Beginning Steps To Starting a Business

1. Keep it service-based and simplistic.

I was recently told by someone that their new invention was going to be global; it was going to be the next big thing. Then, I asked him about production, warehousing, distribution and patent because if it got as big as he was boasting, someone would have ripped it off half-way through.

When starting a business, you don't have to reinvent the wheel. You must make it as simplistic as possible. This means staying away from government-regulated industries or not starting a product based company where you will find your margins getting hit by manufacturing costs.

2. Find a niche area.

You can't be everything to everyone. 99.5 percent of business owners don't want to do the work it takes to fully market themselves and their website. When I started KAS, I did sales, marketing and technology (IT) recruiting. The problem was that I didn't have enough time to learn all three and I knew I was lacking in the IT space. It was too much to learn.

Keep your new business niche. Keep it as niche as possible. Think of it like getting a haircut. Start with a broad industry and make a crewcut out of the idea. The more niche your business is, the easier it is for you to learn and for you to compete. At first, my niche was all I had to differentiate both myself and my firm from the bulk of the companies in the industry.

3. Learn how to market your company.

As an entrepreneur running a new company, you must provide some allure to the client that others do not have. One of the only ways to do this is via an informative, neatly programmed and personalized website. Let the potential clients know with whom they are doing business. This means getting professional head shots, but they are well worth the expense.

Next to your head shots, you should have a short bio of yourself and any employees at your company. It is a great way to brand your firm the way you wish as well. Be prepared to wade through many websites looking for styles of photos you like before you find a photographer you like and whom you feel you can do business with. Next, begin writing articles for various trade publications and online article sites. Upon getting an article posted, most sites will allow you put links back to your website with keywords optimized for the search engines.

To be approved, you must fill out some applications and contact individuals to introduce yourself via e-mail, though for marketing and PR purposes, it provides a return on investment like no other. Next, write informative articles for your website. Remember that people think about themselves first. When writing and designing your website, think about what the potential client would want to know before buying your service.

If you write your website solely about your company and your achievements, then visitors are going to see no value in it.