Tips for Millennials Looking to Start a Business

Millennials have a wonderful opportunity to become their own bosses, if they take some risks and remain persistent. With more than half of millennials starting their own businesses or saying that they want to do so, now is a great time to look into entrepreneurship.

Those who own their own businesses are able to make their own decisions and experience unrivaled independence.

Data shows that up to 70 percent of millennials want to start their own business, but they are hesitant because of several obstacles.

The major obstacle most commonly expressed by those surveyed was access to capital to start up the company.

Here are a few ways millennials can get help starting up their own companies and remaining successful.

Keep It Cheap

When starting a business, it is very important to keep initial costs down. Millennials should utilize as many cheap and free resources as possible, like creating a website using affordable website creation companies like GoDaddy or Wix.

Social media is another free way to promote businesses. Millennial owners should use Facebook to create a company page that describes the business, offers contact information and provides links to a website.

Business cards are available for about $10 from websites like Vistaprint. It can help to pass these cards around town and ask local businesses if they will pin them up on their bulletin boards.

An existing home or apartment also acts as a great initial office. Rented office space can come down the line, once the business becomes more profitable. Alternatively, there are numerous flexible workspaces available with short-term leases in cities all throughout the United States. For example, the flexible office market in Miami includes a wide variety of unique office spaces designed to suit new businesses.

Don't Do It Alone

Just because owning a business makes the owner her own boss does not mean she doesn't need help. Millennials should make sure to frequent business meet-ups, community organizations and networking opportunities to get ideas and suggestions.

When building a business from scratch, owners often need help with labor. This might mean hiring some trusted friends who do not mind receiving a low rate of pay to start. Millennials can ask friends and family to help, and they should be sure to express their passion about the future of the business to these friends to bring them on board.

Research

New business owners should make sure to have a solid business plan, identifying a target audience and market. If they are selling a product or invention, they should know who will be using it and identify a good territory to sell it.

Even if a product or service seems unique, someone else might be offering it too. Owners should look online to see if there are any similar companies offering competition, monitoring rival success and differentiating offerings.

Don't Be Afraid to Fail

Entrepreneurs need to be fearless and realize that their business might not be successful overnight. With hard work, persistence and multiple attempts, entrepreneurs can succeed. Anything that goes wrong should be taken as a lesson learned.