Starting a business can be a challenge, and is a difficult proposition if you are not prepared. The first thing to do before starting any business is introspection. Any business you are planning on starting will require time, effort and of course money. No matter what the nature of the business you plan to start, there are few things that hold good for all businesses. The purpose of this article is not to compete with detailed articles, and books that have been written on how to start a business, in fact many people go to business school to learn how to start or manage a business, the objective of this article is to merely get you started on your journey.

Getting back to the fact mentioned earlier, introspection is essential for any good enterprise, as a entrepreneur you are likely to face challenges you are not prepared for, so when you should have an effective business plan at hand, I don't mean go out and hire a professional to write out a fantastic business plan, what I am saying here is that you have to have a strategy. It is vital you know what your weaknesses are and what your strengths are. As any good business strategist will tell you, the reason for most businesses failing to get their feet of the ground is, because they just don't do enough planning.

I have personally met people, who were not prepared for some of the common mistakes that are made by all entrepreneurs, a smart man learns from his mistakes, but an intelligent man learns from other people's mistakes. That is the key, take time out, draw out a business plan, anticipate the problems you will have, make a strategy that is watertight enough, and that takes into account all the factors from cost of labour, to force majeure. I am not saying spend months making up a business plan, but don't be in a hurry to start a business, its pointless to start a business without adequate planning. Only when you are convinced you have a plan, should you go ahead and start the business.

Another aspect of running a business that people most often ignore is (and I think enough has not been said about it) you have to treat the customer like god. I know its difficult sometimes, and there are difficult customers. But the saying that the customer is always right, applies everywhere. You have to make a concious effort to work on your customer care skills, so that every single client you have is satisfied. At business school most students are taught that 10% of your customers make up 90% of your business, it holds good for a lot of industries. To ensure customer loyalty you have to make a concious effort. There is no better publicity than word of mouth; a satisfied customer is bound to spread the word. Agreed you can't keep everyone happy, but you have to give it your best shot, you should only let a customer go away unhappy, if you can truly say you have done everything you could.