Businesses generally require some knowledge and passion along with some skills, but skills alone cannot make your business successful. A person with zero skill level can also start a business with just a promising business idea. In other words, skill always doesn’t means a technical knowledge or expertise to do something very precisely and perfectly. Here, we will explain How to Start a Business with No Skills, for all.
In our lives we have seen many things and came across many circumstances and took decisions based on our point of views and abilities. This makes us to operate and drive our daily routine, everyone of us does it either in a simple or other way round in a much better way. This is it!
So, before any skill, you will need a solid and promising business idea. If you found one, you have won half of the game there itself.
Does having a Skill set is a necessity for Starting a Business?
No. Having a skill set is not a prerequisite or mandatory for starting a business. Your Passion, Determination and Dedication for the given business makes you a more powerful business man than a skilled labour. A person who always strive to learn and adapt continuously in his entrepreneurial journey can prove to be a better and more successful businessman than a person who is just having some set of skills but lacking the necessary dedication and commitment towards his work.
Therefore, its very important to understand that having enthusiasm, passion, commitment and dedication is far way better than having some set of skills.
Steps to Start a Business without any Skills
We are on the way to burst the myth – “Starting a business requires Skills”. Lets go through the steps that will help you in starting a business without any professional or technical skills, but only with passion, dedication and determination. This business journey is specially presented and can be used by all non-technical and unskilled individuals who think businesses require professional and technical skills. This is a digital and ecommerce age, where everything is possible. Just make a decision and start working on it. So, the steps for starting a business without skills are as follows:
Step #1. Identify your Passion and Interests
Find out what makes you happy or what excites you. Find our things that you really love and passionate about. These are things you love to talk about. You wanted to give most of your time, it can be a hobby like singing or photography, etc.
For identifying your Passion and interests, there is a well written piece of article here, Find your Passion and interest while starting a business. Once you find the real passion in you, you will find it easier to face the upcoming challenges in your entrepreneurial journey.
Step #2. Find out related Business ideas around your Passion/Interest
You can look for opportunities to build a business around your passion. This can be done in following ways:
- Following market trends related to your Passion
- Identify any gap or scope for improvement
- Find specific needs or problems people are facing around it.
- Look into complementary industries to your passion. For example, if you like cricket than you can supply Cricket Jerseys, Cricket Kits and regular supply of cricket essentials to nearby Cricket Clubs and Local Teams and cricket enthusiasts.
- Network with others and initiate conversations, that can strike new business ideas in your mind.
- Try to mix different interests, it is possible where health conscious people may like to buy Running Shoes or Jogging Track suits.
- Check for Reviews and feedbacks what other business’s product and services are getting. For example, you can check “Product Reviews” on Amazon or Flipkart or may be some influencers on Instagram or YouTube who posts vlogs on genuine product reviews and unboxing videos. There are many bloggers also, who posts product comparison and reviews. You will get an idea what people are saying and what actually they are looking for in that product.
- There are online tools where you can find upcoming and current trends, or best sellers or most advertised products or hot selling products.
Step #3. Do Market Research
After finding a set of Business ideas, you can refine it to get the one, that you would like to move on or start with. This requires a thorough market research and consideration of all pointers that can help your business to sustain in this competitive world of business. This market research is necessary to finalize that one business opportunity that you will start with. Comparing different business ideas in terms of:
- their large scale acceptance by the masses, that is its scope, feasibility and scalability
- amount of risk associated and chances of success, and investment requirement
- obstacles related to competition, challenges, legal compliances, etc.
- associated technology, trend and customer preferences. This is like making sure about the technology, that may not become obsolete in couple of years. Or fashion trend that may disappear all of a sudden.
Step #4. Find your Niche and Target Audience
After finalizing a business idea, this will be your first step towards building your business. Now, right from here you will think about this one business idea without any distraction, and will work every moment in building this business and approaching the door of success.
Here, you will find the final form of your product that you will be selling and, who are your customers, who are going to buy this. You need to find your niche to whom you will be selling this particular product. For example, if your product is related to Cricket Jerseys and Cricket kits and accessories, than you will need to narrow down your niche to those who plays cricket and also cricket lovers. You need to find out the approx. age group and the demography of your prospective customers.
Here you can also target direct institutional selling to schools and colleges and cricket clubs. Its of no use targeting football lovers or person with disabilities or person who dislike cricket.
Step #5. Study your Competitors
In your selected niche and targeted audience market, you may find other similar businesses, who are already in the same business. You need to study their business model, like from where their most of the sales are coming, how they are doing marketing, what are their margins, whether they work on credit system or spot payment. Who are their major customers, etc.
Step #6. Do Calculations – Profit Margins, Feasibility, Scalability
Now, as you have worked upon your range of products and competitors, you are having a clear picture of margins you can work upon. What are the expenses that may cut down your profits? How easier it is to implement and scale this business? What factors can affect your sales and how much cost will be needed for marketing, branding, etc. A profitable business must give at least 8% to 10% of profit margin after all expenses.
Step #7. Create a Business Plan and Work towards establishing a Brand
Now, its about creating a business plan, this is actually a roadmap that you will follow in your journey, this will contain all sorts of directions and budgets and targets that you will be following and achieving throughout the journey.
Remember, it’s my personal advice that whenever you start any business, think of its branding from Day 1. You should always make your business a brand. Your business should tell your brand’s story. In today’s startup era, there are businesses who don’t make profits, they are in losses, but still manages to raise funds and investments as they have built a successful appealing brand.
Step #8. Find Online Platforms and Marketplaces to sell your offerings
Now, in this ecommerce age reaching wide audience all over India as well as cross border customers from abroad is very important. This is an open market and you have to reach every possible customer and the best way is to sell your products on online marketplaces and also your own ecommerce website. Along with this, social media marketing is more important. This is where you will present your brand with a story and face your customers one on one.
Step #9. Crackdown Marketing opportunities and Ideas
Cracking down online digital marketing opportunities is the pathway to success. This includes, social medias like, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube marketing. Search Engine Optimization for your ecommerce store. Paid marketing methods like Google Ads, Meta Ads, Paid Ads on Amazon, Flipkart, etc. Affiliate programs, Referral programs, Loyalty Programs, Discounts, Promotions and Coupons, etc. Email Marketing, SMS and WhatsApp marketing, Funnel Marketing, Retargeting Ads, etc.
Step #10. Start with a Low Risk Product
You can start with a low risk product, just to understand the responses and clearing the dust off. Once you gear up to drive you can speed up with more products that will kill your competitors in every terms, looks, price, durability, results, etc. The marketing stage of your brand should begin with a big bang.
At this stage, you need to refine your buyers and target audiences. You must remove the areas and zones from where sales are not coming, you can refine the age group, geographical zones, even pincodes. Refine for gender male or female. Their interests and behaviours, all these you can target through Meta Ads. Not in the beginning, but after thorough refinement, you will get your precise targeted audience.
Step #11. Focus on Customer Service and Word of Mouth promotions
Once sales start coming in, don’t turn away from customers. Cost of customer acquisition is very very high nowadays. So, with one time sale you will never win the battle. You have to win customer’s loyalty so that they can become loyal and in turn bring more customers in terms of referrals and word of mouth promotions.
Customer is the KING. Keep customer at the center of your business, and provide unmatchable service to win their trust and confidence.
Step #12. Create a Community of Followers
Brands have started building their fanbase and growing followers in form of brand community. Brand marketing is another way of new age promotion where your brand community promotes your brand in a friendly way, by sharing and displaying their purchases. They are often associated directly with brands, where brands can keep them together by organizing games, contests, and gifts and other offerings among the community members and followers.
Step #13. Stay Focused, Disciplined and Passionate
Now, as your business is started working day and night, you need to stay focused and disciplined. You should motivate your team and keep the passion alive all around your brand. Maintaining the dedication and commitment will keep your business firmly grounded. Any distraction or over confidence or lack of commitment may give chance to your competitors to take over.
Positive Mindset, is far more important than any Skill set
Failure in business, is natural. But, starting again from a setback with a positive mindset is important here. This positivity makes you think fearlessly and makes you stronger while taking risks and overcome obstacles and prepared while facing challenges. Failures are just another way of learning opportunities.
- Having a supportive team
- Setting up short term realistic goals
- Celebrate small victories and milestones
- Step-by-step approach
…are some of the practical tips which drives a positive mindset.
Take Action: Your First step will make you think further
The very important, often neglected by many is taking that very first step. Many people wait for months and even years to take that first step. This small action often make you think further, don’t expect perfection from Day 1!
The first few steps will make you habitual and curious to transform your dreams into reality. Be with like minded people or make friends or network with startup founders to think and behave like an entrepreneur. Every action, No matter how small will contribute to the foundation of something big. Just thinking and procrastinating is your biggest enemy.
