6 Steps That Will Help Your Chances of Starting a Successful Business

1. Define and evaluate your goals.

Once you have that goal, you need to know if your path is the most direct route to achieving what you want.

2. Get relevant experience.

Being able to manage employees and vendors is the type of skill you’ll need to acquire before starting your own business. You’ll also need to know your industry inside and out, including aspects that you may not be familiar with or even like, including marketing, accounting and more.

3. Build your network.

Strong connections can provide valuable business advice and provide introductions to get you more favorable financing, prices, terms and conditions from business suppliers and professional services. Connections are your best source of marketing and customer referrals, which is critical for a new business.

4. Know yourself.

Be honest about your personality before you take the leap.

5. Stalk the competition.

Before you leap into entrepreneurship, take a hard look at the marketplace and your competition. Is your market saturated with successful businesses? Is your industry littered with so many bad businesses that it’s developed a bad reputation?

Both good and bad competitors will influence just how successful your business will be. You will need to market and brand your business to shine above the good competitors and to make up for the bad ones.

6. Test your idea’s scalability.

The most successful businesses rely on automation and delegation. Will other employees be able to do your work? If not, can you teach others what to do in an easy-to-follow format?

If your business relies on your skills, and your skills alone, you might have a successful job, but it may not be that business opportunity you are looking for.

source: entrepreneur.com