Have you worked for a number of years now as part of the rat race? Decided you no longer want to be constrained by the regular 9-5 office working rules? Well you are not alone my friend!

I spent most of my 20s following this pattern of day to day working life, just going through the motions, grabbing a few beers with my mates in the evening. However, I never really felt any fulfillment from the work I was doing, and I often missed out on fun things, events with my mates and family due to meetings over running or deadlines that needed to be met.

So, I decided to take a risk and go out on my own; I decided to start my own business, and I firmly believe this is something anyone can do too. Here I am going to give you a few suggestions of the things you need to consider, if you decide you want to get out the rat race and make it on your own.

1. What Do You Want To Do?

There is no point in going out on your own if you end up doing something you’re not interested in or do not enjoy. You may as well continue with your day to day job and get someone else to worry about the details. Sit down and brainstorm your strengths, weaknesses and interests. Also, chat to your mates, have one of those ‘If you could see me doing anything’ conversations. You would be amazed at the ideas your friends have.

2. Is There A Gap In The Market?

Next, I would recommend doing some research into the areas you have outlined. It may be that the market is saturated with one particular thing. Find the niche, the gap that no one has tapped into yet and find out as much as you can about how this market works. I know, it is tempting to have a great idea and leap in both feet first, but this may not be the best strategy. If every Tom, Dick and Harry is doing the same.

3. Create Your Own Website

Even if you are not that tech literate in today’s market, no matter what you choose to do it is undisputed that the internet is the way to go, In terms of promoting your business, setting up your own website is a lot easier than you think. For extra help, or if you’re unsure, use WordPress or Wix

4. Pallet Racking Solutions

So you have decided that you want to sell something as part of your business. Let’s face it, the last thing you want is to turn you home into a storage facility. Your girlfriend, wife, future girlfriend is not going to want to be clambering over boxes all over the place. So you’re going to need somewhere to store your product. You are going to need a Warehouse Storage Solution that won’t break the bank. I definitely recommend Warehouse Storage Solutions as a good place to start having used them for sometime now.

5. Comfort in Your Work Environment

Let’s face it, you are not going to leave a comfortable job, working in a reasonable office environment, to end up working in a cramped, unpleasant environment. Whether it is just you to begin with or you have staff to consider. The space that you work in should be comfortable, it leads to a better work ethic. Office depot provides solutions to enable you to create a good work environment.

6. Email Marketing

As with the internet, a perfect way to get your produce or service out there is to use email marketing. I know you’re thinking about all that spam that comes into your inbox that you simply delete. Annoying as it is, you would not be receiving so much spam unless companies all over the world believe this method works. For all the thousands of people that delete the messages, there will be those who read the email and consider it. If you want to get your business out to a large demographic, email marketing is a cheap and effective way to do this. You could do it yourself but  Mail chimp is a great service that not only ensures a wide market audience is reached, but also makes sure you stay within the rules.  Rules such as numbers to consider when email marketing.

7. Social Media

Last but by no means least, is the use of social media. The power of Facebook and Twitter are immeasurable and – even better – free! People spend hours online finding,checking tweets and Facebook news feeds.You definitely want a piece of that if you’re starting a new business.

It is true that setting up on your own is not an extremely cheap option, but with a lot of planning at the start you will save yourself hundred of dollars along the way. There is nothing worse than starting out, then finding you have to keep changing everything. The cost for poor planning will mount up. Plan thoroughly at the start, research your options when it comes to storage, office space and marketing and TAKE THE PLUNGE!