If You Can’t Execute Your Idea, It’s Not a Business

One of the greatest stumbling blocks for entrepreneurs is turning an idea for a business, into actual production. There are an untold number of businesses that never get off the ground because the founder cannot execute his or her idea. The purpose of this article is to show you how to keep your business from becoming a statistic, before it ever gets started.

Planning and Doing

When you see a need for a product or service and think you can fulfill that need, it looks easy at first glance, but of course the truth is that once you put yourself in the position of creating a business, it becomes more complex.

There are a variety of things of which you need to have knowledge, as well as certain skill sets, before you can start producing and bringing in revenue, and that is the point: Having a great business idea and a theory of how you could make it successful is no more than that—a theory.

Market Research

There are key things about your venture that you need to understand before you take it on, such as whether there is an actual market for what you will be selling (not just sensing that there is a market, but knowing for sure, through research).

Why do you think Starbucks opens a new store in the specific spot they did? They’re not going to waste all that money without some kind of guarantee that it will do good amount business.

They did the research and found that there is a market for Starbucks on that exact corner. That is just the kind of assurance you need before you consider opening a new business.

Dreaming Too Big

It’s not always a good idea to go for the whole pie right off the bat. Even if you have huge success right away, it’s probably not going to last. You will have to continue to innovate, appeal to new customers, and keep your existing ones happy.

Most analysts will tell you that gradual, incremental growth is preferable to short-lived spikes of revenue because those spikes are not a reliable barometer of the growth rate, and they’re also indicative of instability, which is a deterrent to investors. Start with a small, manageable business that you can execute well, and grow from there.

Cost Estimation

One thing that you always need to be realistic about is money. We all think we’re realistic about our money, but only some of us actually are. Do you have enough of a runway to get off the ground within the timeframe you’ve set? Is it realistic to bootstrap your business, or do you need outside investment?

It’s a risky game to start a business and then pray to God that its revenue can keep you afloat because if you quickly run out of capital, early revenue will likely not come close to keeping the business alive.

To the best of your ability, calculate the anticipated cost of everything, down to the paper clips, and make an educated judgment of whether your business plan is feasible.

Are You Passionate?

Running a business is no walk in the park, especially if you’re doing it alone, so there has to be an elemental driving force at the core of an entrepreneur.

Passion is going to be the one thing that will enable you to push yourself through the disillusionment, volatile markets, long hours, daily stress, and general strain on your personal life. That may sound terrible, but it is manageable if you really believe in, or at least enjoy what you do.

The One Man Show (getting help)

Many startups and small businesses are run by a single person. That doesn’t mean, however, that you can’t have help to fulfill your vision.

There are all kinds of needs that you may not have the ability or time to handle by yourself, which is why you should seek help for specialized tasks or consult with people who have experience in certain areas that you have trouble with. Those are the people who may be able to make your vision a reality, where you otherwise may have failed.