It’s a very exciting thing to start your own business. You’re going to be your own boss, which will feel very empowering — no having to answer to anyone else. You’ve got to be careful, though. For every successful business, hundreds, if not thousands, have failed. You’ve got to consider a lot of factors that can separate your being able to run a successful business and not wind up in the landfill of ones that didn’t make it. Here are several of those factors.
Research Factors
People don’t start businesses out of thin air. They devote a lot of time to researching and seeing where their business would fit in. There are a lot of questions that need to be answered. What would your business bring to the area? Would there be too much competition? What are you going to need to start? How many people do you want to hire to start off, or are you going to do a solo operation for a while? All of these things need to be considered before actually moving on to the next part.
It’s also a good idea to see how much support you can get before beginning. Do you have mentors that you could talk to about running a business? You can also observe how things are going in your area. See if you know any other business owners that could take you under their wing for the time being before you’re ready to try to fly on your own. Always keep your eyes and ears open and learn as much as you can. See about joining a small business community online on a site like LinkedIn.
Of course, you should ask the most important question of all — “Why do I want to start a business?” Do you just want to have a more flexible schedule? Are you tired of answering to other people? Does it just seem to be the “In” thing? You should take a close look at yourself and ask if you have the right mindset before starting down a path that might not work out for you. Then ask yourself if you’d get up after that, brush yourself off, and try again or if you’d be inclined to just throw in the towel. Given that other people may depend on you to pay them, so they can have a home and food, it’s not an idle question.
Legal Factors
You’re going to have a lot of legal things to think about when you’re running a business. This means that you’re going to need a good business attorney to vet everything that you do to ensure that you don’t inadvertently break a regulation or code. If that were to happen, and you didn’t hire legal help, you could wind up paying a lot more than you bargained for. Find a highly-recommended business lawyer and be ready for any situation involving business law.
Finding one might take some extra work, but fortunately, the internet has made it much easier. There are a lot of review sites that include testimony from previous clients. Contact the ones that got the most positive feedback and see what their availability is for a consultation. Get a feel for how they treat their cases and clients. Do they quickly respond to phone calls or emails? You don’t want to feel like you’re always put on the back burner.
The attorney you hire should be knowledgeable about the type of business that you’re in. While there are general lawyers, you want ones that specialize in that area of business law. They’ll be able to answer specific questions that you might have and point you in the right direction. This way, you’ll be able to focus on other things to help you be successful.
Financial Factors
You’re going to need money to start your business. There’s no other way around it. There are a lot of expenses to consider, like finding an office or storefront, finding insurance for your employees, having money to pay those employees. It can seem endless. Fortunately, there are options for those who aren’t already financially comfortable enough to do those things. Let’s take a look at what’s out there:
If you need real estate, you could look for banks that offer land loans, for example. There are other business loans to look into, but you want to make sure that you’re getting ones with good interest and payback terms. You don’t want to fall into debt, since that can lead to a scramble that’s hard to catch up with. Sure, there have been successful companies that had a slow start, but it’s better to avoid that kind of constant panicked feeling. Constantly worrying about cash can keep you from focusing on success.
Environmental Factors
Just as there are rules and regulations about how you can legally run your business, there are also ones about how your business affects the local environment. You need to make sure that you don’t pollute the land and air around you. This includes trash, so you should see about hiring a scrap metal recycling company if you produce a lot of metal. This way, they can keep landfills from getting too full. Doing this can also help cement the reputation of your business as being one that cares about its community.
This also means looking at whole sections of your business and figuring out how to improve their efficiency and lessen any impact on the environment. Talk with commercial contractors and see what kind of process they have. Ask them how they can lower the risk of leaving environmental hazards and also how they can leave the work site cleaner than when they started. All of these things will help the Earth stay as healthy as possible and improve life for the people in the area.
You could say that this next one fits squarely between the financial and environmental factors. By doing this, you can help both your company’s bottom line and also help the planet. We’re speaking of doing a solar panel installation. This way, you’ll be able to power your business and also pay less for doing that. That’s because the panels will store sunlight and use that for things like lights. As a result, you’ll be using less energy and lessening pollution.
You might have to pay more up front, but the savings will show themselves. Customers will also see that you’re environmentally conscious, and may elect to use your business more. That’s another win right there, and you can reinvest any savings on your bills right back into your company.
Construction Factors
Speaking of commercial contractors, you want to make sure that you hire reputable ones. The same goes for any roofer. Since you’re likely going to be using a commercial property, anyone you hire, especially those who will be working on the part of the property that will be protecting you and your customers from any rain or other elements, needs to be skilled at commercial work. Check to see what kind of work they have done in the past.
You want to have a property that is sturdy and can stand up to anything. That’s why it’s a good idea to use a prestressed concrete company — they stress the concrete with tendons. That way, you’ll feel sure while you’re standing inside your property. Talk with the contractors about their processes and what their timeline is. It’s important that they finish the job on time, after all. Experienced contractors will leave extra room on the schedule for things like bad weather days.
Exterior Factors
Not only do you want your interior to be safe, you want the same for the exterior. That means things like the garage door. If you’re using an older property, then you’re going to need to get a garage door replacement. This goes beyond appearances, though it does help to have a nice looking property. The garage door can keep out any would-be thieves, and it can also keep all the employees’ vehicles safe. This is one area that you don’t want to try to save money on.
Be extra careful when it comes to hiring garage door contractors. You want to pay a good price for the door, you also want to get people who are reliable and can come fix any issue with the door within 24 hours. They should also offer maintenance services, and you should strongly consider getting that. The reason for that is that they can catch and fix issues with the door when it’s early on. If it progresses, then you’ll have to pay for even more repair work.
There’s another element that you can add to protect the exterior of your business — a fence. Yes, this can act as another layer of protection against any potential theft. Do some research and see if there is a local fence company that can install one for a fair price. You should be able to pick from a wide range of different fences. They can come in all sizes and have various ways of keeping out criminals. The workers should be skilled and do a good job of installing everything correctly the first time.
The Facilities Factor
You want your business to be in a good facility that will attract both employees and customers. That can mean something as simple as a clean working toilet and sink in a bathroom. That means you should know how to find a good local commercial plumber. Do the research before something happens. That way, if there is a clog or other unfortunate event, then you can just immediately contact them to come over and quickly fix it. That will lead to happy people all around.
Another thing you want to look into is your HVAC. You need to make sure that it’s operating properly. Otherwise, you’re going to have people that are too hot during the summer and too cold during the winter. Have your unit regularly maintained so that it will keep operating at peak function. Then you’ll have comfortable employees and customers who won’t mind spending time at your business, no matter what the temperature is outside. That’s a worthwhile investment.
Have your office regularly inspected for things like mold, too. If there’s water damage due to the roof leaking, then mold could get in and cause health issues. Have both the roof repaired and the mold remediated. You want to have the best environment for work as possible, and taking the above steps will help ensure that.
Other Things to Consider
There are a million different factors out there that go into starting a business. It can feel like there are more of them than grains of sand on a beach. If you pay attention to the above things, then you’re going to be in decent shape. The main thing you need to do is be willing to pivot when necessary. While there’s such a thing as panicking too early, there’s also waiting too long for something to happen, and you could find yourself left far behind without any hope of course correction.
Truth be told, even if you do the above things and keep the factors in mind, there’s still no guarantee. The market can be quite a fickle thing, and there’s not completely predicting human behavior, despite all the money that’s been poured into research. There may be times when people don’t want to buy for one reason or another, and if you push too hard, you risk alienating them forever.
The best bet, then, is to learn to read the market and people. Be ready to adapt. Turn some of these factors on their heads and use them differently. Then you’ll be giving yourself a much better chance of success. But don’t ignore those factors. If you do, you can certainly predict failure. Just find a way to get those factors to work for you, in any way possible. Then you’ll be able to enjoy some success.
