Being your own boss and running your own business is a fulfilling goal to achieve, but it shouldn’t be the only reason you choose to run a startup.
It’s easy to lose sight of what matters most to you when you begin your first startup. There are many things you get distracted by including profits, financials and other aspects of your business that you are trying to control.
Realizing you don’t know what purpose your business is meant to serve, finding out what you want to achieve by running your own business can help it actually run more successfully.
Solving a Problem
First and foremost, ask yourself if your business solves a problem. Do you offer products that provide a different solution for customers everywhere? If the answer is no, your business may be lacking in areas that could improve its success.
Despite what your business or company is about, your products and services should solve a problem for whoever is purchasing them.
Ask yourself why your business or company is important. For example, the owner of a gluten-free bread company may answer that their business is important because it solves a problem for people who have celiac disease. His or her company offers an alternative for those who cannot eat bread with wheat in it.
Passion
Are you passionate about your business? Passion is what can help drive your business to the top. If you’ve created a brand or product that you want to use to change the world, your passion is unbeatable.
Whatever products or services your company offers should be something that you have personally or seen others struggle with. For example, if you’re starting a company that sells computers, those computers should do something that the competitor’s products cannot.
Your passion does not stop in your products either – it should continue into caring about your business and employees. Running a business does not always equivalent t o consistent money flow. If you’re running a business for the wrong reasons and you don’t care about your brand, your company may fail.
Create a Necessity
After you understand why your brand or company is important, you have to create a necessity for your clients.
When a customer is looking at your website or product line, they should be able to provide reasons as to why they need your items rather than simply wanting them.
Addressing a problem that many customers have issues with and cannot find a solution is the number one way to turn your product into a necessity rather than a novelty item. While it may be difficult to create something that hasn’t already been done, doing it different can spice things up for a customer.
There are a number of air fresheners and fabric fresheners on the market, but when the creator of the carpet powder offered a new way to freshen the room – by sprinkling the powder onto the floor, then vacuuming it – customers went wild and the product is still popular today.
All businesses must serve a purpose. If you’re having a difficult time coming up with reasons to begin your startup, sign up for our free subscription to Successful Startup 101 where you can get exclusive business advice for startup founders that cannot be found anywhere else.
