FreelanceCoach Blog

  Starting your own business can be an overwhelming process. There are many things to consider before doing that, to make sure you are on the good path and that your business is going to be successful. You want to invest money and time in something that will bring you financial success and personal satisfaction, right?

For this reason, is better to ask yourself a set of questions, to do a “survey” before starting, in order to see if you are ready for the new adventure. Make sure you are answering realistic to the questions, so you can objectively decide if having your own business if suitable for you.

To make your life easier, I built the questionnaire for you.

1. What service/product you want to provide? What are the vision and purpose of your business?

Tip: Be specific in defining the service/product you want to sell to your customers. Focus on the things you are best at. Create a vision for your business, how is going to serve you and your customers? How is your business going to look like in 5 years?

2. Who is your client?

Tip: Determine who your target client is. To whom do you want to sell your services/product? Describe on paper what the characteristics are for your typical client: age, income, why are they interested in your services/products, what need are they going to satisfy using your products.

3. What makes you unique?

Tip: There might be out there other businesses similar with yours and maybe you would like to take as much as possible from other business models. At the same time you have to think that you have to be different, unique. People will always search for better deals and they will compare similar products/services. If you are not offering them something they didn’t see somewhere else, unique, they will buy from somebody else.

4. How much money do you need to start, to operate each week? Are you able to sustain yourself until the clients are going to use constantly your service/product?

Tip: Get familiar with the financial part of a business. Analyze how much money you need to start the business, to operate weekly until the first client arrives, and what do you need to maintain the cash flow at a level that permits your business to grow.

5. Do you want to work by yourself or do you need to have employees?

Tip:  Consider all the operational aspects of your business. Are you going to have enough time to do all the paper works by yourself? See if it is something that you can outsource to other company or person, like accounting, answering the phone, etc. You will want to focus on the activities that bring the most money for your company.

6. How are you going to manage the relationship with your customers?

Tip: Create a strategy to keep your existing customers satisfied, loyal to your business. Show them that you value their opinion and choice. A happy client is likely to bring other clients to you.

At the same time you have to create a successful plan to bring new clients on board.

If, after taking this questionnaire you still want to build your own business, great! You are on the good track.

To Your Success!

Anda Tudor, Life Coach                                                                                  June 18^th, 2011

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