20 Questions to Answer Before Starting a Business: Empowering Young Entrepreneurs

By this time in our series, you should have identified your passion.  If not, you’ll need to take time and go back through the exercises designed to help you do that.  If you still don’t find your answer, ask the people who are closest to you what they have observed makes you happy while you are doing it.  Keep at it until you figure out what you are passionate about and can create a business with.

The next step is to think about how you’re going to build a business around that passion so you can love what you do all the time.

There’s a lot to consider.  Are you going to sell products that you create, or products that someone else has manufactured?  Are you turning your hobby into a business?  Who will be your customers or clients?  How will you reach them?  Will your business be based on the internet or will you have a what is often called a brick and mortar business, meaning a physical location in an office, warehouse or storefront?  Do you have the skills to stay in business or do you need to learn some new things before you start?

You can see that there are a lot of questions you need answers to before you can move forward.  With that said, I’m a big believer  in just jumping in and going for it once you know what you want to do.  However, what you are jumping into will differ with different types of business.

The organization called Junior Achievement has provided a list of questions for you to consider while trying to decide how to build your business.  We will be discussing some of these questions as the series continues, however, there are some things that you will need to find the answers for yourself.  There will be a resource page at the end of the series with links to some organizations and blogs that can help you learn what you need to know to start a business.

Do you already have answers for any of these questions?

  1. Am I prepared to spend the time, money and resources needed to get my business started?
  2. What kind of business do I want?
  3. What products/services will my business provide?
  4. Why am I starting a business?
  5. What is my target market?
  6. Who is my competition?
  7. What is unique about my business idea and the products/services I will provide?
  8. How long will it take to prepare my products/services for sale?
  9. How much money do I need to launch my business?
  10. How long do I need to finance the company until I start making a profit?
  11. Will I need to get a loan?
  12. How will I price my product compared to my competition?
  13. How will I market my business?
  14. How will I set up the legal structure of my business?
  15. How will I manage my business?
  16. Where will I house my business?
  17. How many employees will I need for startup?
  18. What types of suppliers do I need to contact?
  19. What kind of insurance do I need to invest in?
  20. What do I need to do to ensure I am paying my taxes correctly?

As I said, there’s a lot to think about.  If you aren’t willing to take the time to consider these questions and do the research to find answers, then you might want to reconsidering starting your own business.  In order to be successful in business you must be committed to doing whatever it takes to make it work.

The focus of the Empowering Teens and Young Adults to Develop an Entrepreneur Mindset series is going to be on developing an internet business.  Most of these questions apply to internet business, however, they may not all apply to the business you want to start.  Making it happen is on the internet is easier than building a brick and mortar business.

In each post for the rest of the series we will be considering information that you need to know to find answers to some of these questions.

Have you been able to answer any of these questions for yourself yet?

Don’t forget to leave your name and email in the box on the top right side of this page to receive the FREE entrepreneurial tool, Get Stuff Done.

 

About the Author

Nanette Levin - October 15, 2012

This is a great post for not only young entrepreneurs, but also more mature ones. Junior Achievement was around when I was a kid and I still kick myself for not accessing this resource. I’d ad service business to the list (bricks and mortar isn’t needed for this) as this is an area where many youth can benefit from the face-to-face that nets more sales with the added benefit of limited capital outlay. Think mowing lawns, snow shoveling, computer training (tons of adults could benefit from an education our youth views as second nature knowledge), video editing, social media management, etc. Great post, Julia. Thanks for sharing (and giving me some reminders to consider).
Nanette Levin recently posted…Don’t worry, be happy; control stress with your imaginationMy Profile

    Julia - October 15, 2012

    Thank you for your continued support Nanette and for adding to this conversation. Service businesses are on my list of things to cover. I did neglect to list it here though, so thank you for your reminder. I think mowing lawns, snow shoveling, recycling, dog walking and other services are a great way to raise funds for a business that requires some outlay of cash.

    These articles are meant to help young people start to think about the mindset required to be an entrepreneur. They aren’t going to answer all the questions or provide all the information that young people need, but I hope to motivate them to do their research.

    Much of what I write about will help anyone of any age who wants to start a business. Thank you for pointing that out.

Jaime - October 15, 2012

Great Article!! I love the fact that you cover all of the important questions that anyone getting started as a business owner should consider..Thanks for sharing!!
Jaime recently posted…Fan Friday – Who I Am A Fan OfMy Profile

    Julia - October 15, 2012

    You’re welcome Jaime. It’s my pleasure and passion to share this information. Thank you for stopping by and leaving your comment.

Jessica Crooks - October 15, 2012

Great article with easy to understand information for anyone.
I believe that the way forward is not just getting a job but becoming an entrepreneur and this help youngster to get started.

    Julia - October 15, 2012

    Thank you commenting Jessica. With the way our economy is today, the real hope for young people is to develop an entrepreneur mindset. Even if they work for someone else as their employee, this mindset will allow them to make better decisions with regard to a career, promotions, and so on.

Retha Groenewald - October 15, 2012

Great post, very helpful and useful. Motives one to want to start a business.
Retha Groenewald recently posted…The four Gospel writersMy Profile

    Julia - October 15, 2012

    Thank you for your comment Retha. When considering these questions, I thought that a lot of my young clients would say it’s too much and not be motivated to start a business. That’s one of the reasons that I work with them on developing a mindset first.

Chef William - October 15, 2012

The list is long and looks hard but if a person takes just one question a day and finds the answer, in just 20 days they will have a rock hard foundation for getting started. I am also a fan of the flea market for getting a feel of business. A young person should have a lot of things they no longer want or use. They could have a garage sale or even rent a space at a flea market for a weekend, Learn how to budget, handle money and deal with different types of customers. I have a young friend that started that way, he now has two trailers and bids at storage auctions, then sells at flea markets on the weekend. Makes a nice living.
Great article, looking forward to the book when you publish.
Chef William recently posted…Chili with BeansMy Profile

    Julia - October 15, 2012

    Thank you for that great idea Chef William. Flea markets and yard sales are a great way to get a feel for buying, inventory and selling and making some extra money. Flea markets may be a bit costly for my young clients as you have to pay for the space you use and pay for gas to get there and back. Most of my clients don’t have their own cars and would have to find a reliable way to get back and forth. At my last yard sale I made $600 without having extra expenses. I know a flea market would be a good lesson, but too costly for most young people.

    I love that your young friend was so enterprising and built a good business buying and selling goods. I love flea markets, they are so much fun and you get to see so many interesting things.

    You are right that taking one question at a time is a manageable way to move forward. Thank you for your continued support.

Amethyst Mahoney - October 16, 2012

Great list, Julia! I think when I started my first legal business (at age 18), the only thing I worried about was if I had to register in my state and city, and where to get business cards! 🙂
Amethyst Mahoney recently posted…Afraid of Not Being Ladylike in Your Business?My Profile

    Julia - October 16, 2012

    Those were my concerns as well Amethyst. Well, that and the technical issues of having website. I’m forever changing my business cards. No one ever talked to me about being in business so I got a late start and had a lot of help along way. These questions would have been helpful, I just didn’t know to look for them when I was starting out.

    Thank you for your comment.

Comments are closed