Starting a Business: The Six Vital Steps to Starting a New Business

Everything needs planning; marketing; operations, finance and HR are all areas that need to be considered. Also is this business idea viable? 9 out of 10 businesses fail in their first year. Is this position one you want your business to be in? Or can afford to be in?

This article will help simplify the process and give you six vital steps to starting your own business. With good planning, financial forecasting and key milestones you can avoid being one of the 9 in 10 failing businesses.

1. Plan, plan, plan. This point can not be emphasized enough as it is by far one of the most important steps in starting a business. With a good flexible plan your business will go far. The plan needs to include realistic, solid and practical steps. These steps need to be measurable and achievable. Write everything that needs to be considered into your business plan. Don't be too concerned with the layout as this plan can and probably will be changed over and over again.

2. Plan your finance. This is very important as without the correct planning money can run dry very quickly so cash flow needs to be monitored closely. Financial forecasting is very important as it is the main reason businesses fail. They run out of money due to letting customers have extensions on there credit agreements or over spending and not hitting their sales targets. There are many other reasons as well as these so its best to make sure every month you balance your money in against your money out.

3. Follow up the ideas and strategies. Now that you have a business plan you need to follow the ideas and strategies outlined in this plan and start to implement the businesses operations. ...

4. Market to your customers. You have already done your market research so you know who your customers are and where they are based. The question you need to ask now is how do you market to these people? What medium, if any, are you going to use to make these consumers aware of the products and/or services you have to offer? These questions are totally relative to your product/service and the market you are aiming to enter. Here is a list of various ways you can market your product/services.

Online: email, PPC (Pay per click), website and affiliate advertising. Offline: flyers, newsletters, stickers, promotional material and other media you can place your logo, product or information onto.

5. Follow up on sales. Always contact customers after you have made a sale, it's nine times cheaper to advertise to an existing customer than to gain a new customer. So this step is very important and shouldn't be missed.

6. Rinse and repeat. That's it now go back to step one and repeat until you get it right.

Good luck with your business.

By Phil Mitchell who also writes a blog on small business financing with helpful information on starting a small business. Go check out http://simplifiedaccounting.blogspot.com/ for more information.