Creating a vision for your business

Why do you want to go into business? Is it to follow your passion, take control of your life and career, achieve influence and success, or become financially independent? How would a business help you achieve that? How do you expect things to look three years down the road? There are many things to consider when creating a vision for your business. Will you be a sole proprietor or will you take on a partner? Will you run your business out of your home or should you consider a retail location? Visioning the details of your business is the best place to get started. To help you structure your thoughts about transiitioning to entrepreneurship, we've created the Taking the Leap to Entrepreneurship Guide, available in document and audio formats.

Once you are confident that you are ready to get started, your next step is to determine if you can translate your idea into a successful business venture. A good idea could be:

• Something within your expertise or that you are passionate about
• An invention, new product or service, or solution to an everyday problem
• A niche in the market that you can fill
• A business related to the work you do already
• Turning your interest or hobby into a business
• Buying an existing business 

Conducting market research is one of the best ways to determine whether your idea can be translated into a viable business. If it can, you are ready to develop a business plan. To learn more about market research visit our on-line resource library.

Writing an effective business plan

Completing your business plan will be the first step in starting your business.  The Business Planning section of our on-line resource library is filled with free, downloadable documents that will help you get started.

Writing a business plan takes some work, but it is essential to making your entrepreneurial experience a positive one. Our Business Advisors will review and assist you with your business plan, no matter what stage you're at. A business plan will help you determine:

• If your idea is profitable
• How much it will cost to get your business off the ground
• What you will potentially earn
• And how much you will need to pay yourself and all your business costs 

It is critical that you brush up on your business skills to prepare for the challenges of running your business. Our convenient business skills training is available to you no matter where you live in BC.