Starting a business is not something for the faint-hearted. It places a lot of demand on you the individual. You are exposed! You are fighting for your life; and you may lose not only your money, you may lose friends and relationships; it’s that serious. Little wonder many seek the easy path; working 9 to 5 for most of their lives, retiring and spending their remaining days wondering what to their dreams.

However if you are going to start a business; then its important to consider the following points;

1. Starting small may be the best thing that could happen to you. When you start on a shoe-string budget you are forced to improvise and be creative at the same time. And the more costs you can cut at the beginning, the better your chances of making it. Poor costs management kill many start-ups.

2. Understand what your strengths are; think back to the time you were in school; what resonates most with you? What do you like most about what you do? Ask former bosses; colleagues, lecturers, friends and families to honestly appraise you. When you have done that self-appraisal, ask yourself how those strengths help in the business you are going into? Does your personality fit the business?

3. Have you done any apprenticeships? Starting a business you know nothing about its really dangerous. It’s important in some businesses that you do some form of apprenticeship before starting out. Especially if a lot of people are already into that line of business. This gives you the opportunity to learn salient things about the business without putting your money and capital at risk. It’s a principle that has stood the test of time. Stand on the shoulders of giants so that you can see far ahead of them.
4. You may sometimes need to roll up your sleeves. An employee may call in sick. There may be rush hour with few employees on hand to attend to the customers.

5. How much time are you willing to commit to this new venture? Is the time sufficient to make the business work? Is the business something that you can operate on a part-time basis?

6. What is the type of business ownership? Is it a sole-proprietorship, partnership, Limited Liability Company? Have you drawn out a deed of partnership if partnership is the path you have chosen? Find here (http://nigeria.smetoolkit.org/nigeria/en/content/en/934/Establishing-an-Enterprise-in-Nigeria-Legal-Framework) a detailed write-up on the legal framework of businesses in Nigeria.

7. Have you registered with Corporate Affairs commission CAC?

8. Are you a student of human psychology as opposed to human criminology? Your workers will need to be motivated for them to perform to their optimum best. Money is one major motivator but there other things that can motivate your employees like remembering their birthdays and celebrating with them. But when you act like people are out to cheat and dope you, it creates a whole lot of negative energy. Your employees cease to show initiative.

9. You need to know your numbers and be able to do proper book-keeping; how do you know when you are making money? Do you have a proper accounting system? Are you adding the effect of your asset depreciation in your cost of running the business? Are you remitting the proper amount of taxes? Can you give a snapshot of your financial position at any point in time? We at lightednation.com can help with proper financial templates built with excel for your business.

10. Add yours


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