Starting a business is not as hard as you think it is - A few points to consider

Someone just asked me if a business is hard to start. My answer was, "Not hard at all. It's usually just as hard as you are on yourself to take that leap of faith" (this is further addressed in the bonus section at the bottom of the article). All you need to do is:

1. Find something people want to buy (a service, a product you drop ship, a product/software you create).
2. Find people to sell that to who will pay a fair price for it.
3. That's how you start a business.

I can already hear the number of business consultants out there saying, "you need a business plan, marketing plan, get your company filed, a tax number, an attorney, other professionals, financials, and all of the things..." But that's not the most important part. The most important part is being able to bring value to someone (or some entity) who finds so much benefit from the value you bring, that they want to pay you for it. Once you have that! you can start working on everything else, which will help you decide on the overall structure of your company, which is step 2.

In order to structure a company effectively, you need to ask yourself the following 3 main questions:

1. Do I want this to be a cash business only (services usually)?
2. Do I need outside capital to help build the business (drop ship or invented product/software)?
3. What is my exit strategy? Do you want to go public, remain private, build to sell, or hold onto for generations?

Once you have this down, you can have a meaningful discussion with your accountant and they can help put your ideas in to paper and filed properly within your governing regulatory framework. At the beginning of my entrepreneurial career, I had no clue how to structure a company to reach my goals because I didn't understand what my goals were and as a result, I didn't know what options I had. Fast forward a couple of years and 3 startups later (one failed and two going strong), I hope the below helps anyone who finds themselves in a similar position.

RE: BONUS THOUGHT: Starting your business is only as hard as you are on yourself.

Most times in life, people are their own biggest roadblocks, and when starting a business it is no different.

So you're not the best networker? Go to events and start practicing. You don't have the best supporting team? Hunt them down and sell them your vision. Feel like you need some more time to think and brainstorm ideas? Start a list ASAP to build that skill. Not sure where you're going to source the capital for your venture? Go to investor events and start talking to people on all sides of the table to learn. You want to have more money in your bank account before taking the risk? Figure out a way to do it regardless. The list goes on...

The point is, you just have to do it. Anything else is an excuse. 

And finally, I would highly recommend having a mentor you can trust, who you have seen succeed and who has a true passion for helping and doesn't just want to make a buck off of you.

Russell Cole - Founder, CEO OrganicGrow Solutions & TrialScribe - Email Here

A bit about me: I am an entrepreneur who is focused on bringing forward meaningful advancements in emerging markets by providing greater access to cutting edge technologies for the benefit of everyone. The technologies I am currently working on are 1) An advanced imaging platform designed to collect precision imagery of the cannabis/hemp plants themselves, in order to actively produce insight into the crop's behavior VS. reactively correlating external environmental data with the results of cultivation. Being active allows you to solve problems in real time, whereas being reactive only allows you to play catch up after problems are found or by applying learning to the next production cycle. And 2) A data aggregation platform designed to, Make BigData Easy, for researchers on both the plant and patient sides of the cannabis/hemp plant. Both techs are focused on serving the cannabis industry first, while branching out to all other industries where benefits can be gained later on.