Starting a business is a massive step, and it requires a great deal of faith and ambition. If you’ve got an idea, though, and the necessary entrepreneurial spirit, then you owe it to yourself and the world to explore the possibility. We’ve done it at Fryed Egg Productions, and we believe that you can do it, too.
Entrepreneurs bring their great ideas to the marketplace and improve the world in the process. That’s why we love them. In the coming weeks, we will be talking in this space about the keys to starting a business – and doing it right. Today, we start at the beginning. Is your idea a business? Do you truly believe in it? And are you sure you’re ready for what comes next?
Start with a product or service
You need a great product or service to start a business. What’s your idea? That has to be the beginning. A business shouldn’t start simply because you’re itching to be on your own or you’ve got a cool idea for a name or a logo. Starting a business doesn’t originate with branding or this great office space you know about. That’s working backwards. You’ve got to have a product or service that you truly believe in, and that you’re willing to invest in and build your life around to ensure that it succeeds. Are you passionate about your idea? Make sure you really know the answer to that question. If you don’t know the answer, you need to ask yourself why not. What’s preventing you from being passionate about it? Because if you can’t overcome that and fully embrace your idea, you should stop before you get started.
Assess your readiness to take a risk
Starting a business is stepping out on a ledge, and you have to be prepared for the scary moments that come with that. You should closely examine your appetite for risk and be sure that you’re ready to ride the roller coaster that is laid out ahead. Assess not only your psychological readiness for the risks of starting a business, but your practical ones. Will this put too great a strain on your personal resources? If you’ve got a secure job with generous benefits that allow you to provide for your family, are you prepared to give that up to chase your dream? You can’t just be half-in – you have to be 100% committed. Starting a business is a multi-year process, and it’s the rare business that opens its doors and enjoys an immediate rocket ride to the top. Sleepless nights are part of the buy-in. No business is a guarantee, and you need to be prepared to fail – because no great success comes without the risk of failure.
Test your idea and seek help (good help)
At Fryed Egg Productions, we love entrepreneurs and we want to encourage them to pursue their great ideas – but we also want them to be smart about it. Just how great is your idea? Are the resources and foundation going to be in place to support that great idea? Talk to lots of people – both experts and others – to bounce your ideas off and examine the potential and shortcomings of your potential business. You want to be critiqued – you need to crave for others to take a skeptical look at your plans and show you why it might not work. That’s how you make it stronger, and that’s how make sure that you’re ready to pursue your idea with confidence. You will want to talk to some experts, too, so that you understand what you’re getting yourself into and how the technical details of the business will work. Ultimately, you want to do everything you can to be seeing your potential business and its future with clear eyes – rather than the rose-colored glasses that will send you off course before you even get started. If your idea is strong and your passion true, then you will find that the feedback of others – both positive and challenging – will only grow your confidence and excitement. You’ll be more ready to take that big step forward than ever.
At Fryed Egg, we help new and emerging organizations find their footing and discover who they are. If you want to see if Fryed Egg is the right agency for your marketing needs, contact us at (813) 478-0494 or [email protected] or visit www.fryedegg.com.