Entrepreneurship is an endeavor that any person can go on, but only a select few can thrive in. It is said that the first five years of any business are the most tumultuous. One of the best ways to survive said years is by learning about each factor that can affect your business in the unforeseeable future.
The Forms that One Can Take
In the world of business, important decisions have to be made daily. One of the most critical decisions you’ll ever have to make as an entrepreneur has to do with your business model. Experts advise new entrepreneurs to take their time when making this decision because the model you decide upon is powerful. It will dictate several aspects of your business.
The first and most notable factor is how your business is going to operate. There are several ways to go about this in recent times — two examples of which are through physical locations or the Internet. When choosing an e-commerce model, you essentially eliminate the need for having a brick-and-mortar store, which means fewer initial spending. Moreover, you’ll attain flexibility, meaning that you can operate your business anytime and anywhere as long as you have an internet connection.
As convenient as any product-based e-commerce models are, you’ll also need to arrange several payment methods and shipping services so that your future clients can receive anything they order.
The Laws that Rule The Land
Entrepreneurs have the freedom to operate their business as they wish, but some of the best ones know that they need to go about it legally and ethically to eliminate a few risks. It may be difficult, but it is possible to accomplish such a feat. The first order of business when trying to operate a legal and ethical business is learning more about the laws and policies that govern the world of business.
For example, if you choose to operate as an authorized retailer of a particular product like cosmetics, you’ll need to take note of the Minimum Advertising Price Policy or MAP Policy. This policy controls how low the price of an official and authentic product can go. However, it doesn’t have the power to dictate the price that retailers set.
It helps protect the integrity and branding of the product through higher margins of profit. The money that retailers earn helps them represent the quality that the manufacturers want their products to have. The MAP policy is aided in enforcing by online firms that allow manufacturers to report and put a stop to shops violating it.
The Faces that One Will Meet
The fact that you should immediately remember upon working as an entrepreneur is that customers and clients are the lifeblood of any business. Without these individuals, it would be impossible to operate on anything, regardless of the industry and business model you choose.
That is why you have to consider who your target market is. The business model can help make this decision, but it’s ultimately up to you. Narrowing down the scope of your business can lead to fruition. It will help you and your partner marketing firm develop marketing strategies that will hopefully make your target market want to purchase your product and services.
While there are other factors to learn about, these three are the ones with the most influence and the ones that can make or break your business in the first five years. Taking the time to study each factor can be considered as an investment in making your would-be business thrive in such a competitive field.