MODERN BUSINESS
7
Steps To Creating A
Kickass Business
By Justin Fankhauser
Q
uitting your day job to start
up your own business
venture can be a scary – and
daunting – process. Statistics show
that 50% of all new businesses fail
within the first five years and only
3% of those remaining ever make
it to the 10 year mark. Given these
statistics, the odds are stacked
against you, for sure – whether you
realize it or not.
I get asked all the time how to get
a strong start in business. People
want to know what the secret is.
They need that magic bullet of
absolution that their business
won’t be the next to fold. The truth
is, there is no secret. There is no
magic bullet. The reason that the
vast majority of businesses fail is
due to simple lack of planning.
Now, I’ll be the first to tell you, there
are many, MANY details, steps
and stages that go in to getting a
business off the ground. There is
no ‘one size fits all’ approach to
getting it done. What worked for
someone else may not help you at
all. However, I’ve created a proven
strategy to help new entrepreneurs
avoid common pitfalls associated
with failed business ventures
and put them on the right track to
12 ModernBusiness
February 2016
starting a kickass business of their
own.
1. Have a detailed
business plan.
A wide man once said, “Failing
to plan is planning to fail.” When
it comes to starting a business,
this statement is golden. Even if
you have no experience owning a
business, do not go into it blind.
Read everything you can on the
subject – books, blogs, articles.
Talk to business owners you admire
and ask them for advice. Then, take
what you’ve learned and outline
a solid plan that incorporates all
your goals into a concise strategy.
Businesses plans are as varied as
the businesses themselves, but
should always include the same
basic information, such as:
• Business Overview
• Goals
• Budget
• Operating Strategy
• Target Market and Marketing
Strategy
2. Start part-time
What? But the idea is to leave your
day job and become self-sufficient
with a business of your own, not
just make some sort of part-time
hobby out of it, right? Exactly –
but you have to work up to that
point. There are so many things
you can’t be sure of when you first
start a business and the biggest
uncertainty is whether you’ll
generate any income at all. Quitting
your main source of income before
your business takes off puts you
in the fast lane on the road to ruin.
Not only do you have no income to