The steps to start a new business are not as linear as they may appear on this page. Your own sequence of steps may involve jumping around between some of these topics, building up and improving each area of your business over time.
State your business purpose. This purpose is the reason you are starting or operating the business. The business purpose can inspire you, your customers, and your employees to keep going in difficult times. It might affect what kind of business it is and how you manage it.
Find a problem
Identify the community. Who will you be serving?
Identify what the community needs. What problems do they have?
Identify the market. The combination of a community and a problem for which they would pay money to solve.
Get to know your audience
Market research. Find how much they are willing to pay, what the size of the market is, what solutions already exist, and who the competitors are.
Ideal customer profile. Figure out who would find your products to be a perfect fit for their needs, and that would be receptive to your marketing and sales efforts and be able and willing to buy from you.
Identify the target audience. Figure out who you need to reach with your marketing efforts.
Connect with the target audience. Talk with people in the target audience to validate the market research including the needs and problems, willingness to pay.
Develop a solution
Product development. Develop a solution, and test it with the market until you find a product-market fit. This process may involve prototyping, customer interviews, pre-orders, and even actual sales.
Logistics planning. Figure out how you will deliver the product to customers and how you will make the product (and get any materials you need). Will they order online? Buy it in stores? How do you make your product?
Make a plan
Create a business plan. The business plan defines your business and includes plans for each aspect of your business including personnel, research, marketing, sales, operations, logistics, innovation, and finances. It also involves a comparison of what is needed to operate this business with what you have, and a plan for getting whatever you don’t have yet — including money to start the business.
Launch the business
Execute the business plan. This involves the day-to-day operation of the business.
Learn and adapt. Identify problems in your business and solve them. Add what is missing. Remove what isn’t needed. Change what isn’t working. You can go back to any prior step to apply what you learned.