Last week in the Freedom Friday blog and email newsletter we continued the series, “10 Steps to Starting a Small Business in 2022,” and we covered the eighth step, which is to find financing.  In today's Freedom Friday blog and email newsletter, we're going to talk about the ninth step.  Once you have developed a business plan, gathered your team, chosen your entity, created your operating agreement or bylaws, applied for your EIN, opened at least one business bank account, applied for licenses and permits, found financing or funding, the ninth step is to choose an audience or location.  Most small businesses fall into one of two categories.  Either the small business is an online business, such as a home-based business, or a brick-and-mortar business, which is also called a retail business. 

There are fundamental differences between an online business which has no physical location and engages in e-commerce, and a brick-and-mortar business which has a physical location and may at the same time have an online presence.  If you choose to have an online business, you need to choose a target audience for your small business.  If you choose to have a brick-and-mortar business, there are several factors you should consider in choosing a location.  The first factor you should is you.  The space you choose to work in needs to work for you, or it won't work at all.  If a space doesn't feel right, move on and find one that does.  You're the one who will be working in this space on a daily basis.  You also need to consider your customers if they will be meeting with you in this space.  Is the space easy to find?  Is there ample parking?  If the space doesn't work for your customers, it's not going to work for your small business, either.  Also, regarding your customers, you should consider their demographics.  You may wish to find an office or space in a neighborhood that is full of your target audience.  If your product or service is geared towards families with higher incomes, then you might wish to locate your office in a more affluent neighborhood.  This will help you be more visible and accessible to your target audience.  You also need to consider any zoning requirements, especially if you need a retail location.  Most of all, you need to consider cost.   Can you afford to sign a lease for your office or retail space?

For many small business owners, signing a lease for an office or retail space is too expensive, and so they decide to operate an online or home-based business.  For an online business, choosing your target audience or ideal client is even more important and essential than for a brick-and-mortar business.  Failing to choose a target audience or understand who your ideal client is might mean no customers, and that means no business at all.  In order to figure out who your target audience or ideal client is, you should first consider basic demographics.  You should consider the age, gender, and location of your target audience or ideal client.  You also should consider the income range of your target audience, so that your customers can afford the product or service that you're offering.  In some instances, you should consider if your ideal client is married or has children.  After considering these demographics, you should next consider psychographics.  You need to understand the values of your target audience, their likes and dislikes, media preferences, and lifestyle choices.

If you're interested in starting a small business in 2022, or you have any business law or business litigation needs anywhere in the State of Oklahoma, please contact me at [email protected] to schedule a FREE strategy session.

For more information about Liberty Legal Solutions, LLC, please visit our website at http://www.libertylegalok.com/