Whether you’re fresh out of college or looking to get out of the corporate world after years of working for others, the idea of becoming an entrepreneur can have incredible appeal. Becoming an entrepreneur may even be somewhat of a necessity given all of the downsizing and layoffs that have occurred in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was a similar scenario that drove Brian Mingham, the Founder & CEO of CFSI Loan Management, into entrepreneurship. After losing his job during the financial crisis in 2009, he vowed to take complete control over his financial future by independently navigating the business landscape. He founded CFSI Loan Management eleven years later and hasn’t looked back.
As an entrepreneur, you can follow your own vision and bring your own ideas to life utilizing your unique skill set and passions — embarking down a path that fills your days with the kind of motivation and purpose that is otherwise hard to come by.
If you’re lacking knowledge of the entrepreneurial or business world however, the idea of becoming an entrepreneur can be daunting to say the least.
While we don’t have all of the answers, we will tackle some of the most important issues standing between you and getting a business off the ground, courtesy of the valuable input of CFSI’s Brian Mingham.
Should You Buy or Found a Company?
The first major question to consider is whether you want to find your own company or buy an existing one.
Buying a company and bypassing many of the foundational steps required when launching a startup from scratch can be tempting for numerous reasons. The business is likely to be fully operational from the get-go, enabling you to jump right in and begin executing your vision and making money.
On the other hand, buying a business does require a larger upfront financial commitment and you’ll have no control over the current state and culture of the company, or its reputation among customers. In most cases, it will be far harder to mold an existing company into your image for it than it would be to start your own from the ground up.
Founding a company is certainly a longer and more difficult road but allows you to control every aspect of its development, from its niche, to its branding, to its location and workforce. Brian Mingham recommends starting small and adopting a slow and steady approach in a field you are passionate about and ideally have some connections in.
What Industry Should You Operate In?
Following up on the previous point, Brian Mingham cautions against buying or founding a company that may look like an intriguing financial opportunity, but which operates in an industry you don’t know and may not even have much of an interest in.
Knowledge and passion are two of the leading hallmarks of entrepreneurial success, so if you don’t have either, you’re not giving yourself the best chance at succeeding in your venture.
This is your big opportunity to set yourself up for the rest of your life with a business that you love running, which you have the knowledge and willingness to innovate around and adapt with as times change, and which won’t even feel like work while you’re doing it.
That said, you do have to consider the economic viability of your intended business before jumping headfirst into launching it. That should include performing a market analysis that factors in the potential market size for your business both now and in the future and analyzing existing competition and how you might differentiate your products/services from their offerings.
You’ll also want to consider what outside factors could impact your business long-term, such as the rise of disruptive technologies or businesses, changing demographics, or pricing pressure that could decimate your projected margins.
Set Up a Business Plan
Once you’ve decided on a business, it can be helpful to draw up a business plan that lays out your goals and objectives, and how you plan to go about achieving them. This process will not only align you towards a more concrete vision of what your company will be about, but can also be helpful in selling your vision to potential customers and/or investors.
It can include who your intended customers are and how you plan to appeal to them, who your competition is and how you plan to crush them under your boots (or at least, be competitive with them), and what your overall vision is for how you intend to serve and treat your customers, build a thriving company culture, and interact with and contribute to your local community and your chosen industry at large.
Build Your Network
With a business plan in place, you can begin reaching out to investors, suppliers, customers, and other entrepreneurs and businesspeople inside and outside of your industry to build a network of contacts that will be instrumental in guiding you towards the eventual launch of your business.
Reach out to local contacts, attend conferences and other events, and join online groups that can provide knowledge, advice, and support. Don’t restrict yourself solely to events or groups that are especially relevant to your field. Befriending as many people as you can and even helping them in whatever way you can, could come back to help you in unexpected ways down the road.
Launch a Marketing Blitz
Lastly, Brian Mingham recommends launching a full-on marketing blitz even well in advance of your company getting off the ground. This can help generate excitement for your launch, build an early base of customers, and could even bring investors, suppliers, or others to your cause with offers or aid.
Launching a business is not a simple process and takes a fair amount of time, but it also shouldn’t be approached as an overwhelming challenge. Millions of people launch new businesses every year and with the right planning and approach, there’s no reason you can’t be one of them.
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