11 Steps to Start Your Own Business (Part 1)

by Rahimah Sultan

Advertising Disclosure: Marketing Success Review may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. There is no expense to you.

Where do you start?

Starting a business can be very exciting and rewarding. But where do you start? There are many ways to approach creating a business as well as many important considerations.

What is often touted as overnight success requires years of dreaming, building, and positioning before a big public launch. So, remember to focus on your business journey and not measure your success against anyone else’s.

Before beginning these 11 steps to start your own business you need to get in the right mindset. You should know that it takes consistency, creating habits and follow-up routines, and writing out every possible step it takes to achieve your goal. Then order those steps by what needs to be done first. Some steps may take a few minutes to accomplish while others will take a long time. The point is to always take the next step and keep moving forward.


1. Determine Your Business Concept

How do you determine your business concept?

Before deciding what type of business to start, there are several things to consider:

What kind of financing do you have?
How much time do you have to devote to your business?
Do you prefer to work from home, at a workshop, or from an office?
What passions or interests do you have?
Can you sell information (a course) rather than a product?
What expertise or skills do you have?
How fast do you need to scale your business?
What kind of support do you have to start your business?
Will you be partnering with someone else?
Does the franchise model make more sense to you?


If you’re not sure of what kind of business to start, consider one of the following:

Start a blog
Start an online store
Start a franchise
Start a cleaning business
Start a bookkeeping business
Start a drop shipping business
Start a clothing business
Start a landscaping business
Start a consulting business
Start a vending machine business
Start a photography business


2. Research Your Market and Your Competitors

As an entrepreneur, you should spend more time on getting to know the competition rather than on products. If you ever apply for outside funding, your potential lender or partner will want to know what makes you (or your business idea) different from the rest.

If market analysis shows that your product or service is saturated in your area, see if you can come up with something different. For example – housekeeping. Rather than general cleaning services, you can specialize in homes with pets or focus on garage cleanups.

Primary research is the first stage of any competition study. This means getting data directly from potential customers and not basing your conclusions on past data. For this, you can use surveys, questionnaires, and interviews to learn what consumers want and would actually buy.

Secondary research uses existing sources of information, such as census data, to gather information. The current data may be studied, compiled, and analyzed in various ways that are appropriate for your needs but it probably won’t be as detailed as your primary research.

Thirdly, you can do a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis which will allow you to get the facts about how your product or idea might perform if taken to market. It can also help you make decisions about the objective of your idea. Your business idea might have some weaknesses that you hadn’t considered or there may be opportunities to improve on a competitor’s product.


3. Create A Business Plan

A business plan is a document that serves as a roadmap for establishing your new business. It outlines your company’s objectives and how you plan to meet them.

Even if you intend to self-finance, a business plan can help you bring to life your idea and spot potential problems. When you write your well-rounded business plan, include the following sections:

Executive summary
Company description
Market analysis
Organization and structure
Mission and goals
Products and/or services
Background summary
Marketing plan
Financial plan


Come up with an exit strategy. The most common ones include:

Selling the business to another party
Passing the business down to family members
Liquidating the business assets
Closing the doors and walking away

The best option for you will depend on your goals and circumstances.

It’s important to have a scalable business model that can be replicated easily to serve more customers without acquiring a significant increase in expenses.

Some standard scalable business models are:

Subscription-based businesses
Businesses that sell digital products
Franchise businesses
Network marketing businesses


One of the most important things to do when starting a small business is to plan for taxes which can be very complex. There are several different types of taxes you may be liable for, including income tax, self-employment tax, sales tax, and property tax. Depending on the type of business you’re operating, you may also be required to pay other taxes, such as payroll tax or unemployment tax.


4. Choose Your Business Structure

When structuring your business, it’s essential to consider how each structure impacts the amount of taxes you owe, daily operations, and whether your personal assets are at risk.

The most common business structures in the US are LLC, LLP, Sole proprietorship, and corporation.

Follow this link for more information.


5. Register Your Business and get Licenses

After choosing a business structure, you have several legal issues to address. Following is a good checklist of items to consider when establishing your business:

Choose a business name
Register your business and get an EIN
Get appropriate licenses and permits


You’ll officially create your business entity by filing forms with your state’s business agency. As part of this process, you’ll need to choose a registered agent to accept legal documents on behalf of your business. You’ll also pay a filing fee. The state will send you a certificate that you can use to apply for licenses, a tax identification number (TIN), and business bank accounts.

All businesses, other than sole proprietorships with no employees, must have a federal employer identification number. You can submit your application to the IRS and you’ll usually receive your number in minutes.


Get Your Business System With Autoresponder Here