The Best Tips for Starting a Business

Brainstorming seems to be the theme of our household most days. I am constantly looking for ways to grow the business that I already have (this blog) but I am always on the lookout for the next big idea that may provide something even better for our family. Over the past few years we have started 2 business’ from scratch, just my husband and myself. It is tough work, but I hope with these tips that I can save everyone some headaches.

Tip 1- What business are you starting?

I know it may sound simple, but knowing what business you are starting is a good place to begin. Often it is hard to narrow down what direction you are heading in or even if you want just an online business or you are heading in the world of brick and mortar (an actual storefront)

Knowing where you are headed I feel is more than half the battle when starting a business. I always look on popular sites like LinkedIn to know more about how people build their businesses and learned a great deal from Martin J. Stallone who is a very successful land developer. Now you may ask how does a land developer inspire me? Check out that link and you will find out. When I see someone who has so many life experiences and then I head over to Google and find out even more, they are an inspiration to my business goals.

Tip 2- Know the Laws

Each state and locality has their own business regulations depending on what type of business you are starting. Do you want to be an independent contractor or do you want an actual business ID? Are you going so big you need a business checking account? How about savings, investment accounts? All of these things are very important to know when going out into the business world on your own. Personally I have never applied for a business ID and we have always just used our social security numbers when filing taxes, but again this varies by locality and the type of business you are starting. Also knowing how to keep your own records is helpful.

Tip 3- Keep Your Ideas Organized

It is SO easy to get in too deep when starting a business. I admit that when we began our fishing business we jumped right in with both feet and I wish now that we had sorted out some loose ends and organized things a bit better. This is one of those “hindsight is 20/20” moments, but we know now for future ventures that we need to lay out a solid plan and figure out how deep we want to get with things.

Tip 4- Can You Do It Alone?

Again something I wish we had thought out when attempting our fishing lures business, we needed more help. My husband is the hands of the business and we say I am the brain. It makes things hard when the hands can’t keep up with orders. We have been to a point of scrambling to figure out how we would fulfill orders with it just being him when they were coming in almost faster than the brain could keep up. One of those times where we wish we had budgeted for a helper from time to time, but we didn’t. Thankfully with this business people love to work in exchange for product, so my husband has friends over and we cook huge meals and everyone grabs some lures to help out.

Tip 5- Make Yourself Known

Adding your business to online business listings is a great way to make yourself known in the business world. This allows for people to typically share your business on social media which has become a great way of advertising. Word of mouth is the best way to get yourself out there especially with a new business venture.

By using these starting tips, I hope that starting a business is an easier venture for you than it often has been for me. We all learn from our mistakes, thankfully. If you have any other tips to add feel free to comment below.

Samantha

Samantha hails from Virginia and is a proud wife to a retired Deputy Sheriff and mother to two amazing little boys named Jack & William. A veteran product reviewer; Samantha has been reviewing products for 8 years and offers high quality product reviews with original photography.