Starting a business is an exciting time, but it’s also hard work. Whether you’re starting a new business or buying an existing business or franchise, it’s important to get started the right way. Let us point you in the right direction;
1. Are you ready to start a business?
Becoming a business owner requires commitment. In the early days especially, balancing your work and home life can be tough. Long hours and financial pressures can cause stress if they’re not planned for and managed. At this stage, the most important things to do is determine if you have got what it takes to start a business.
How? Take an honest assessment of your business skills, personal attributes and do a complete personal goals assessment to see if there is an alignment with your business goals.
2. Will your idea work?
Research your business idea thoroughly to see if there’s demand for your product or service, who the competition is and who your target customers are. There are a lot of market research kits online you can utilize to see if the idea you have will work.
Most importantly, you’ll also want to find out if your business will be financially feasible. Working out your start-up costs, forecasting your cash flows, understanding profit and loss, and how you will raise capital beforehand, will be helpful in the process of trying to know the viability of your idea.
3. Setting up a business
Once you’ve determined that starting a business is right for you and your idea is viable, you can get the ball rolling by following some practical steps. Having a business plan is fundamental to starting and running a business. A business plan will act as your reference book whenever you are getting lost. There are plenty of resources to help you create your plan.
Meeting legal and regulatory requirements is also an important aspect in your quest of setting up your business. The Malawi Tourism sector for example, requires one to register a business name, apply for licenses and permits to relevant authorities such as the Tourism and Hotels Board, Malawi Revenue Authority, Malawi Bureau of Standards (for food related business ideas), Reserve Bank of Malawi (for Forex related business ideas), District, Municipality or City Councils and many others that may be required.
4. Launching your business
As you get ready to open for business, make sure you have everything in order. We have plenty of information to support you from insurances, staffing and suppliers to Marketing, management and more. If you are convinced enough, then it is time to roll your sleeves up and get started. Are you not sure? Do not get worried, we can assist you to check your business readiness and determine if you are on the right track to starting a successful venture.
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