When Is the Right Time To Start a Small Business?

There are quite a number of things you need to consider before starting a business. The kind of service or product you intend to offer, the audience you will be targeting, the physical and virtual location of your business, and the right time to start the business are among the top things you must think of.

A study carried out by Vistaprint revealed that 62% of residents of the United States vie to become business owners.  But have they been able to determine what it’ll take for them to get started, run, and make the business successful?

What if it is not even the right time in their lives to kick off a business of theirs?

“Not all ideas are unique, and they are not given to just one person,” said Toni Coleman Brown, founder of the Network for Women in Business, in an email interview with The Balance. “It’s the person who takes action [who] eventually wins. Therefore, as soon as you get an idea, you should act on it.”

Individual business owners are driven by different factors and situations to start a business. This may be from a desire to earn more money, hatred for their current job, the need for a creative outlet or what have you. However, regardless of whatever drives your business idea, you must be purposeful in the timing of launching your business.

One important thing you must consider in your effort is that there is really no ‘right time’ to start a business. You’ll have moments that can be said to be ideal, but if not careful, you’ll always have reasons why your entrepreneurial goals should be delayed or be put on hold.

So, in all your planning, you must be able to create the right time to start your business. This is because if you want to wait for the perfect time to get started, you might wait forever!

These important steps and considerations can guide you in determining when to bring your business to the limelight. 

 

1. What Product Or Service Are You Selling And Who Are Your Target Audience?

The kind of product or service you are offering, will determine the kind of audience that you’ll be targeting. Your target audience is those who will be served by your service or product and will reciprocate by offering monetary value of what you offer, and would in turn be instrumental to the success of your business.

According to a study by Failory, most startups fail simply because the chosen product was not ideal for the target market. So, it is crucial that you do your research on which product is ideal for your target market. Small Business Administration (SBA) revealed some keys to discovering your target market, finding your unique selling propositions and strengths.

The first is to conduct market research and curate demographic data on population, wealth, and age. The second is to analyze common consumer behavior and economic trends.

 When you come up with a business idea, it is important that you do a survey of the market your product will be meeting to stay current with providing solutions to their needs. Facebook groups is one of the viable ways to find your target audience.

In an interview, the founder of Vegan hair care brand, Winnie & Co, Jazmine Thompson revealed while being unable to find moisturizing products for her daughter’s hair, “In my search to find the right product for my daughter, I realized other moms were having the same problem.”

She used her presence on Facebook parenting groups to get feedback on what they need while trying to develop her vegan-based products for little kids, which in turn helped her get ideas on what business to start.

 

2. Assess Your Idea On your Prospective Target Market

Testing the waters can help you discover the potentials your business idea has. For instance, Dopely Lit owner, Tonita White wanted to launch a home fragrance in 2019 with the focus of providing soy-based candles to the ‘urban’ consumer.

She revealed in an interview that she “just kept coming back to the idea of a home fragrance line.”

“I needed a creative outlet, and I wanted it to be something I loved and enjoyed.” She added.

She revealed she went ahead to test the market by starting small with two fragrances. She made a budget for supplies and created pop-up shops. When she found out that people fell in love with her product, she decided to move ahead by creating an online presence on social media and with a website. She then included candle melts and holiday fragrances in her line.

 

3. Do You Have What It Takes In Terms Of Resources, Energy, and Time?

For your business idea, you’ll need time, resources, and energy to invest in it. You’ll also need a network of support. You may crave getting your business out quickly, but consider the time you’ll be investing as regards your career and home.

Energy and time

If you are a mom of little kids with very few child care options, you do not want to be involved in a kind of business that will require that you are mostly out with your clients all through the day. And if your profession already draws a great portion of your energy, launching a business demands so much can cause you to break down quickly.

This doesn’t mean that you have to give up on your idea. Simply consider ways you can make it more realistic with the resources at your disposal. And even if you have a very limited schedule as a result of your other commitments, create a workable schedule that can help you manage your business effectively.

“Patience is important,” says Teresa Satchell, who is a business strategy coach and founder of Kingdom Legacy Partnerships. She added that “There are seasons of life and seasons in business. Due to life or circumstances, you will have to adjust or provide fewer services, but it does not mean you stop.”

What about funding?

How exactly do you intend to go about providing the required funds for your business? Many business owners believe that launching a business means creating a specific budget for marketing cost, legal structure, operations, and supplies. You’ll require recurrent expenses in keeping your business up from day-to-day to financial needs of the business.

Your required funds are solely dependent on the kind of establishment and how it would operate. Someone who is launching a business that needs a lot of tools will need good credit and a solid business plan to particularly make his business attractive to investors.

Do you think it is the right time for your business to started already? These important financial questions will help you determine the right answer to the question.

•  How much money have you saved to make your business idea a reality?
• Do you have good or bad credit that may affect your business?
• If you have bad credit, how exactly can your build it so that you can kick off your business in good time.
• What is the projected startup capital for your business?
• What are the possible expenses your business will run into
• If you quit your job to start this business, is there a way that launching this business can grind or hurt your personal finances?

Networking with others

Being able to network with others through diverse means including social channels such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other organizations that are related to your profession is very essential to the success of your business.

According to Satchell, it is very important to talk with a business consultant before starting a business to help in making good and safer business decisions. “Entrepreneurship is a journey. Connecting with people in the right partnership will propel you to the next level. You need to meet the right people and make connections.” She added.

 

Think of seasonal factors

A lot of people kickstart new businesses at the beginning of the year, however, you own belief might be to start when the market is suitable to embrace what you are offering. Different seasons work for different businesses.

For instance, as a baker, the summer period may be just fine to get started. This will expose your offering to the market by fall with a wide range of tasting events that put you at a vantage point for the holidays.

 

Create a strategic business plan

Develop a robust and strategic business plan that is realistic and can be well sustained with the resources at your disposal. Your business will require so much understanding of your market, your financial capacity, the economic outlook of the industry, and your total dedication to its success.  

Having a strong business plan will help your business compete favorably in the market and can help turn your vision into reality at your proposed time of actualization.