Three Important Steps To Become A Successful Entrepreneur

There are millions of start-up businesses popping up every day within the United States and they make up a huge percentage of small businesses in general. The most popular reasons to start a business are having a great and unique idea, creating career flexibility for yourself and not to mention having financial independence. But unfortunately despite entrepreneurs enthusiasm, more than two-thirds of businesses with employees in the last two years. And the majority fail to make it to the five-year mark. So, starting and most importantly running a business takes some real hard work. So before you take the plunge and ditch your day job, it may be worth having a look at some of these helpful tips for becoming a successful entrepreneur and start your business successfully. 

Research, Research, Research

You’ve more than likely had your brilliant new business idea in your head for months or even years and now you're ready to make your dreams a reality. However, now is the right time to get down to the nitty-gritty and decide if your business can succeed when it comes down to it. Run your business ideas through a validation process to see if stands a chance of being anything more than a pipe-dream. To run a successful business you need to be honest with yourself and determine whether your idea fulfils three basic criteria; does it solve a problem? Does it fulfill a need or niche in the market? Is it something that people want?  

There are several tools you can use to identify the answers, including holding focus groups, doing market research and even asking around to your family and friends. As you take the time to research your chosen market, some of the questions you should be asking are:

Is there a need for my products and services?

What does my customer look like?

Are there any other companies who are offering the same or similar services?

If so, what is the competition like? What are they doing?

How does my business fit into my chosen market?

Begin Planning 

Although it may be tempting to just jump into your business plans head first, you need a plan to make your new business dreams a reality. Creating a business plan is a great way to create a blueprint for your business. It will guide you through from start to finish and it a great tool to refer back to see how far you've come. It also looks great to your bank or financial institution if you're ever looking to get a business loan or financing. 

Plan Your Finances

Popular belief may have you thinking that it costs a lot of money to start a new business. The good news is that it doesn't have to. Of course, there needs to be a small amount of investment but it can be a small amount of time until you start turning a profit. Here’s a good time to start thinking of merchant solutions for your business also, companies like Total Merchant Services can help you work out what the best method is for you before you start trading. 

Once you have completed these three imperative start-up activities, you will be ready to be an entrepreneur and see your business soar.