What to Consider Before Investing Your Time, Energy, and Capital in a Small Business

Before starting your own small business…

The statistics are sad but true: 80% of small businesses fail within the first five years. Despite the common misperception that most businesses fail due to lack of capital, most problems generate from poor planning - either related to operations, marketing and/or finances. The strategy you outline for your business before you start will play a large part in the ultimate success of your company.

An in-depth business plan, including an operations plan, a marketing plan, and complete financial forecasts, is the ideal way to make sure all bases are covered before starting your venture. However, a feasibility study can be an easy, relatively inexpensive and fast way, to at least ensure that your business idea is viable enough to take the next step. The ultimate objective of a feasibility study is to determine whether or not your business idea has the potential for success. Namely, if there is enough of a market for your product or service to meet your financial goals. Conducting a feasibility study will either give you the confidence to move forward with the idea, or it will save you a lot of money, time, and stress by realizing early on that this business is currently not the best fit for you.

While there are many different aspects of your venture to research and consider, the following items are a solid step in the right direction to determining the feasibility of your business.