“Illuminati” is not the only reason people are successful. It is common when a person starts their business and are doing well for people to say- “it’s okay, that one did it with Illuminati magic”. Everyone wants to start a business. Everyone wants to make money- but it’s not as easy as wishing. Sometimes the best business ideas will flop while other less impressive ideas will succeed and people will say “Illuminati”.
Whether or not you are one of the so-called haters, there are a few things that show a business will be successful from the start. Here are some of the things that one should do before starting a business:
1. IDENTIFY WHAT YOU ARE SELLING/ SERVING: If you have no product/ service you have no business, especially if it is not going to be continually available. You can decide to enter into a temporary business, but you need to know from the beginning. Is it selling umbrellas for just this rainy season or is it an umbrella shop open for an entire year?
2. IDENTIFY YOUR MARKET: Sometimes you enter the market and compete- other times you create your market. It is easier to join an already existing market and compete for space but if you can come up with something new no one does- then you can carve out your own market to satisfy. If you are going to compete in a market, you need to know how you will be able to out compete the competition even before you start.
3. COME UP WITH YOUR OPERATIONS BASE: Even if your business is creating good websites for companies, you need somewhere you can work. Even if it is in your bedroom, on your mother’s veranda or in the banana plantation- you need to have your base of operations where you can go to and work on your business, have some meetings and organize yourself.
4. BECOME BIG-HEADED: One of the things you may need is a big head. But let this big head only apply when you are moving forward in your business. Risk is a big part of success and part of risk is knowing when not to listen to everyone when they are telling you “you can’t do that, it is too risky” and knowing when to ignore them. This is tricky because sometimes the big head leads to success and sometimes it leads to failure. However, you need to
5. DEVELOP AN ACCOUNTING SYSTEM: Not everyone is an accountant and not everyone has the ability to function as efficiently as a good accountant. However, even us ordinary people can come up ways of making sure that our business finances are properly handled. The first step is in separating business money from personal money. Knowing that when you borrow money for your business you do not first spend a weekend at the beach in Entebbe. Knowing exactly how much money you receive daily versus how much money you spend daily will help you to plan effectively for your business and ensure that your business can remain financially sound. Such a system can also show you the trend of your business so that if it becomes clear that your business is losing money rather than making it, you can carefully evaluate how to reverse the trend or get out before you fall into debt.
6. HAVE A CONTINUITY PLAN: It is one thing to start, but how do you see the business 1 year from now? What about in 10 years? How will the business face the threats or risks which it is bound to face? If you start with just tomorrow in mind, you may fail to grow or develop your business. If you start knowing where you want to be in one year, you will already be on your way to growth. Remember, stagnation itself can kill business.
Successful business is not easy to have, but it is also not impossible, it just takes the right amount of effort, planning and sometimes a little madness
