houston voices
University of Houston research: When's the best time to start a business?
Have you ever thought about opening your own business, but you didn’t know when to do it? Maybe you’ve heard the phrase: “the best time to start a business is today.” Is this actually good advice?
Yaro Starak, entrepreneur, blogger and podcaster, answers this question on his blog. Starak highlights three things aspiring entrepreneurs should do first when they decide to open a business.
What to do today:
1. Get prepared
Starak believes there is some truth to the statement that starting a business today is the best time because it focuses on action and “to take action, means you need to be prepared to do so.”
He says that once you start your business you’ve, at least, taken a step towards being prepared because chances are, you’ll never have the right timing in the beginning. “By starting now, you begin the process of learning and putting in place resources that, in time, will lead you to be prepared for taking advantage of an opportunity when it presents itself,” Starak said.
2. Start building resources
“Whether you succeeded or failed, or pivot to something else, you’re always gaining experience, learning from mistakes, and building resources for your next project, whether they be financial (or capital), mental or skill-based resources,” Starak said. This is why today is the best day to start a business because everything that you do, once you get started, will contribute to you gathering the necessary resources and experiences that will help your business to excel.
3. Start building an audience
Starak believes that, just like the self-help books suggest, “the best asset to work on is yourself,” but that shouldn’t be all you focus on. “Even if you’re not sure if you intend to sell coaching, courses, write books or sell services or software or physical products, your audience is the door to taking advantage of all new opportunities… No attention, means no customers,” Starak said.
According to Starak, marketing and sales are the two most important skills to work on in order to be prepared to start a business. He suggests that aspiring business owners should learn how to use internet resources to post content in order to reach people and build their audience. Then they can use that content to advertise and sell.
What's the big idea?
Now is always the best time to start a new business because even if you’re not quite sure what it’s going to be yet, you can get yourself prepared, start building resources and start building an audience.
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This article originally appeared on the University of Houston's The Big Idea. Cory Thaxton, the author of this piece, is the communications coordinator for The Division of Research.