Is your heart in it?
Successful businesses are run by people who not only have a great product or service but also have the stamina and the fortitude to withstand rejection, failed ideas and not enough sales. No business is easy all the time - a little bit like life. There will be the ups, and we love the ups, but there will also be many downs. You have to prepare yourself for sailing in fair weather and in storms; not only that, but you have to look forward to the challenge of the storms.
It takes a lot of mental strength to deal with rejection and failure. I’ve said it before, but we must always remember to treat ourselves with the same compassion we treat our best friends. That’s just one of the many ways strong people deal with difficulties in business; read a few more here.
Read more: Why you need a savings buffer
Do you know what you’re selling?
Science has yet to really tackle why we get our best ideas at 3am, or in the shower, or while driving and unable to reach a good notepad. But there are some theories, and one of those is that when we are engaged in a task that is familiar and repetitive, we become less aware of our environment and more aware of our internal thoughts. I get my best brainwaves at 3am, or so I think at the time, but in the light of the next day, sometimes they aren’t all that great.
Offer what people want to buy, not just what you want to sell. Too often, people jump into a business built around a product or service they think will be successful, rather than one that is already proven to have a market. Testing is vital, as is a real understanding of the market value of what you're offering.
You have to be aware of your environment before you take the leap with a new product or service. Once you’ve had that amazing shower thought, go get dry and do your research.
Read more: How we all benefit by being more financially literate
Do you have support?
When you are starting a business you really need people to talk to and bounce ideas off. You need people to vent to, commiserate with you and cheer you on. Having a cheer squad is vital for your mental health. Friends, partners, mentors, start-up hubs, associations and networking groups will help keep you sane and focused and energised. If you are considering partnering with someone to launch a business, be sure you draw clear boundaries between your business relationship and your friendship; working with friends and family can be both rewarding and difficult at times.
There are about a hundred recommendations I can make for excellent support networks; I sign up for just about every site I can find. A conversation with someone else in the business of entrepreneurialism is never wasted; you’ll always come away with some tiny seed, even if you’re not aware of it at the time. For women in particular, head to Business Chicks, HerBusiness and the Australian Women’s Network for formal organisations – or join me here on Facebook at the Wolfpack and meet a group of seriously inspiring individuals.
Read more: The importance of knowing your own value
Are you out there?
Marketing and brand awareness are very important. When you're starting your business, you have to consider if you have a good name, a recognisable name. What about a logo? Moreover: have you thought about trademarking that name and logo? There was an absolutely amazing restaurant called Taco Bell in Bondi many years ago. They wished they had trademarked the name because when the American Taco Bell came calling, they went out of business.
Make sure you put in place adequate protections for your name and logo and your business idea. That means registering a company with ASIC and reserving a business name. Maybe you need licences or permits, if you’re selling a particular product or service.
Before you do these, make sure you can secure the domain name for that business. If you are launching Unicorn Enterprises and the only domain available is pegasus.com, clients will have trouble finding you. Making things as easy as possible on the customer end is vital to the success of your business.
Read more: What women want: a better way to provide family day care insurance
Are you protected?
Does your job involve giving advice or providing professional services? If so, you need to protect yourself and your business in case you - or an employee - accidentally provides misleading or wrong advice, makes a mistake or breaches a contract. What you want to look at is Professional Indemnity Insurance in that instance.
Have you created the most awesome muesli in the world? What happens if, god forbid, a nut is rancid and you make someone sick? Better get that Public and Products Liability policy up and running before the first nut hits the shelves.
Have you got adequate cover for your premises (Property and Business interruption policy), your equipment (contents insurance) and your staff (workers’ compensation)? Who is looking after the business if you get hit by a nut flying out of the machinery and have to have eye surgery and can’t package the muesli (Personal Accident insurance or Income Protection or Trauma insurance)?
Getting insurance sounds boring, but it’s not boring when the premises are burning down... and then you get your first order from Woolworths, to be filled as soon as possible. That’s the story of Mia McCarthy and Yummia, by the way – it happened to her, and it could happen to you and your business.
Read more: 5 trends that are disrupting the insurance industry
Get out there!
So there you have it: five questions I asked myself before Imalia got off the ground. Life as an entrepreneur is difficult, scary, and every day presents a new challenge or situation I hadn’t considered – and I love every minute of it. You will, too.
If you are inspired and would like to join the revolutionary movement that Imalia is creating, you can request to join our Facebook group The Wolfpack, to share ideas and learn from other like-minded women.
This is an edited version of a blog that first appeared on LinkedIn.