START A BUSINESS: Questions to Ask Yourself

According to Wikipedia, a Business is an “ organization” involved in the trade of goods and services or both to consumers. Anything that involves selling of goods and  rendering service for cash to anybody is a business, although it would be more appropriate to use the business term if the “organization” was registered with appropriate bodies.

This article on starting a business helps to answer the first five questions to ask yourself when  you intend to  start a business and provide accurate answers.

WHY?

Why should you start a business?. According to startups.co.uk, you can start a business so that you become your own boss, run your own life, specialize on interests, open multiple streams of income and maybe make that big dream of yours finally come true. Starting a business might also be the only way you can fulfill your destiny and not have regrets when you are on your death bed or at the pearly white gates.

I need to start a business, so I can finally spend time in the spa

WHAT?

What business exactly are you going to start? In other words what goods or services are you going to offer and  subsequently to whom?  Two main  factors determine what business to start,

1. Your Interests:

 If you intend to start a business that would be around for a long time, the best thing you can do for yourself is to start it, in your area of interest. Those things that come to you naturally.You have to lay back and look inward to discover your interests. Is it sports, Lifestyle, Cuisine  Fashion, Nature or  Music? Let your business be centered around your interest otherwise the business would be a living hell.

2. Your Skills and Expertise:

 Start a business that you are skilled enough  to run. Based on natural skills or acquired skills, your area of business should be something you are good at, for you to break even. No matter how many staff or workers you have, who handle things for you, your skills and expertise and continued development in that area would go a long way in influencing your decisions and making your business thrive. High net worth individuals have been known to go for some conferences, seminars or classes when they want to diversify into other areas of business.

Million dollar Idea: Live Sized Lizard Earrings.

WHERE?

Where to start a business is also a very important question to ask yourself when you finally figure out what business to start. The concept of selling ice to Eskimos is simply preposterous. Your essence in life shouldn't be to supply goods and services to people that don’t need them. Your essence would be to meet a need, provide a needed service and at times needs can be location specific. Some goods or services might best be needed overseas and not in your neighborhood.  Figuring out where exactly your business would thrive also depends on two main factors.

1. Environmental Factors:

 You should start a business in an environment with some considerably favorable factors. Factors would never be 100% favorable but starting a business in a place that makes the business dead on arrival is about a waste of time as not starting a business at all. 

2. Prevailing  Factors: 

Almost like the first, economy, purchasing power of the environment, government regulations, competition should all be considered when starting a business. Here you would need to do market research.

OMG! This is the perfect place to start my business.

WHEN?

This question can be broken down into three.

1. When is take off time?

 When do you   begin a business. The answer to this question is not some vague suggestion like when I get married, or when I get tired of my present job, or when I need money or when the economy improves. It should be down to specifics with particular dates and time, that's the only way you are ever going to start a business.

RELATED POST: JOB OFFER- QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF

2. When  should the operating hours of the business be?

 This is a question to ask yourself, are you going to work on weekends, it is going to be a freelance job that would be based on client timing, would there be holidays, vacations, breaks etc. This question gives you the structure of  how your business would look like.

3. When am I expected to break even or pull the plugs? 

This is a very critical question to ask yourself, what is the expected boom date of the business with consideration for over or underestimation? 

The best time to start a business was 20 years ago in China

HOW?

This question can only be asked after you have successfully provided answers to the previous questions. How are you going to start the business and get it up and running. Are you going to buy a franchise or merge with a company? How are you going to raise capital, establish contacts, develop a customer base and move sales, how would your products look like, what would your values be?. All aspects of branding , business plan and business development falls here and makes this the most important question.

I am going to start an invisible business, and would have a billion  invisible  customers.

To start a business , there are questions to ask yourself such as  why, what, where, when and how you are going to go about it.

Further Reading: Start Your Own Business, Fifth Edition: The Only Start-Up Book You'll Ever Need
 

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JOB OFFER QUESTIONS

JOB OFFER QUESTIONS.

Every now and then, a job offer comes one's way but it's usually preceded by some tough questions. The answers to these job offer questions would further determine if the job would be given or the interviewee would be shown the door. The following job offer questions are usually common in interviews and each of these questions are followed by guidelines to providing the best answers.

1. Tell us about yourself.

To answer this question,keep it short and precise. Start with your name, your objective and drive, your education and your relevant work experience. Ensure that all you say correlates with what you have written on the resume.

2. What do you know about our company?

To answer this job offer questions, you need to have done your research in terms of the mission and vision of the company, the products and services they offer, their brand, reputation and image and also a little bit of their competitor’s.In answering this job offer questions, you should keep the name of the company in your answer. “Thanks for that question, ABC company prides itself amongst the leading providers of XYZ nationwide, it has a yearly revenue of CDE with investments in FGH. To answer this question correctly you would need to have done your homework on the company.

3. Why do you want to work with us?

 In answering these question you need to leave out all the benefits you hope to get from the company, because the benefits would be as a result of what you can do for the company. You should instead talk about the needs of the company and how you are equipped to fill it. For big companies in which you might not really make much impact maybe as an entry level trainee, you would have to talk about the need of the company in building a team of hard working , dedicated and motivational people which you are one. “ ERF is in constant need of a proactive and high flyer at all areas of it’s business to forge ahead, I believe I am able to satisfy that skill based on my skills and talents", Also you might also say things that the company is involved in and supports and let them know you want to be a part of a company that carries out such social responsibility because you have a passion for such .

RELATED POSTS: JOB OFFER: QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF

4. So why should we hire you?

Here, you have to answer this job offer questions based on the highlights of your resume without appearing egotistic . I believe you should hire me because of my track record of success, my leadership experience and my touch of excellence and ability of getting things done. In whatever you say, you must ensure that your answers with this job offer questions aligns with the requirements of the job that was stated in the job opening. If you can quote what the job opening says while stating that you have those qualities is a plus. Let your ability, experience and energy show forth.

5. What do you think a [position you are being interviewed for] really is?

For this job offer question you still need to fall back on the requirements stated in the advert of the position, It would really come in handy because your idea of that position might be different from the company’s idea of that same position.

6. How long do you think it would take you to settle down and how long would you be with us.

Your settling down period should be as short as possible, immediately would be the best answer here and letting the company know that you would continually be with them as long as there are new hurdles to climb, and new challenges.

7. What pay are you expecting ?

For this question you have to have also done your research about how much they pay for that position, it’s always good to state an amount close to what they pay, not too high or too low.  Here are the 7  most common job offer questions.

For a longer list of 25 job offer questions click here.
For a list of 202 job offer questions and their answers click here

JOB OFFER: QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR EMPLOYER

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JOB OFFER: QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF

Job offers can be very exciting when they are received especially after a long time of waiting for one or searching for one. The joy usually overshadows reason and curiosity most of the time until way later into the job.  There are a lot of questions to ask when you receive a job offer. Questions to ask yourself, the employer and someone who might be able to dish out advise on certain issues pertaining to a specific industry. The most important of all these questions are the ones you should ask yourself after a job offer.

First you have to know who you are " who are you?". This is the biggest question that  anyone could ever ask oneself. In answering this question, most people make the mistake of talking about what they have or what they hope to possess but  shy away from the real answer to the question, which is asking about that entity that is you. The question can be rephrased into “ what is you?” . This is what you have to first figure out. What are you gravitating towards, what is your whole existence all about? Then you can look at a job offer and ask the right questions because in the long run contrary to what people say, your job is who you are. That is why when people die, their obituary in the news reads, village chief dies at 50, veteran actor slumps to his death, bus conductor yells to death etc…….

Now, jobs are of two types.

1.       The jobs that help you earn a living

2.       The jobs that help you make your life.


   Salary or benefit isn't a criteria for this two groupings, contrary to what you may be thinking. 

    The jobs that help you earn a living are those jobs that don’t conform to the person who you are-your entity but are needed at some time in your life to help you pay the bills, get  some comfort , get ahead in life, keep the body and soul together or afford you the resources with which you can use in preparing yourself for your life goal. 

    The jobs that help you make a life are those jobs that are a big fraction of your entity, they make your life, they make you, they  fulfill your destiny , the job is you.

Armed with this knowledge, you would have to group your job offer into one of these two jobs. Unfortunately most people mix up working for a living with working for a life. A lot of people spend their whole lives working for a living, and then someday get fired, retrenched or retired and then they ask themselves, what next?

RELATED POSTS: JOB OFFER:MY JOB EXPERIENCE  |  JOB OFFER QUESTIONS

FOR A LIVING.

1.       What  is the job offering?

Give me the money, i need to go to Mars

The real essence of this job is the benefits that it comes with , with which you hope to redirect your life. This job is to present you with the empowerment with which to build up your destiny.  It could be a job that doesn’t require much skill or expertise .It could also be a very high paying job which although is high paying brings no fulfillment in the long run. So what exactly is the job offer? The salary, health insurance, vacation, illness bonuses, growth, travel allowances, job security. Can all the job is offering get you by.

2.       For how long?

How long can you work there, how long would the job need you and how long would you need the job. For example, the ultimate job of a person might be writing, script writing, novel writing, blogging or academic writing and would probably need  3 years to get out his first work or something meaningful for that matter and so if such a person picks up a job as a customer service personnel in an I.T firm, he has to be able to keep that job at least for about 3 ½  years while still creating time to fulfill his ultimate job which is writing. Taking a year contract job might cause a disrupt in the creative process of  writing for the writer. If he has to be jobless after one year with bills to pay and all, it would definitely affect the person. How long would the job be available? Some times,some jobs might also come with bonds that tie down the person even when he is ready to leave. You have to make sure all these things align.

3.       When is take off time?

This is always much more fun 

Mixed with Good Advertisement and Marketing

Than this

When would you tell the organization to take the job and shove it figuratively and what are the policies and protocols involved in leaving the company. If you are working for a living, you have to have a take off time or you would eventually be taken down.

RELATED POST: I JUST GOT FIRED

4.       How convenient is the job?

How compatible with your life is the job? Does it create time for you to pursue your ultimate goal or would it sap you off of all energy that might eventually kill your dream and stall your goals while you are stuck on the job. Any job that you are doing for a living that would totally prevent you from ever doing the job you want to do for a life should be immediately dropped, no matter how much it is paying or it’s benefits. It would be very difficult to do this, if the job in question pays so much and you are used to all the comfort it brings, so this question is very important to ask yourself when it counts-During the time of the job offer. Convenience is a major criteria in a job you are doing for a living, the location of the place and how far it is from home, the working hours and special assignments and all.

If only i had not allowed that peanut at the end of the  week
get me stuck, i would be a famous author by now.

FOR A LIFE

One major test of knowing whether a job is your life, is if you can still go ahead and do that same job even if you weren’t paid for it. This kind of job fills you with much more energy even after you have spent hours on it. Some people are pushed into this jobs unconsciously by fate while some are not usually that lucky. A typical example is the case of a school teacher who taught for several years in middle school/high school/ secondary school while developing her culinary skills, she started small but never had the guts to branch out until she was eventually fired. She now runs a food chain which  has recorded remarkable success. All the while, the catering business was just on the side, she catered for the school’s get together and birthday parties for the school students until the school downsized. Some times these jobs might initially not pay the bills or even be worth talking about but the joy and fulfillment that comes with them are priceless. At times, a person may have to work  certain jobs because of the effect they would eventually have upon the person’s life goals.

1.    What is the job description?

Some times you make have to work as a makeshift table
when there is a furniture overhaul.

What exactly would you be doing and how would it affect you in the near future , how would it align to your life goals. Which duties would you be allowed to handle yourself without supervision.

2.    What are the opportunities available for development?

Are there sufficient trainings? Career development and exposure to catapult you to your goals.

3.    Who are the kind of people you would be working with? Are they people that help and support you as you gravitate towards your life goal. What kind of temperament do people who work there have?

Whenever you get a job offer, the questions to ask yourself are countless, but the right answers to these questions would let you know if you should accept a job offer or reject it as soon as possible.

If these are the people you work with, you are either on a reality show
or on a photo shoot for shutter stock

Further Reading:The Fit Factors: The keys to choosing the right job and building a great career.

RELATED POST: JOB OFFER: QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR EMPLOYER   |                                                START A BUSINESS:QUESTIONS TO ASK

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