It is almost easy to think only having a great business idea will make you profit. If are have a plan to start a business then this is the start. After that you need to plan for the future how you are going to operate your business. How you are going to find customers and what you are going to offer to the customers and what the competition is offering and one of the questions you should ask your self is. Why the customers should buy from you?.
Determine what your field of expertise is.
Ask your self in what field am I going to excel?. If you have finished business school then you have the knowledge about starting a business. If you have passed the exams with positive results and you have chosen to study retail management then you know how to start a supermarket for example. If you personally is driven to be a leader then you know starting a business is good choice. If you view your self as a optimistic person with the right attitude to take risks and then you might be the person who is bulletproof to wage war to make money with your own business. Also you have to be professional and social to maintain good relationships with the suppliers, employees and customers.
Explore the needs of the market you are going to supply.
You are not alone in this journey. You can find information through hiring a marketing firm to do research to find what the demands are in the segment you want to serve. It starts with a realiable and accountable businessplan. If you have a plan then you need to state in this plan such as what need you are going to supply. Then you know that competition is out there. You are not the only one serving this market. For a bigger market share you need to separate your self from the competition with packaging, pricing or your channel of supply. If the market is dominated by commercial giants and you are not Goliath but David. Then you have to come prepared with a financial slingshot. To be smart and fight the strong. If you are a supermarket owner and every supermarkt in you city sell Coca-Cola then you can sell Dr.Pepper to separate your self from other competitors.
Determine what your channels of supply there is.
If you starting a retail business then you will have to find a supplier for your store. If you starting a supermarket you need to find a distributor that help you to stock your store on time and the price and quality must be relevant. You need to contact the wholesale suppliers and compare what goods are for your store. And what not. There are various distribution channels. You can buy direct from the manufactures, exclusive distributors who supply goods to local wholesalers. The most economical move might be to buy from the manufactures. This means the middlemen like wholesalers are dismissed to take a piece of your profits. If you buy direct from the manufactures then you can give lower price to your customers and sell more units to generate more profits.
Create an accountable and realiable financial plan.
Get an overview what the total income and costs are on monthly basis. Create a cashflow statement. Do a market research to find out what products are performing well and what not. Keep a record of the monthly shipping costs, rent, utilities, raw material and the commissions you have paid. Create a break-even-analyis. Get an overview when your business is making profits and you can find out what it takes to generate more profits in a certain period. You need sort of future vision to estimate the monthly sales. You can create a worst case scenerio, best case scenerio and likely scenerio.
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