What is a start-up venture?
A start-up venture can be defined as any endeavor that you undertake for the purpose of growth or profit; the act of beginning something new. Although not all ventures will qualify as an actual startup. A startup is often created by someone who has no previous business experience, with the intention of building an innovative product or service that could potentially compete with other businesses in the same market niche. The first step to creating your start-up venture is actually deciding what it should be (hence ‘startup’). There are many different types of businesses that can be considered startups. You can start things like a retail business, online business, service business, online service business, public service business (i.e. non-profit), or any other type of project or venture that you might like to pursue (hence’ venture).
It’s simply the act of starting something new–maybe not for profit, but just because it would be fun or you have a talent for it. Not all people would consider these projects to be startups–some would just call them side businesses. The only real difference is that you’re not doing it just to get by, but for potential profit.
Regardless of what you plan on selling, the process of starting your start-up venture is fairly similar. You’ll need to identify your target market and then figure out the product or service that will best solve their problem or fulfill their desire (in other words, what they want). If your business involves something like technology or software development, you may already have some idea on how to create your product or service. For example, if you plan on developing some type of mobile app (like many start-ups do), then you probably already know how to build it. But if you’re planning on opening a retail store, there’s a lot more to think about and you’ll need to take into account how much money you can actually spend and what your competition is like (more on this later).
Once you’ve figured out the problem and the product or service that will address it, it’s time to figure out how much money you’ll need–so that you can determine how much your business is going to cost. Next, it’s time to identify your target market. It doesn’t matter whether or not they are customers of yours–a startup venture would be doomed if all of its customers were just people with whom it had no previous business dealings with. Depending on your business, you will need to find out where they hang out, how you can reach them and how much influence they have. If you’re starting a business that serves a niche market, then it would be wise to spend more time on this step than if you were starting something that was geared towards mainstream buyers.
If you haven’t done so already, then now is also a good time to create a business plan and cost estimate. It’s always better to see just how much money is going into the project and what you can realistically earn from it before proceeding with anything else. At the end of the first step it would be wise to reevaluate your initial plans and determine if your business is worth pursuing. If you don’t think that your business will turn out to be profitable or that it has enough room for growth, then you may want to reconsider.
Lastly, it’s important that you do some research on the markets you plan on serving and established businesses in those industries. Not only is this a good way of ensuring that you aren’t entering an entirely unproven market, but it can also help ensure that there isn’t any competition against you (i.e., they already have a strong foothold within the industry and would likely overwhelm and defeat any upstart start-up venture).
Non-profit and public service businesses
Non-profit and public service businesses can be just as successful as any other type of business. There are people everywhere who are willingly serving the community by providing free or low cost services to those in need. One of the biggest problems that these types of ventures face is turning a profit. Because you’re providing a service that’s usually provided for free, then it’s often hard to charge anyone anything. This often makes it difficult for any one person to work alone because they don’t have enough money coming in, so they’ll need others to help offset costs (someone could hold an event or charity drive for example).
If you’re interested in starting a non-profit or public service business, then it’s important that you learn as much as you can about how it’s done and what you need to do in order to get the word out. In addition to making sure that people know about your venture, you’ll also want to come up with a marketing plan and start saving up some money for the first few months.
Of course, if your goal is more financial gain than serving others, then maybe a non-profit or public service business isn’t for you. But if you’re willing to completely disregard any monetary compensation, then it really can be done.
There are several ways to make money without charging your customers. One of the most popular ways is by selling advertising through traditional means, such as Google Adsense or affiliate programs. This way you can make money from other people’s websites and services while they do the work for you. Another way is through selling ebooks or information products, although this method does require a bit more knowledge on the computer side of things (most likely web design skills).
If a non-profit or public service venture doesn’t appeal to you, then there are other options for getting started in your own business. You can look into buying an existing business or starting your own retail shop. Both of these options come with their own set of challenges, but they are bound to be more profitable than a non-profit venture.
Entrepreneurship is very risky and it’s important to consider all of the options before beginning. Many people are surprised to learn that most small businesses fail within the first year, so you need to be prepared for that possibility. Obviously there are some risks associated with taking on any sort of business venture, but if you’re sure that what you’re doing is important and just something you have to do, then at least you’ll have peace of mind knowing that your business was born out of necessity rather than greed or laziness.
The key to success
There are lots of things to consider when starting a business. But the most important thing, for both budding entrepreneurs and those who are already well-established, is that you enjoy what you’re doing. If you already have a skill set that could be applied towards starting your own business then by all means go for it. After all, why would anyone want to struggle for an entire lifetime to earn money if they don’t even enjoy themselves doing it? If you have the right idea and passion for where you want your business to go, then there’s no reason why it shouldn’t prove successful.
It’s also important to remember that not every business venture will be profitable in the beginning. For every successful business you hear about in the news there are probably dozens of other ones that didn’t work out. That’s just part of the game when it comes to running your own business. Of course, if you’re in it for the long haul then even a failed venture is better than working for someone else.
Start-up ventures are a very risky enterprise. Just about every entrepreneur’s dream is to have their own start-up venture. But this can be considerably risky when embarked on without proper experience or Professional advise. Fintalent provides a platform for businesses to hire Expert Freelance Start Up Professionals that can help business managers navigate landmines in their start-up ventures.
