FBLA TBL February 2023 - 12

Turn Your Business Idea
Into a Reality
So, you have an idea for a business. What's next?
Whether you want to start a technology company or a
restaurant, there are five practical steps you can take to
bring your idea to life.
Have you heard of Sara Blakely? You may have seen
her as an investor on the TV show " Shark Tank. " At age
27, she noticed a " void " in the marketplace. She was
trying to find something flattering to wear under her
white slacks, but couldn't find anything. So she began
researching and developing a hosiery concept.
What was Sara's background? She was a former Disney
World ride greeter and also sold fax machines door-todoor.
She invested $5,000, her entire life savings, to start
her business. Her invention, called SPANX, caught the eye
of Oprah Winfrey, who promoted it on her show as one
of her " favorite things. " Now a billionaire, Sara grew from
selling one product out of her apartment to bringing in
hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue.
An Entrepreneur is a person, but entrepreneurship
is a process. When starting a business, think, " What
problem am I trying to solve? "
The Entrepreneurial Process
Discovery
Business
Plan
Resourcing
Run the
Business
Harvesting
* BUSINESS PLAN
Next, let's organize your business opportunity into a
Business Plan. A Business Plan is a roadmap of your
business's goals and objectives, and the strategy
and details of how those goals and objectives will be
achieved. There are many variations used for Business
Plans. BusinessU covers the 14-step pitch deck process.
* RESOURCING
Resourcing is where you gather together the necessary
elements needed to start a business, including capital,
and the most important resource - people. You might
apply for grants or loans, identify potential investors, or
enter a pitch contest. This is also where bootstrapping
comes in handy, meaning, being creative by working
effectively with limited resources.
* RUN THE BUSINESS
Run the Business starts with the grand opening, where
you start operating your business, and offer your solution
to potential customers - hopefully repeat customers. Is
* DISCOVERY
Stage one is Discovery. The official definition
for entrepreneurial discovery is the process of
systematically scanning for technological, political,
regulatory, social, and demographic changes to
discover opportunities to produce new goods and
services. Entrepreneurs constantly study and inspect
the market. They challenge the status quo, look to solve
a problem, search for " voids " or gaps, look for where
certain parts of the market are underserved, and seek
ways to improve upon an existing product or service-
or, they might even imagine a whole new way of doing
things. Remember, though, for an idea to become an
opportunity, it needs to solve a problem, and it needs
these three features: market, margin, and mission.
| 12 | TOMORROW'S BUSINESS LEADER
your marketing plan helping you find customers? What
does it cost to reach and acquire customers?
* HARVESTING
The final stage is Harvesting. This is where you evaluate
if your company is a success or failure, and/or if it
needs more time to prove itself. If it is a failure, then the
lessons you learned will be helpful in the future. And if
it is successful, can it stay successful? Can it grow and
continue to add value to customers, to its stakeholders,
and to society?
Remember, people aren't born as entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurism requires habits, traits, and skills that
can be learned and developed. By following these steps,
you'll be well on your way.
FBLA TBL February 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of FBLA TBL February 2023
