses, and then use them too. You should also consider which sites best fit your products. For a video production company, for example, YouTube is an obvious choice.
• Create a Calendar. Scrambling to create posts at the last minute can lead to low-quality content. A lack of organization can lead to repeated posts or a lull in your presence on one of your channels. Creating social media content calendars can help avoid those mistakes and lead to more effective posts. Content calendars also help you create goals and strategies for meeting them, and track your progress toward them. To make a content calendar, use a regular calendar for each social media channel and plan out your posts in advance, complete with hash tags, links, images and other content.
• Encourage Engagement. Social media should, of course, be social. That doesn’t only apply to those who use the sites for fun. Businesses need to be interactive, too. In order to take advantage of social capability, you need to encourage interaction. Post content that people want to read, ask questions and like, repost and comment on other users’ posts. Doing research on your audience can help you figure out what they might like.
• Don’t Over-Promote. One trap that businesses often fall into is treating social media too much like regular advertising. You don’t want to blatantly promote yourself in every post. You need to create content that people will actually enjoy and want to see. Promoting yourself is okay every once in a while. Some marketers go by the one-in-seven rule, which says that for every one directly promotional post, six others should be content-based. In these other six posts, you could share articles, comment on current events or ask a question. You don’t have to entirely avoid mentioning your brand in these posts; just be careful not to sell too hard.
• Share Video. Visual content works well on social media. Video content, especially, is ideal for grabbing people’s attention as well as conveying your personality and passion to your customers. Visual content stands out as people scroll through their social feeds, so they’re more likely to view it and engage with it. It also allows you to say more than you could in a typical post without taking up much room. Create interesting, narrative-driven video in order to get the best reaction.
• Address Problems Quickly. Hopefully you receive mostly positive feedback on social media. Occasionally you may encounter someone who is upset, argumentative or has something negative to say about your company. You should carefully monitor mentions of your brand on social channels, so you can catch issues before they escalate. If you spot a problem, engage with the person by publicly apologizing if necessary and offering to solve the problem over a direct message exchange. This way, people who see the post know you were responsive but don’t have to see all the specifics of the issue.
• Build a Community. Instead of trying to get as many followers as possible, focus on finding customers who are interested, loyal and engaged. These people are more likely to repost your content, like your posts and become customers. When you build a community around your brand, the people within that community will engage with each other and help to promote your content. You could even try reaching out to exceptionally influential social media users and asking them to help you by reviewing a product or mentioning you in a post.
• Provide Value. Perhaps the most important thing you can do on social media is provide value to your followers. Create something that your audience will find useful. It could be something that tells them something they didn’t know before, makes them laugh, entertains them or anything else that’s beneficial in some way. This aspect of social media is what attracts the right customers to your business, makes people want to follow you on social sites and helps content to spread. Master this, and you’ll be a big step closer to a successful social media marketing campaign. With nearly 3 billion active users, social media is a potential goldmine of new customers and current patrons who could become repeat customers. Create a good social campaign, and you’ll be able to connect with some of those people and grow your customer base. [3]

 

Alternatively, you can talk to people you meet in real life and convert them into customers. A wise man once said, "There's nothing more real than reality". So don't fail to recall that actual relationships with more people are the only true ways to grow your business into a money making machine. Please do not hesitate to let us know what you're thinking in the comment section. Do you have contributions or confusions, let us know too; we'll love to help!

REFERENCES:

• https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/business.asp
• https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/parts-to-a-business-plan