Help ! I’m starting my own business and I can’t do it…

Welcome to Banknote, a highly requested section on Madmoizelle! After the success of settle accounts, dissecting readers’ finances, many of you were hoping for more practical advice. Tadam!

In each episode of Banconota, a finance or entrepreneurship expert will answer the question posed by one of you. Many of you have asked us your questions about entrepreneurship, so this new issue will focus on the commercial development of your business.

To answer, Madmoizelle asked Delphine Leftetz, expert at Bpifrance Création, to explain us step by step and in a very concrete way everything you need to know to become a great entrepreneur!

What are the main steps to create your box?

I have marketing and sales experience, and I’m not interested in helping business angels or fundraisers. For example, I think I need an audit of my business and help solidify my BtoB strategy. Which actors can I contact?

Natasha

Before getting to the heart of the matter, it is necessary to lay the foundations to be able to have all the keys in hand on setting up a business, especially if you are a beginner.

Madmoizelle: Who are the people who undertake business creation?

Delphine Lefetz : There are two main categories of business creators. There are those who throw themselves “with difficulty” and go there by intuition, and those who decide to seek support. For budding entrepreneurs it is very important to ask for help and surround yourself with professionals.

Support is one of the keys to the success of an entrepreneurial project, it will significantly increase your chances of building a sustainable business. Preparation for the job of business manager cannot be improvised and benefiting from additional skills allows you to save valuable time, challenge your project, improve it and ensure its success.

Madmoizelle: I would like to create my own business, but I have no idea of ​​the essential steps not to be missed… Can you explain these steps to us?

One of the essential steps is to define the corporate strategy. To do this, you must start by carrying out a market study, studying trends and the environment and analyzing supply and demand.

Then you have to do a “SWOT”, this very practical tool allows you to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the project as well as the market opportunities and threats. Once all these elements are in place, a major decision must be made: abandon the project, reformulate or validate it, and move on to the next stage.

When these foundations are laid, we must build a business plan, a document that summarizes its commercial, operational and financial objectives, then develops its strategy: it chooses its targets (BtoB: towards companies, BtoC: towards individuals) and its positioning. All of these steps are essential to ensure long-term project viability!

How to get support in setting up a business

Delphine Lefetz : Apparently, your reader has already started her business: that’s why she’s asking for an audit. This is an accompaniment that would allow him to review the foundations of his business planand possibly repeat the previous steps: market research, a SWOT, etc… to then define the actions that could be implemented to consolidate or improve its strategy.

Madmoizelle: And who can she turn to for this type of support?

Delphine Lefetz : Can request one of the 27 networks that make up the Cap Créa collective. Business Startup and Acquisition Support professionals with various skillsets (Information, Awareness, Support, Funding, Bounce, Acquisition, Acceleration, etc.) are there to support project leaders and address their needs, from simple information financial.

Some networks are also specialized in female entrepreneurship: Les Première, Action’elles, Force femmes, etc.

Madmoizelle: Are there also free training courses on all the subjects you need to know to be a great business leader?

Delphine Lefetz : There are plenty of them! It is very important to train in setting up a business and then in the profession of business manager. That is why the Bpifrance University website lists more than 400 training courses on all subjects: legal, accounting, strategic development, marketing, etc. All are free and accessible no matter what stage you are in your business project.

Every month, Bpifrance Création offers webinars on all topics and issues of interest to business creators and young leaders.

Finally, Bpifrance Création has also made a non-exhaustive inventory of MOOCS (online courses) on entrepreneurship: there are courses on creating your own business planon the search for financing, on the management and development of one’s own business, on innovative entrepreneurship… And here, too, everything is free!

Credits: photos by Anna Tarazevich and Yan Krukau of Pexels