Right now, increasing numbers of us are considering setting up our own businesses. The coronavirus pandemic has seen countless numbers of people losing their jobs or finding themselves with a significantly reduced income. It’s not all too surprising that we’re looking for new ways to generate an income or make a little money around our nine to five. Setting up your own business could be a great option. You could operate things from home. You could come up with a unique product. You could find yourself making sales and experiencing some serious success. But it’s important to know that you’re going to have to put a fair amount of work into getting things up and running. Here are just a few areas you’ll inevitably have to focus on at some point or another.
Product Development
First and foremost, you’re going to have to come up with something to sell. Most businesses sell one of two things – products or services. Products are your best bet right now, as many services have been put on hold to allow for social isolation and social distancing. When coming up with a product, you’re going to have to focus on finding something that will sell. You need to identify a target demographic and come up with something that they want. You could come up with something completely new and innovative that nobody else is offering. Alternatively, you can offer something that’s already out there but with a unique twist and a personal touch. Whatever you choose, make sure that it’s not something that’s exactly the same as anything else out there. You could find yourself facing legal cases or simply won’t be able to generate much profit, as the original brand will have already secured most of the customer base.
Manufacturing
Once you know what products you’re going to be supplying, you’ll have to consider how you’re going to manufacture them. At the end of the day, the vast majority of companies will outsource some part of their process rather than producing everything themselves from scratch. Whether that’s having the raw materials turned into components of your final product – such as using fabric manufacturers, wire manufacturers or flour manufacturers, for example – or completely outsourcing your entire manufacturing process and simply paying another company to create your whole product. Generally speaking, outsourcing is beneficial when you’re first starting out. You don’t have to worry about investing in machinery or equipment and you don’t have to worry about hiring and training staff to create your products. Instead, you simply place an order and have everything delivered to you in its final form.
Social Media
Social media is growing increasingly important for businesses. Chances are your customers are spending time on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, so your business needs to be present there too. This will help to expose potential customers to your brand and products. You may also want to collaborate with social media influencers. These are people with tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of followers. If your target demographic are following them, you can collaborate with the influencer to post and promote your products in their feed. This can result in increased sales. Just make sure to properly check anyone you’re considering collaborating with. You don’t want to work with anyone controversial, as you don’t want your brand associated with controversial subjects or views.
Customer Service
Chances are you’ve heard the phrase that the customer is always right. At the end of the day, these are the people who generate your profit. You need to listen to them to continue making money. So, make sure that your customers have plenty of means of getting in touch with you. Set up a customer email address where people can send queries and requests. Set up social media profiles with message options. You may also want to invest in a business phone so people can make calls or leave messages. You may want to take on staff to handle these questions, queries and complaints so customers get replies as quickly as possible. Chances are you’ll be way too busy to constantly monitor the lines and inboxes yourself.
These, of course, are just a few areas you need to focus on. There are plenty more out there, but hopefully, some of the above information will help you to get started out in the right direction!