Starting a business takes years or maybe even decades… right? 

Let’s say you hate your job and you want to start off on your own entrepreneurial journey. You’re going to start your own business so that you can grow something you’re proud of and make a lot of money while you’re doing it. That’s great!

But you freeze up and hesitate to start your business. That’s not great. 

This usually happens to people when they think about how long it’ll take to start their own business. You’re right to be cautious and a little bit worried; Starting a business is usually expensive and time consuming. 

While the statement above is definitely somewhat true, it’s also very vague on top of being frightening. This article will help you figure out how long it’ll take you to start your business more accurately and hopefully stop being afraid to start your journey into business. 

How long will it take you to start your own business?

This goes without saying but the amount of time it will take you to start your business depends heavily on what type of business you plan on starting. Some businesses are simpler to start and run than others while some are… complex.

For example, if you’re starting a freelancing, service based business, you can potentially get your business up and running within a week. A specific example is starting a coding or programming business where you take any client based work you can. Immediate prospecting for work allows for swift project initiation and payment. 

On the flipside of things, if you want to start a business that manufactures and sells its own products, things get complicated. Indeed, there are numerous pre-launch and ongoing considerations when starting a business. Effective planning and management are crucial for success. You need to think about your physical location, your employees, your materials, your supplier and a whole bunch of other things. 

All of these things make starting this kind of business complicated and slow.  

Check out our article on How Long Does it Take to Get Monetised on YouTube.

Things you usually will need to do when you start your business.

Here are a few things that you’ll need to be prepared to do if you want to start your own business. Not every business requires you to do every single one of these things… but this list will give you a good idea of what it takes and how long it takes to get a business started.

Getting your business name and domain name settled.

You need to make your business name and your domain name when you start a business. Choosing a good one can take as long as you want it to but your business name is going to be what your customers will see on advertising, marketing and everything else to do with your business. Make sure you take the time to choose a good one!

Getting a location for your business.

If your business requires a physical location, then you’ll need to take the time to look for a suitable place that you can rent or buy. You also need to do renovations depending on the type of business you want to start. This can potentially take months to years to get settled. 

Getting business loans.

If you’ve dealt with banks before, you know that they like to take their time and drag their feet with pretty much everything. Even with a lot of preparation and prior planning, it could take you months or years to get the business loan you need to start your business. 

Getting your online presence settled for your business.

It’s the future and you absolutely need an online presence for your business. Depending on your business, you might need a website, a Facebook page, an Instagram account, a Twitter account and a bunch of other online accounts when you start your business. This is relatively quick and you can do it in a day of concentrated work. 

PS: You should really get a separate business phone number if you start your own business.

Getting your business registered with your local government.

Getting your business registered with your government is a hassle and there’s no getting around that. That being said, you can have it settled in a few weeks if you’re lucky.

Getting an Employer ID from the IRS.

This step is important and you should handle it ASAP. You do NOT want to get in trouble with the IRS. Luckily though, you can apply for your EIN online and receive your Employer ID almost immediately. 

Buying the equipment and supplies needed for your business.

If your business only requires equipment and supplies that you can get at a place like Walmart or on sites like Amazon, you can potentially get everything settled within a week. However, if your business requires specialised equipment that you can’t readily buy and need to special order, this process can take weeks or months.

Of all the things on this list, the two most time consuming things to do are getting a physical location and getting a business loan. Finding a good location can potentially take months while getting a business loan can drag out for years if you’re really unlucky. If you can start a business without needing to do those two things, you can save a lot of time. 

Here are some businesses that you can get started fast.  

If the above list made you scared to start a business, don’t worry. The businesses listed below are quick and simple to start, have the potential to grow decently big and give you a ton of experience along the way. 

A freelancing, service based business. 

We mentioned this earlier in the article but getting a one-person service based business going can be extremely quick. Provided you possess the skills to meet client demands, you can initiate income generation by securing clients. 

For example, programmers can quickly start earning by securing online job board clients and completing agreed-upon projects. If you do good work, your reputation will grow and you can get more work based on testimonials, recommendations or word of mouth. 

Some people argue that a single person running a service based business is just a freelancer working their way through the gig economy. This is pretty much true but doing it this way offers you more freedom than if you had a normal job and more room to grow your business into something more substantial. 

Check out our article on Online Jobs for High School Students.

A dropshipping store.  

Dropshipping is a fulfilment model where you sell stock from a third-party vendor without having to ever buy or keep products in stock yourself. You’re a middleman that collects orders from your customers, directly contacts the supplier with their order and then they’ll ship off the product to the customer for you. You make a profit by adding onto the price that the supplier charges for your product and then pocketing the difference.  

This business is quick to start because all you’ll need to do is the marketing side of things since your supplier is the one who’ll handle the fulfilment of your products. This means that all you’ll be doing is finding products that your customers want to buy and finding customers that want to buy your products. 

Dropshipping offers a quick entry into the business world but comes with certain drawbacks. The chief two being that your profit margins are usually going to be pretty thin and other people can very easily steal your customers by selling the exact same product.

Write and sell eBooks.

Nowadays, you don’t need a publisher and editors to get your book out into the world. You just need to write it and put it online for sale on a site like Amazon, Google Play or Gumroad.  

Maybe you could write a how-to eBook, a cookbook, a serial novel or even a collection of short stories and put them up to sell on any one of those sites above. You can start your business and start making money as soon as you put your eBook online.

Even though you can put up your eBook for sale incredibly quickly, you still need to take into account the time it takes for you to write each of your eBooks. You also need to figure out how to get paying customers to be aware of your book with marketing methods that you see fit. Another thing that you need to keep in mind is that the competition for selling eBooks is rough and there are countless other competitors vying to sell their eBooks as well.

Design and sell print on demand t-shirts. 

Are you good at art and design? Or can you come up with clever and funny quips that would fit on a shirt?

If you are, then you should consider designing and selling print on demand t-shirts.

Selling print on demand t-shirts is fast since all you need to do is make your shirt designs and find customers for them. You team up with a print on demand company that processes your orders and handles the fulfilment for your customers. This is pretty similar to dropshipping but the main difference is that it’s you that’s designing what goes on the t-shirt.

While the startup costs are low and the startup times are quick, this business has some disadvantages. One of them is thin margins since you aren’t buying your shirts in bulk and another being that it’s hard to make a shirt design that will really take off with your potential customers.

Closing 

This article aims to assist with establishing a realistic timeline for business launch. If you think it’s all too much and will be too slow, calm down and take a deep breath. You can always find ways to simplify your business plan to start off as lean and quick as possible. 

If you decide to start your own business, we wish you the best of luck. Be patient and work hard then eventually everything will work out!