With a world that’s everchanging, it’s becoming increasingly popular to become our own boss. Perhaps we’ve seen a gap in the market or we want to be in control of our own time in an industry we are experienced with. Whatever the reason, it’s a viable option but sometimes we can’t commit to a new business venture and leave everything else behind.
1. Write up your business plan
The starting point for any business is creating a business plan. Every business needs one whether it’s something you are planning to start on the side or go into full-time. A business plan outlines exactly what steps you need to take in order to give your business the best possible chance of success. There are many templates online that can help guide you to create one. For any more assistance, please send us an email at alexandra@zortex.co.uk .
2. Conduct market research
It’s one of the most crucial parts of starting any business or launching a new product/service and that’s understanding the market. Secondary market research is the easiest to carry out as you are going off what others have learned in the industry. However, primary research gives you a chance to experience the market for yourself.
From your market research, you should be able to position yourself effectively in the market, understand the demand and generate effective promotional content to attract customers to your business.
3. Create your materials
Before your business is officially trading, it’s a good idea to create all of the content you plan to use. A good starting point is your website as that often takes the most time to create. Using a website builder means that you can create a professional looking website within a couple of hours . It’s a good time to set up any social media accounts you plan on using too.
The other material includes any promotional media such as adverts, flyers, brochures, even prototypes. Take your time making sure that it all represents your brand accurately. You can modify things later on if you find ways to improve it but that doesn’t mean you should compromise on quality in the early phases.
4. Plan your time
Undoubtedly the hardest part of running a business alongside another job is finding the time to get things off the ground. Plan dedicated time every week or even every day where you will work on certain tasks for your business. Treat it as another job almost so that you are firm with yourself.
Remember that you don’t want to overload yourself so leave some relaxation time every week but just make sure you are actively working on your business.
When you don’t have any customers, your biggest job will be driving traffic to your business so you can spend an hour or so a day trying to whether it means engaging with people on social media, handing out flyers locally or creating content to post online, devote time to pushing your business forwards.
It’s also important to remember the legal side of running a business. Any deadlines should be clearly marked down in your calendar and should have time planned out for. That means taxes, accounts, filing documents etc.
5. Get assistance
If you have the opportunity, get assistance with running your business or generating business. Doing it all yourself can become overwhelming and even the best of us need help sometimes. That may mean employing someone if your company can afford to do so, but often, collaborating with other businesses can be a fantastic way to ease the load for little money. Look online for services through sites like Fiver where they offer assistance to businesses for low prices. They can help with content creation, social media growth, documentation, etc. If that isn’t an option either, you can always ask a friend or family member for some help.
Starting your own business is a big step but doing so part-time gives you the opportunity to earn a steady income. It may present a few more challenges but equally, it offers more security. Find ways that you can mould your time around your job and your new business but don’t forget to take care of your mental health too.