Steps 7 & 8

7) How are people going to know you exist?
When you open your business, don’t make that mistake that people are going to know about your business and are going to come in right away and it’s going to be a big success, it’s not. You might have to work really hard trying to get customers. It’s something that you have to work on all the time. Factors that influence customers are price, location, product, quality, and service. If another company has the same product but one factor better than you, customers are more likely to go to your competitor. You need to have excellent quality, price and customer service in order to be competitive. You also need to do things that create awareness like having a grand opening, get it printed in your local newspaper. Have discount points cards or any other system that make sure customers feel but they have a good deal. If you can afford it, advertisements will help and have a big impact on your customers. Knowing you exist is most important, and the cheapest way is word of mouth. Make sure your products and services are very professionally and friendly.

8) Getting started
This step is where you put everything together to make sure your business will start out on a good foot and be successful. This is the opportunity to be able to see whether your business idea might be very successful or might not work and to quit while you’re ahead. You need to make sure you’re going to afford your permits, licenses, shops, employees, equipment and all your other products to make sure your business is a success. “Whether you need $100 or $100,000, don't miss the opportunity to take advantage of the available government grants & small business loans”. (“Small business,” 2010)You need to really think it through; about all your successes as well as your disappointments and you need to know how to work through them.