Before the process of starting a service business begins, the potential business owner needs to do a bit of research about the service itself as well as the market in the particular region in which that business will operate. This means identifying potential customers or target audiences, identifying competition and analyzing those businesses to find out how the new business can compete or out-perform the existing ones, looking for a location and a region in which the business should operate, and so on. Once the potential business owner has taken these steps, he or she can begin the process of starting a service business by working on writing a business plan.
The business plan is a document that outlines how the business will be started, how it will make money, when it can be expected to be profitable, what the competition is, and so on. Writing such a plan will improve the potential owner's chances of securing a loan for starting a service business if necessary, and it will help the owner stay organized and goal-oriented. If the service requires employees, this should be written into the plan so the potential owner knows how much money will be necessary to keep the employees paid.
Perhaps more important than any of the other steps mentioned is developing the motivation and patience necessary to deal with starting a service business. Many potential business owners do not realize just how much time and effort goes into starting a service business, and they become overwhelmed and stressed very quickly. The potential business owner should be sure that he or she is interested enough in the business to spend a significant amount of time getting it started and keeping it going, and he or she may want to consider talking to other service business owners to get a better understanding of the amount of work involved in the start-up process.
Advertising is one of the more difficult steps in the process of starting a service business, but it is a crucial one. Customers will not, after all, take advantage of a service if they do not know it exists. The business owner should make sure to allot a certain amount of money to advertising; this cost should be part of the business plan, and it can be covered with money secured from business loans if necessary. Advertising may involve running television or radio ads, building a website, printing flyers, distributing mailers or door hangers, and so on.