How to learn and start your own business. Where and how to study business. Quick start with social networks

Hello dear friend! In touch Alexander Berezhnov, entrepreneur and one of the founders of the HiterBober.ru business magazine.

Today we will talk about how to start your own business from scratch. Is it really possible to do it at all? I answer unequivocally - YES!

After studying this article, you will find answers to the most common questions:

• How to start your business from scratch if you have no money and experience?
• Where can I find a working business idea to start a project?
• What (what business) to do to get the first profit tomorrow?

Here I will describe a step-by-step technology for starting a business, and give examples from my own business practice, as well as talk about the experience of my entrepreneur friends who started their own business without money and other material assets in the form of premises, equipment or goods.

You just have to study this material and apply the knowledge gained in life.

Content

1. Why is it better for beginners to open a business from scratch?
2. How to start your business so as not to burn out - 10 iron rules!
3. How to start your own business from scratch - 7 simple steps using the example of a fictional aspiring entrepreneur Vasya Pupkin
4. My own experience of starting a business from scratch in the service industry
5. The real story of how my friend Misha worked as a security guard and became a businessman

1. Why is it better for beginners to open a business from scratch?

Dear readers, this section of the article is very important! I sincerely advise you to study it carefully. I guarantee you won't regret it.

Here, the key points for starting a business for beginners from the point of view of the psychology of entrepreneurship will be explained.

Before you start a new project, be sure to think about what your desire is due to.

Understand yourself and your motivation to open a business, and my little test, compiled in the form of two blocks of different beliefs, will help you with this.

Belief Block #1.

With what thoughts you SHOULD NOT start your own business:

• How to quickly earn a lot to pay off debts?
• The idea that I have in my head will definitely work, but I need money to implement it;
• Am I worse than others? Here my neighbor is engaged in business and everything will also work out for me;
• Tired of these fool bosses, tomorrow I quit and open my own business!

Yes, friends, business is more psychology than technology. I'll explain why a little later.

Belief Block #2.

Conversely, you are READY to start a business if you think like this:

• I am very good at doing a business demanded by the "market" and on its basis I want to open my own business;
• I am aware that in the beginning large investments in a business are very risky, and only free money I can invest in a business, but I will not borrow it, since the risk of losing money without business experience is very high;
• My business requires a lot of time, and in order to develop it, I must have a cash reserve or source of income until my project brings tangible income;
• Having started my business, I will no longer have bosses and controllers who guide me in my work, and I need to become an organized person now enough to act independently and achieve success in entrepreneurship.

If you are dominated by beliefs from block number 1, do not rush to get into a fight. After all, most likely, such judgments indicate the emotionality of your decisions and underestimation of the risks that arise when starting your own business.

The beliefs that prevail in your head from block #2 indicate that you are fully aware of what a business is and are going to take a responsible approach to its start and further development.

I already wrote above that business is mainly psychology and only then technology.

It is time to explain why this is so.

The thing is that our internal "cockroaches" and delusions prevent us from starting our project.

Here are just a few of the myths that hold back successful projects:

1. Without money and connections, a business cannot be opened;
2. Taxes will eat up all the profits;
3. Bandits will take my business;
4. I don't have a commercial streak.

Surely you are familiar with all these fears of beginners. In fact, if you overcome them, or rather, just score and do not think about all this nonsense, then your chances of success will increase MULTIPLE!

2. How to start your business so as not to burn out - 10 iron rules!

I myself had to open a business more than once. I opened my first business at the age of 19, I independently registered as an individual entrepreneur. If you are interested in how to issue an IP, then I explained in detail all the subtleties of this procedure using my example in the article “How to open an IP in 3 hours”.

Then I bought 2 terminals for receiving payments. You probably yourself have used the services of such terminals more than once when paying for a mobile phone. But this business cannot be called open from scratch, since at that time (2006) I invested about 250,000 rubles in it.

So, friends, perhaps you know both successful examples of business projects and examples where entrepreneurs with their “brainchild” failed.

By the way, basically everyone hears stories of great successes, but it’s not customary and even ashamed to talk about failures.

Like, here I am a fool, a loser, went bankrupt, lost money, got into debt. So what's now? And now there is nothing left to do, it remains to live on and step by step to get out of this situation.

So that you don’t end up in the place of this poor fellow, here are the simplest rules that will help you start a business with minimal risks and a greater chance of success.

How to start your business from scratch and not go broke - 10 iron rules:

1. Never take loans to start a business if you have no experience;
2. Before opening a business, take off your “rose-colored glasses” and ask yourself the question: “What will I lose if I fail” ?;
3. Be prepared for different scenarios, consider both an optimistic scenario and a pessimistic one;
4. In no case do not open a business with money intended for other strategic goals in your life (children's education, loan payments, medical treatment, etc.);
5. Carefully study the market and your capabilities, that is, the resources you have to start your own business;
6. Do not get involved with obscure or "super profitable" projects that require serious investments;
7. If possible, talk to experienced entrepreneurs who are successful in business and take note of their advice;
8. Start a business in a field you know;
9. Plan the upcoming actions in writing and clearly articulate each stage that you have to go through to achieve the goal;
10. Be optimistic and do not stop at the first difficulties!

3. How to start your own business from scratch - 7 easy steps using the example of a fictional aspiring entrepreneur Vasya Pupkin

For clarity, I propose to go through all 7 steps of the technology for organizing your business using the example of a fictitious entrepreneur, let his name be Vasily.

This is the hero of our story, who decided to open a business from scratch.

Step 1. Determine your value

Look, friends, I think you will agree that a business can be called an exchange of money for some value that you can give to your customers, that is, to solve their problem for money.

Let's say you're good at driving a car, or good at making beautiful designs on a computer, or maybe you have a talent for making DIY crafts - in all these cases, you have value that people are willing to pay for.

Let's get straight to the point and do a practical exercise that will help you start your business from scratch:

Grab a piece of paper and a pen, then write down a list of 10 things you feel you're better at.

Once this list is complete, consider what things you are good at that you really enjoy doing. Maybe you are currently doing this as a hobby.

The fact is that a person cannot do what he does not like for a long time, and business is a big creative process that requires you to be versatile in development, willpower and dedication.

For example, as a result of this exercise, you came to the conclusion that you like to teach something, explain, communicate with people and work with information, and most importantly, that you are good at it.

Then, by combining your abilities, you can become a private tutor, consultant or succeed in the network marketing industry.

This is a general principle.

So, Vasya lived...

Vasily decided to open a business, and responsibly approached this task.

Vasya made a list of his favorite activities and compared it with what he does best.

As a result of the exercise, our hero decided that he would be engaged in computer design, since he has been working for several years at DesignStroyProekt LLC in the city of Chelyabinsk, which develops interior design and then finishes the room according to a 3D project.

Vasily appreciated his strength and decided that he would become a private interior designer, he already had a number of completed projects, positive customer reviews and an impressive portfolio.

Vasya loved his work and sometimes even took it home, as there were a lot of orders from the company.

Even then, our hero realized that, in fact, he was engaged in entrepreneurial activity, only the company buys his services at a low price, and customers pay much more for the design development to the company.

Here Vasily realized that if he could find clients on his own, then he would not have to go to the office at all, and his initial investment in the business would be minimal. After all, his design skills themselves are, in fact, a business.

And so the idea came to our newfound entrepreneur to start a business.

While working in the company, Vasya even received a small percentage of completed projects, which means he could influence his income level.

Fortunately, he lived in a large city, where he had quite a few potential customers.

Step 2. We analyze the market and choose a niche for a future project

In order to understand whether your business will be successful, you need to conduct an appropriate analysis of the market in which you will sell your products or services.

So, Vasya decided not to rush and carefully prepared for a new life stage, which was called "free floating in the world of business."

During the few years that our designer worked for the company, he learned that there are about 10 similar companies in the market of his city, and they all provide similar services.

He asked his friend Pasha to go to these companies under the guise of a client and identify their strengths and weaknesses in order to further develop competitive advantages by working for himself.

After commercial intelligence, Pasha named a number of strengths and weaknesses of these companies. Pasha arranged these sides in a table so that it would be convenient for Vasya to compare them.

Strengths of Vasya's competitors:

• the interior designer of these companies makes an inspection and measurement of the object for free;
• all companies provide a discount on the subsequent finishing of the apartment;
• 7 out of 10 companies give a client a gift certificate for a 30% discount when ordering a design project from them again;
• managers of 9 out of 10 companies talk attentively with the client, correctly ascertaining his needs.

Weaknesses of Vasya's competitors:

• 8 out of 10 companies try to oversell too many additional products and services on their first meeting with a customer. This causes his negative reaction;
• the interior designer in all 10 companies, at the first conversation with a potential client, conducts a dialogue in a complex professional language using a large number of special terms;
• 7 out of 10 companies charge extra for editing computer-aided design projects.

Taking into account all the above pros and cons of competitors, our hero Vasily decided to design the interiors of houses and apartments in his city at a lower price. Similar companies on the market provide these services more expensively, since they spent a lot of money on maintaining a workplace and paying taxes for an employee.

The cost of the services of our designer was now one and a half times lower with the proper quality of execution of design projects.

This completed the second step of building your business from scratch with Vasily Pupkin.

Step 3. Decide on the positioning of your business and draw up a Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

In order for your customers to understand what exactly you offer them and what makes you unique, you will need to decide on your positioning. In other words, in what light will you present yourself to your client.

Let's return to our fictional character Vasily, who wanted to open his own business and was at the stage of developing an offer for the customer.

Vasya already had a good portfolio and a number of testimonials from satisfied clients, but how to show all this to your potential customers?

Then Vasya said to himself: “I'm a designer!” and decided to create his own website on the Internet.

Here he posted his portfolio, reviews, information about himself and his experience, as well as his contacts, so that a potential client could easily contact him.

Vasily also formulated his Unique Selling Proposition (USP) *, which sounded as follows: “Creating the interior design of your dreams for a reasonable price. Creative. Brightly. Practical."

So Vasya began to position himself as a professional designer who, at an adequate cost, develops a good quality product for people with an average income level.

Step 4. We draw up an action plan (business plan)

In order to launch your business and avoid many problems, you need to be prudent and try to put your idea and action plan on paper in as much detail as possible.

You can briefly write down the main stages that you have to go through to organize and launch your project. Draw diagrams and drawings, make explanations for them.

Correctly, this stage of starting your business from scratch is called business planning. This is your instruction, following which, the chances of success are greatly increased.

In one of the previous articles, I already wrote how to write a business plan, be sure to check it out.

Now we return to our hero Vasily, who decided to become an entrepreneur and quit his job. Vasily has long wanted to open a business without investments, because he did not want to risk money. He understood that without proper experience, such an experiment could end badly and lead to loss of money.

As a result, Vasya decided that his actions would consist of 3 simple steps with subtasks and look like this:

1. Create your own website with portfolio, reviews and contacts;
2. Post your portfolio online on sites for remote workers;
3. Inform the immediate environment about your new project (friends, acquaintances and relatives).

Stage 2. Getting the first orders

1. Sign contracts and receive advance payments from customers;
2. Fulfill orders;
3. Get feedback and recommendations from the customer, add work to the portfolio.

Stage 3. Dismissal from work

1. Write a letter of resignation;
2. Work out the required 2 weeks, complete work projects and transfer cases;
3. Agree on the supply of customers for repair and finishing work to contractors.

Now he was fully prepared for the first practical steps to transform himself from an employee into an individual entrepreneur.

Step 5. We advertise our project and find the first clients

In order to find the first customers, when you already have an offer for your services, you must first notify your acquaintances, friends and relatives. Tell them that from now on you are engaged in such and such an activity, and also try to conclude the first contracts with them.

If at the moment your services are not relevant for them, ask them for contacts of people to whom they could recommend you.

It's no secret that for a large audience coverage and automatic self-presentation, you just need to create a website for yourself.

To do this, you can use the services of companies to create sites or, if you have the necessary knowledge, create a site yourself. By the way, about how my friend Vitaly and I earned about 1,000,000 rubles by creating websites, read our article about making money by creating websites to order.

In the meantime, the hero of our business story, Vasily, did not sit idle and developed a personal website for himself, created groups on social networks, notified the environment about the services he provided, and sent out commercial offers to his potential clients.

A well-written commercial offer is the key to success in your business. Read all the chips and nuances of technology in my article on how to make a commercial offer.

The first orders have arrived...

Step 6. Launching a business, earning the first money and building a brand

Having completed all the previous steps, you gradually approached the most interesting stage - the first orders, and therefore the first profits.

• Isn't that what we strived for when we became entrepreneurs!?
• “How to make money by starting your business from scratch?” Isn't that the question we asked ourselves?

If you show due perseverance and follow my recommendations, then you will certainly succeed. Just believe in yourself and do not give up ahead of time, be prepared for difficulties, because they will be, I tell you for sure.

So, our Vasily received and completed the first orders. As usual, he did it with his usual professionalism. The designer understood that it was not enough just to earn money, because he already knew how to do it at his office job in the company.

Possessing a strategic vision, Vasily decided that in order to develop his business and increase the value of his services, he needed to develop a name for himself, or, as they say in business circles, a reputation.

Earn yourself a name that will help you earn everything else!

folk wisdom

To do this, Vasya did not just sit at home and watch TV, but methodically engaged in self-education, attended thematic exhibitions and seminars, went to creative parties of designers and entrepreneurs, where he could find potential customers and meet new partners.

A few months later, Vasya established a reputation as an experienced and punctual professional in the field of interior design. The average cost of his order was growing, and clients came to him already on the recommendations of their friends, to whom Vasya provided high-quality design services.

Step 7. Analyze the results and expand the project

When your business began to bring tangible income, regular customers appeared, and you began to be recognized in the business and professional sphere, it's time to sum up the intermediate results of work and outline new horizons. Simply put, it's time to expand your project in order to increase profits and your own "weight" (your name) in the chosen business area.

Vasily did the same, he analyzed his results, income, outlined possible ways to expand the business.

As a result, our designer drew up a new business plan.

Now Vasily could hire assistants for himself, who performed all the routine operations for him. Our entrepreneur opened his own interior design studio named after Vasily Pupkin. In it, he was now the leader and art director.

Thus, having gone from a novice designer and company employee, our now big boss Vasily proved to everyone by his own example that it is realistic to open a business from scratch and this does not require cosmic sums, and even more so loans that inexperienced entrepreneurs like to take.

Dear readers, perhaps someone will say that this is a fictional story and the issues of registering a company, proper negotiation with customers, legal issues and other subtleties are not disclosed here in detail.

Yes, this is true, but trust me, if you take these simple 7 steps as a basis, then starting a business for you will turn into an exciting journey that you will remember for a very long time. And as an experienced entrepreneur, you will share your practical knowledge with beginners.

I will say that I personally managed to open a business according to the described model.

I wish you good luck and I am sure that by approaching the beginning of your own project responsibly, after a while you will be doing what you love and getting paid for it.

Below you will find working business ideas for starting your own business from scratch, as well as real entrepreneurial stories about how my friends and I started our own business.

4. Things to do to Start Your Business from Scratch - Top 5 Business Ideas

The following business ideas will help you get started in business and feel like an entrepreneur in practice.

Some ideas will be related to making a profit with the help of the Internet, others will not.

You just have to choose the type of business you like and start diving into it.

Business idea number 1. Consulting and training

If you know how to do something well, then there will surely be many who want to learn from your experience and knowledge.

Nowadays, online learning is especially popular. This is where you can find hundreds and even thousands of people who are willing to pay you.

For example, I have a friend Alexei, he lives with me in the same city of Stavropol and teaches foreign languages. A few years ago, Lyosha had to go to his students at home or invite them to his home. Now the situation has changed radically, everything has become much easier.

With the advent of the Internet, my friend began to teach people English and German via Skype. I myself used his services for a year. During this time, I managed to learn English from scratch to a conversational level. As you can see, it works.

You can also start your own home based business from scratch teaching or advising people over the Internet.

Nowadays, many lawyers, accountants and teachers earn good money in this way. But there is an even more advanced option for making money on your knowledge, it consists in creating and selling your own training courses via the Internet.

To make a profit in this way you need:

• choose a topic in which you understand;
• write a training course on it;
• start advertising this course online in many ways and earn income from sales

The advantage of this type of business is that you record your course once and sell it multiple times.

In general, the sale of information on the Internet in the form of methods and manuals is called infobusiness. You can also open it and make it your main source of income.

Business idea number 2. Earnings with the help of the social network Twitter (Twitter)

Today, almost every person has their own profile in any of the social networks. But few people know that here, in addition to entertainment and communication, you can earn good money.

One of these opportunities is the usual for many Twitter - a social network for exchanging short messages up to 140 characters.

Ordinary people spend their time and money here, while smarter people have turned this social network into their source of permanent income.

It's no secret that wherever people hang out, there is money.

After all, our Internet users are an active solvent audience. So why don't you get some of their money. Moreover, it is absolutely legal and does not require outstanding knowledge.

It is enough just to make a few RIGHT actions and get the first profit. We have previously written about how to start your own business on Twitter and earn income comparable to the average salary in Russia. Read our article "How to make money on the social network Twitter" and implement the methods described in it.

Business idea number 3. We are engaged in mediation - we earn on Avito.ru

Earnings with the help of electronic bulletin boards is the easiest and most affordable for most people.

You are required to have minimal computer knowledge, a few hours a day and a desire to work for yourself.

With the help of sites that specialize in posting free ads, you can build your very profitable business.

This can be done in 3 steps:

1. Find what to sell
2. Place an ad on the site
3. Get a call from a buyer and sell a product

As a site for placing ads for sale, we will use the most popular Avito board (avito.ru).

Hundreds of thousands of ads are posted here every day, and the active audience of the site has tens of millions of users.

Can you imagine how many potential buyers for your product can be found here?!

First, you can start here by selling unnecessary things that you have at home, and then post ads for the sale of goods and services that you don’t even have in stock.

Do not believe that this is possible and want to know how it is done?

I myself tried to earn quick money with the help of Avito, I won’t say that I became a millionaire, but I managed to earn several thousand rubles in a week.

I wrote a separate article about this "How to make money on Avito - 10,000 rubles in one week."

Business idea number 4. Grow from an employee to a business partner

If you are currently employed, it is not necessary to quit your job and start your own business. You can do this within the company you work for.

If your company is not too big, and you are one of the key specialists there, then under certain conditions you can get a share in the company's business. This will allow you not only to receive a salary, but to become a full-fledged managing partner on a par with the current owner - your main manager.

This is possible if you can directly influence the increase in the company's profits by your actions.

Become an indispensable specialist and it is quite possible that the owner of the company himself will offer you to become his business partner.

This method is offered by the legendary Russian entrepreneur Vladimir Dovgan. Yes, you will have to work hard here, but on the other hand, you will become a co-owner of an already operating company without any risks and really from scratch.

Dovgan himself cites as an example a guy who became a co-owner of a large chain of restaurants in Moscow, and before that he was a simple cook in one of the restaurants.

This young man really liked what he was doing, he was professional in cooking and courteous with the guests of the institution.

The owners, seeing his passion for work, first promoted him to a restaurant manager, and then offered him a share in the business for developing their network of restaurants and training staff.

I don’t remember the name of this person, but now he has become a dollar millionaire, without actually opening his own business, but starting to develop someone else’s.

This is also a good way to start your own business, especially if you have a good career in a small or medium commercial company.

Business idea number 5. Building your business online

If you are good at computers, know how to create Internet projects, or at least understand the principles of their functioning, then you should consider the Internet as a way to start your business from scratch.

There are two main ways to start an online business:

1. Freelance. This is the business of providing paid services to you over the Internet. If you have professional skills, such as drawing beautiful designs, writing texts professionally, or knowing programming languages, then you can easily make money on the global web. More precisely, it can rather be called work for yourself. While successful freelancers make between $500 and $10,000 per month.

You can start earning in this way on the popular exchanges for freelancers Freelance (fl.ru) and Workzilla (workzilla.ru).

2. Classic business on the Internet. It is not so easy to build a full-fledged online business on your own, it is best to follow the beaten path.

To do this, just read my article how to make money online. There I talked about how you can make money on games, on social networks, on selling information from 50,000 rubles a month and gave examples of real people who are already doing this.

This concludes my review of business ideas. I hope that they will help you move forward and start earning your first money.

5. My own experience of starting a business from scratch in the service industry

As I wrote earlier, I opened my first business at the age of 19 - it was a vending business (terminals for accepting payments). Yes, it took money. Then I had several more projects. All of them had nothing to do with the Internet.

And so, about 3 years ago, my current friend and business partner Vitaliy and I opened our own website creation studio without a penny. We ourselves learned to make Internet projects literally on the go, but in the end, after a few months, we earned about 500,000 rubles at our website creation studio.

Naturally, I often had to work with legal entities that transferred payment for services by bank transfer. To do this, you had to either open your own company or work through someone.

We chose the second way, having agreed with our current business partner Evgeny Korobko. Zhenya is the founder and head of his own advertising agency. I interviewed him, you can read him in an article about opening an advertising agency from scratch, the material is published on our website.

Our first clients were familiar entrepreneurs.

We approached our business responsibly, and fulfilled orders with soul. Soon the word-of-mouth effect kicked in as our satisfied customers started recommending us to their friends.

This allowed us to get a continuous flow of customers, and sometimes we even could not cope with orders. This experience helped us to believe in ourselves, and today we have a complete picture in our head of how to start a business from scratch and make it successful.

I want to note that with the development of information technology in the world, your sales market today is the whole planet!

There are no more distances, any information is available, and now starting a business is much easier than even some 10 years ago.

I hope that all the materials in this article will help you take the first step towards your dream - your own business, which will eventually turn from a small home project into a huge company with a worldwide reputation.

Therefore, dear readers, I assure you, everything is in your hands, just act, because the city takes courage!

6. The real story of how my friend Misha worked as a security guard and became a businessman

Here is one of my favorite stories about a real entrepreneur who started a business from scratch. After all, I promised in the article to give examples from life.

Do you want to know how Mikhail became an entrepreneur from a laborer, opened his own company, bought a foreign car and an apartment?

A few years ago, my friend Mikhail worked wherever possible: as a laborer at a construction site, as a loader, and as a security guard.

In a word, he was engaged in not the most monetary and intellectual work. It all started with the fact that my friend was guarding a company selling building materials. One day a client came to them who wanted to buy a large batch of building insulation, but it was not in the assortment.

Misha knew that literally 100 meters from the company he was guarding, there was another hardware store where there was definitely such a heater. Taking a contact from a potential client, he went to this store in the evening and agreed that he would bring them a large client if they would give him a percentage of the purchase made from them. The management of this store agreed and Misha worked as a freelance sales manager, earning about 30,000 rubles for just one transaction (recommendation).

And it was an amount equal to his monthly salary!

Mikhail thought that this was an interesting business, and the financial result of the transaction gave him confidence. So he quit his job and started by negotiating with various firms that he would sell their products. Since Misha already worked as a laborer and security guards in a construction company, he also chose construction goods for sale: windows, doors, fittings, roofing, and so on.

My friend just walked around the construction sites of the city and offered his goods. Some were bought from him, some not. As a result, Mikhail formed an assortment of the most popular goods and understood how to properly negotiate with foremen at construction sites.

After 2 years, Mikhail opened his own company selling building materials and connected his brother to this business. Prior to that, his brother Kostya worked at Gorgas and received the usual small salary. Now the guys are quite successful in sales and earn good money.

By the way, I have been to their office more than once and have known Misha for several years. He told me this story himself.

By opening a business from scratch, you avoid the risk of losing money, and this is the most important thing. Also, starting without material resources teaches you to make better decisions in order to earn money. After all, if you manage to make a profit without investing, then with money you can even become a successful entrepreneur.

See you in the next articles and good luck in your business!

Please rate the article and leave comments below, I will appreciate it.

..."People with different degrees of higher education can succeed in business," says Yaroslav Kuzminov, rector of the Higher School of Economics. only in the specialty "management", but also for economists, financiers, lawyers, psychologists. They can work as functional specialists in business organizations, and they often make good managers "...

Today in Russia there is no generally accepted definition of a business school. Most often, this is the name of university departments or independent educational institutions, where they provide postgraduate education, in particular, they teach under the MBA (Master of Business Administration) programs. However, in the last five to seven years, educational institutions that traditionally specialized in teaching students (students of postgraduate programs are usually called that way) began to teach students under the programs of the first higher education.

NOTE TO THE APPLICANT
Seventeen-year-old applicants can be found at the Academy of National Economy, where previously only managers with work experience studied; students are recruited by the Faculty of Finance and Banking, the Institute of Business and Business Administration and other departments. Back in 1995, the Moscow International Higher School of Business "MIRBIS" began accepting students, and today they teach in the most popular specializations: "electronic business and law" (specialty "marketing"), "international corporate finance" ("finance and credit" ), "management of international trade and commercial law" ("management of the organization").
In addition to Russian higher education programs, MIRBIS has "double diploma" programs: after receiving a bachelor's degree, a student goes to one of the British partner universities - London Metropolitan University or Middlesex University. There he studies for a master's degree (Master of Arts) for a year, then returns to Russia, where he also receives a domestic specialist diploma. To do this, you need to pass several exams, undergo an internship and defend a thesis.
The novelty of this season is the recruitment of graduates of secondary schools in the specialty "marketing" and "management" at the Institute of Economics and Finance "Synergy", which also traditionally taught adults (both "MIRBIS" and "Synergy" work in a strategic partnership with the Plekhanov Russian Academy of Economics). "The first higher education in business schools is the basis for lifelong business education," says Synergy Rector Mikhail Ioffe. courses. After all, knowledge in the field of business needs to be constantly updated. "
Nevertheless, the list of specialties approved by the Ministry of Education for which Russian universities can teach does not include the specialty “business”. Elena Lobanova, dean of the Higher School of Financial Management of the Academy of National Economy (the school offers only postgraduate education), explains this by the fact that business is a multifaceted concept that cannot be "squeezed" into the educational standard. And Edward Goizman, rector of the Institute of Business and Economics (a joint MBA program with the Americans), on the contrary, argues that business is the same complex discipline as, for example, cybernetics or applied mathematics taught in universities. And business training - a discipline that appeared at the intersection of economics, management, finance, psychology and other sciences - can be introduced as a direction of higher education: there are also BBA programs (Bachelor of Business Administration) in American universities along with the MBA.
“People with different degrees of higher education can succeed in business,” says Yaroslav Kuzminov, rector of the Higher School of Economics. “For example, a medical school graduate can go into the medical business after receiving additional education at a business school. University graduates have a direct path to business not only in their specialty "management", but also for economists, financiers, lawyers, psychologists. They can work as functional specialists in business organizations, and they often make good managers."

MASTER BUSINESSMAN
Of all the postgraduate business training programs, the MBA is the most popular today (it is designed for 1000 academic hours: one and a half years of study in the full-time department, two in the evening and part-time). One of the reasons is brand promotion. Alexei Onchukov, head of the marketing department at the Higher School of International Business (HSMB), names three features of the development of Russian MBA programs. Firstly, the contingent of students has finally formed: not the unemployed and clerks, as in the early 90s, but middle managers and top managers who consider education as a condition for career growth are enrolled in the MBA. Secondly, a competition has appeared for MBA programs in leading business schools. Thirdly, the motivation of students has changed: they do not go for a "crust" and not for a job offer, but for knowledge, skills, and business connections.
Among GSMB students, 30% are CEOs of companies, 33% are other top managers (commercial, financial, executive directors, chief accountants), 18% are heads of departments. The age of 35% of students is under 30 years old, 48% - from 30 to 40 years old, 17% - over 40 years old. GSMB is the largest Russian business school: this year about 600 people study here under the MBA program. Managers of many well-known companies, including Gazprom, LUKOIL, Motorola, Hewlett Packard, have diplomas from this school. Last fall, the competition at GSMB was two people per place.
MBA programs in Russia were created taking into account American and European experience. Some have been developed with the participation of foreign business schools (though not from the top ten, but having both national and international recognition). For example, the MBA Institute of Business and Economics, created jointly with the University of California at Hayward, is accredited by the American Association of Business Schools (AACSB), which recognizes far from every program in the States themselves. In 1999 The MBA of the Institute of Business and Economics (training takes place in Moscow, half of the courses are taught by Russian teachers, half by American ones) took first place in the rating of similar programs of Russian business schools. The study (unlike many others) was indeed independent: it was conducted by the expert council of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation.
Rector Edward Goizman describes a graduate of the Institute of Business and Economics as follows: “He is a highly educated person, very well oriented in modern living conditions and especially in the economic environment. A pragmatist, not a romantic, very sociable, fluent in English. self-expression (but money must match his success) He can work not only in Russia, but also in the West Advanced computer user He has access to all modern leisure activities (holidays abroad, fitness club, restaurants) Unfortunately, he does not reads so much. Worse than my generation, knows literature, music, painting. However, I often meet my graduates in theaters. "
Many Russian business schools, when creating original MBA programs, cooperate with foreign partners and give their students the opportunity to receive a foreign diploma as well. At the Higher Commercial School under the Ministry of Economic Development, you can get an Executive MBA diploma from the French institute IEMI, founded by Pierre Cardin. The MIRBIS business school offers a British MBA diploma in addition to the Russian one. “The British make very high demands on graduation projects and sometimes they send them back for revision two or three times,” says Tatiana Ivanishcheva, Vice-Rector of MIRBIS. “They are not interested in presenting the theory. business." Edvard Goizman also speaks of strict control by American professors.
Some Russian MBA programs are accredited by prestigious foreign organizations. Thus, the MBA program of the Higher Commercial School was accredited by the European Council for Business Education, and the prestigious British Association of Business Schools AMBA recognized the MBA program of the Synergy Institute of Economics and Finance. "In order to give us accreditation, British experts analyzed curricula and assessed students' knowledge," said Synergy Rector Mikhail Ioffe. "This was a good incentive for us to bring the program closer to world standards."
Most MBAs in Russian business schools are considered generalist, that is, they produce general managers. However, these programs often have a wide range of specializations (usually made up of elective courses) - from "medical business management"
("MIRBIS") to "football industry management" ("Synergy"). The Institute of New Economy Management Problems of the State University of Management (SUM) offers MBA specializations in "corporate management and corporate finance", "measurement of value and management in the interests of the company". The Higher Commercial School plans to open a specialization in political science and management in the new academic year. Some business schools traditionally focus on specific lines of business - eg. The Graduate School of Financial Management trains top managers responsible for finance in the company under the MBA program.
The indispensable components of the MBA program are the science of economics and management, practical business experience and modern educational technologies. In this sense, the MBA program of the Institute for New Economy Management Problems of the State University of Management is indicative. This institute is headed by academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Dmitry Lvov, the departments are headed by academicians who head the leading economic institutions of the Russian Academy of Sciences (10 academicians and corresponding members of the Russian Academy of Sciences). MBA students at SUM are taught by economists, professional teachers, and successful business practitioners.
There is, however, another important factor: the MBA is not just a study, but also a "party": students learn from each other. It happens that classmates even organize a collective business. Thus, graduates of the Higher Commercial School opened a large fitness center. And graduates of the Institute of Business and Economics created a business consulting company, which they called Alumni (in Latin - graduates).

NOT MBA SINGLE
Despite all the advantages, the MBA is far from the only form of postgraduate training for working in business. There are other types of programs: a second higher education and a master's degree in the specialties of the economic and managerial block, professional retraining (an average of 500 academic hours), advanced training (at least 72 hours) and short-term trainings.
“The second higher education is designed for those who work in their specialty, without, as a rule, having the appropriate education. For example, a graduate engineer works as an accountant, and he needs to get an education in the specialty “accounting, analysis and audit,” says the first vice-rector of the Moscow International Institute of Econometrics, Informatics, Finance and Law Vladimir Lednev "To those who are not a leader, but want to study for an MBA just because it is fashionable, we advise you to get a second higher education in economics, management or finance," says Vice-Rector of MIRBIS Tatyana Ivanishcheva.
As a rule, a second higher education can be obtained in 3-3.5 years (part of the courses are re-credited on the basis of the first diploma), and classes are usually held in the evenings and on Saturdays. The block-modular principle of studying disciplines is popular here: students simultaneously master not a dozen subjects, like students receiving their first education, but three or four. Tuesday is marketing, Thursday is management, Saturday is banking and human resources. Pass the test - proceed to other disciplines.
Elena Lobanova tells how once, at an orientation lecture in the specialty "Finance and Credit", she noticed atypical listeners - "pumped up", with shaved heads and in black leather jackets (intellectuals with glasses are considered typical). “I told them: “If you want to buy a diploma, then you have come to the wrong address; better look for a simpler and cheaper business school,” recalls Elena Nikolaevna. “And they frowned and said: “No, we are at the right place: we want to study, because we bought the plant.”
Master's programs in economics and management (as a rule, the duration of study is two years) should not be confused with MBA programs. The master's program is designed to train not so much managers as analysts (listeners are offered more theoretical disciplines in the form of lectures). Master's programs, which graduates of other universities can apply for, are, for example, at the Faculty of Economics of Moscow State University and at the Higher School of Economics. Less often, master's programs are opened at business schools - for example, there is a master's degree in financial management at the Graduate School of Financial Management. "Synergy" offers a distance program from the University of Durham (UK), upon completion of which Russian and British Master's degrees in Management are issued.
A good alternative to an MBA - for those who want to save time and money, but still learn business - are professional retraining programs, usually designed for one year. For example, at the Higher School of International Business this year the program "Management: Trade and Services" is being opened, addressed to managers and leading specialists of trading companies (it "grew" from another GSMB program "Effective Trade Manager" - a three-month advanced training; many listeners said that three months was not enough for them). "MIRBIS" offers, in particular, the professional retraining program "System Analysis and Project Management in Business", designed for those who lack knowledge in the field of business analytics.
Finally, continuing education programs are even more specialized and usually last from a week to three to four months. Here the spectrum is huge: from comments on the latest tax instructions to effective communication trainings. The Synergy Institute arranges seminars for football club managers, including those with trips abroad (in Liverpool, training is conducted by British specialists in the field of football business). Many short-term programs are offered by the Higher School of Business, where classes are taught by teachers with extensive experience in business. For example, Vice-Rector of the Higher School of Economics Sergey Skosarev, who headed the Human Resources Department at VimpelCom (Bee-Line), leads the 10-day Human Resources program.
The school of managers "Arsenal" specializes in short-term programs. Her "signature dish" is one to four day trainings on various aspects of doing business for company owners, top managers and middle managers. Arsenal is also famous for its two- and three-month courses for sales managers and real estate experts. You can enter them even without work experience, but through competitive selection. The study is a continuous training, the purpose of which is to develop sales skills. Those who successfully complete their studies are guaranteed employment. Students pass the final exam to a commission consisting of employers, according to its results they receive job offers.

TRAINING FOR YOUR COMPANY
Corporate training - programs for employees of one enterprise - is not new in Russia for a long time. Corporate refresher courses are the most popular, professional retraining programs are less common, corporate MBA programs are very rare (they are offered by the Higher School of Financial Management of the Academy of National Economy, the Higher Commercial School, MIRBIS, the Synergy Institute of Economics and Finance).
Business schools train personnel not only in individual enterprises, but also in large corporations, both private and public. For example, the Higher Commercial School was declared the basic educational institution of RAO "Bumprom" (enterprises of the forestry, pulp and paper and woodworking industries). The Academy of National Economy and the Higher School of Economics train, in particular, employees of the regional branches of the Central Bank. In the Academy of National Economy, the Faculty of Finance and Banking works with them, training is conducted according to the professional retraining program "Curator of a commercial bank - bank manager." "The essence of this program is the training of a new generation of bank managers with special knowledge and management skills in a commercial bank in accordance with international standards," says Seda Nasibyan, dean of the faculty.
The main emphasis in training is on the acquisition of practical bank management skills by students. For this, the Bank Exec International training program, developed by the American Banking Association and used to train bank and financial managers in 15 countries of the world, is used. Trainings under this program are conducted by specialists led by Vice-Rector of the Academy of National Economy Andrey Volkov, who have undergone special training in foreign business schools.
The last chord is the presentation of graduation theses at a meeting of the State Attestation Commission, which is headed by the First Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia Andrey Kozlov. The program is highly appreciated by both the leaders of the Academy of National Economy (see the interview with Professor Vladimir May) and the leaders of the Central Bank. The Faculty of Finance and Banking plans to train employees of commercial banks on it in the future.

Igor DERGUNOV, Managing Director of the bank "MENATEP SPb", graduate of the MBA program of the Institute of Business and Economics and California University Hayward:
- In the 80s, I graduated from the Plekhanov Institute of National Economy and in the post-Soviet period I mastered the basics of business on my own. In the early 1990s it was possible to do without an MBA diploma: graduates of business schools, trained according to Western standards, did not take root well in Russian companies. But gradually there were more and more such specialists, today they are the bearers of a new corporate culture. I thought about going to study at Harvard or Wharton, but, firstly, for this you need to be younger, and secondly, it’s a shame to leave Russia for two years - business here is developing too dynamically. And in 1999 I entered the Institute of Business and Economics, which offers a Russian-American MBA program. I found the institute on the recommendations of friends who studied there. It was necessary to pass entrance exams in mathematics, English and pass an interview. The selection was quite tough: for admission here it is not enough to pay money. I had to learn English. Studying at the evening department is very difficult to combine with work. I then worked as an adviser to the chairman of the board of the Russian Investors investment bank; I had to go to class every evening at half past six. Both at work and at the institute it was necessary to sacrifice something, because it is simply impossible to be in time everywhere. I used to do homework at night. Education for me is first and foremost an investment in my own future. After all, MBA today is a universally recognized brand, moreover, when studying at a business school, it is very important to communicate with managers from different business areas. All these people went to study to change their lives. An MBA gives a person a certain “drive”, an incentive for development. A few months before graduation, I was offered to go to work at the bank "MENATEP SPb", and I agreed. If it weren't for the "drive" I got in the MBA program, I wouldn't have started a new and, as it turned out, very promising project.

* * *
Naina ARUTYUNOVA, student of the MBA program of the Institute for New Economy Management Problems of the State University of Management:
- My first education is technical - in 1987 I graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute with a degree in aircraft instrumentation systems. Worked in tourism, recruiting. In the late 90s, I became the deputy general director, and then the general director of the KASKAD-VIA Company, which produces plastic windows. In October last year, she began studying under the MBA program at the State University of Management. I chose this program because I was attracted by its "Russian specificity". I learned that mainly managers working in domestic companies study there, that in the classroom they analyze many situations from the practice of Russian companies. My choice was also influenced by the fact that at the presentation of the program, the teachers did not try to lure us to the university by any means - in particular, they did not promise to solve all our problems.
Of the subjects I am particularly interested in marketing, information technology in business, strategic management. As it turned out, the mistakes I made while running the firm were quite typical. For example, I learned from a strategic management course that you should not make changes in a company without having a strategy for its development. And classes in information technology helped me create a corporate information system at the company. Teachers are very attentive to the students, willingly advise on business problems and respond to all wishes for the organization of the educational process. I notice that many employees of plastic window companies go to study at business schools. Probably, this is also typical for other business areas - managers of book publishing houses, a fitness club, and a company selling confectionery are studying with me in the group. For some, the state MBA diploma is especially important, for others, the advice of teachers. For me, the exchange of experience is also important. I get a lot of business information by talking with classmates: I find out how their business works, what problems they face.

When I studied at the institute, we had a subject called "Business Fundamentals". In fact, we had to explain what entrepreneurship is. However, in practice, we just get a little familiar with Russian legislation. We were told that entrepreneurship is work at your own peril and risk. We were also told about such things as what is a partnership, what is an individual entrepreneur and what is an LLC. However, our knowledge of the business was very superficial. Not to mention the fact that we were not told exactly how to launch a business, where to start. I have a hypothesis that the aunt, who ran the basics of the business for us, has never been engaged in entrepreneurship herself.

I am convinced that entrepreneurship can only be learned through practice. No matter how many books you read, but until you lose your first money and until you learn how to make a profit, nothing will fit in your head.

WHAT IS BUSINESS AND HOW TO LEARN IT

Business from the English word Business literally translates as "business". First of all, business is not about money or resources. That's your business". The case may be different. It can be anything - from making souvenirs, selling shawarma and ending with your own bank or shopping center. Accordingly, depending on what business you want to do, you will need to gain knowledge in this field of activity. Relatively speaking, in order to learn how to produce control and measuring products for the oil sector, you need to have a huge amount of practical, engineering, and marketing knowledge. Just like that, on a bare field without an appropriate team of specialists, it is practically very difficult to make such production.

So the first step should be to determine what exactly you want to do. The second is obtaining the necessary knowledge in a particular area of ​​work. If you want to open a very small business, then I advise you to purchase my book "" - here I talk about how to open a tiny business with a turnover of up to 1 million rubles a year.

Then a business plan is already being built and its implementation begins. This may require some money, a considerable amount of time, effort and patience. And already in the period from six months to three to five years (depending on the planning horizon), it will already be possible to draw some conclusions about how successful the business is.

The criteria for business success are simple: profitability (when expenses are noticeably less than income), the number of satisfied customers, the presence of repeat sales, brand and brand awareness, reputation, and so on.

So get on and try it! In any case, even if you fail to launch your business, you can at least shake hands for your attempt. You will know for yourself that "at least I tried."

We all know that in the capitalist world it is impossible to live without money. To be more precise, without a certain amount of them, which will be sufficient to satisfy at least the basic needs of a person in food, food and a roof over their heads. For me, this is a very simple and rather cynical fact that should be taken for granted, since this is how the world works.
Let me introduce myself - Vitaly Larin, an active businessman, I want to tell my story of how to start your business from scratch.
Realizing that big earnings are needed, I began to think about how and where I can get the amount of money that will allow me and my loved ones to live in abundance.
The first thing that came to my mind was to get some kind of job as a hired employee. As for me, this is the easiest way to earn money and it is quite good, because it has a number of advantages:

1. In essence, it is not you who earns money, but your boss, because the main entrepreneurial burden falls on him;
2. The hired worker does not risk anything except his time, maximum salary for the last month of work;
3. If you don’t like the job, you can always quit and look for something better – there will be enough work for everyone.

As you can see, being an employee is really easy, in terms of commitments. And one could say that this is just a great way to earn money, if not for one huge minus - the salaries of employees are given by the boss and their size is almost always insufficient. Which is quite normal - the higher the salary of the worker, the less profit the employer has.

And what should a worker do if he is really not satisfied with the monthly salary or he just wants more? The answer is quite simple - he should become the boss. Understanding this path is more difficult, but the benefits of this kind of activity more than compensate for all the difficulties:

1. First, you decide what, how and when to do it.
2. Secondly, you will be financially independent.
3. Thirdly, starting your own business is an excellent incentive for self-development and self-realization.

And frankly, everything will not be so difficult if you know in advance what and how to do. This is what I will try to help you with by describing how I decided to start my business from scratch, what it took for me to do this, and what you may need if you decide to become an independent entrepreneur.

I want to be the boss!

To be honest, I quickly abandoned the path of a simple worker and decided to become a boss, because I did not want to work 10-14 hours a day and receive a small salary for this.

In addition, I was always frightened by the thought that I would be deprived of bonuses or fined at the whim of my superiors, just at the moment when I urgently needed money. Which has already happened to me.
Realizing this, I began a futile study of how to start a business with minimal start-up capital and even less self-employment experience.

Here I was a little lucky, having a very extensive and deep knowledge of economics, I clearly understood that the generally accepted opinion that you need to be engaged in some kind of production in order to earn a lot is a big nonsense. Money in modern capitalism is earned in two ways - through speculation and through the provision of services.

It should be mentioned here that I used my economic inclinations mainly to predict the exchange rates of the CIS countries. Thanks to this, he had a stable additional income by trading binary options.

This may seem like a difficult activity, which is partly true. However, if you understand this issue, then even a beginner will quickly realize one thing - in the long run, the price of the dollar can only grow, because this is how the global financial system works.

Therefore, anyone who wants to make money on binary options should only predict how much the dollar will rise in price in the near future. What is done through technical analysis, which is easy to learn if you are diligent and patient.

Experienced Tips - 7 Basic Principles From Those Who Started Their Business From Scratch and Succeeded!

1 . Henry Ford - founder of the Ford car brand: “Everything can always be done better than it has been done so far.”
In other words, you always have the opportunity to start your business from scratch in any field of activity.

2. Elon Musk - Founder and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Motors: “Study the sciences carefully—learn to reason according to fundamental principles, not analogies.”
The discoverer of space, as a market for commercial activity, speaks of a simple law - you cannot copy the success of another person without understanding what caused it.

3. Steve Jobs - founder and CEO of Apple: “There is no point in hiring smart employees and then telling and ordering what they should do. We hire smart, educated and experienced people to talk and tell us what to do.”
If you need to hire a person, then take only sensible people and do not stand over their souls, commanding them.

4. Grant Cardon - Founder of What ever It Takes Digital Network and New York Times Top Sales Writer: "The best investment you can make is in yourself."
So Grant's grandmother said, and one eminent grandfather said something similar: "Study, study and study again." And I completely agree with them - a businessman should develop by reading a lot, improving his skills and communicating with successful people.

5. Mary Kay Ash - Founder and CEO of Mary Kay Cosmetics: “If you think you can do what you have in mind, you can. However, if you are in doubt and unsure, you will not be able to.”
The most successful business woman of the 20th century speaks of confidence, without it you will fail at the first difficulties.

6 . Bill Gates - Microsoft co-founder: "Your most unsuccessful clients are your richest source of knowledge."
In business, not only the experience of success is important, but also the experience of failure. Realizing this and analyzing your mistakes, you will understand what not to do, and where you can do much better.

7. Many many busted entrepreneurs : “You should not borrow money if you are going to start a business from scratch. Also, do not use funds for this that were intended for the education of children, medical treatment or mortgage payments.
You must be aware of all the risks and understand that there is always the possibility of failure. Therefore, you should not go for broke.

Dream! Dare! Rejoice!

So, I decided to become an entrepreneur. But can I, do I have the makings of a businessman?
Looking for an answer to this question: “how to start a business from scratch”, I read a lot of literature and several autobiographies of successful businessmen. And this is what I understood:

1. First, you need to thoroughly go to the question of choosing the scope of your activity.
2. Secondly, without strong motivation and willingness to overcome difficulties, you can’t do anything.
3. And, thirdly, it is always necessary to set clear goals - the common good and a happy life is not the goal of business, its main task is to make a profit from its activities.

Motivation is 95% success!

First, I decided to deal with my motivation. To do this, I asked myself the following questions:

1. What do I want from life in material terms?
My answer: an apartment, a car, many, many books and prosperity for my loved ones.

2. Can I get what I want through the business?
Answer: yes.

3. Are there easier or faster ways to achieve your goals, other than personal business?
Answer: You can try to win the lottery, but I'm unlikely to be lucky.

4. Can I make difficult decisions on my own, or have I left these decisions to others in the past?
Answer: yes, I got used to it from early childhood.

5. How quickly do I make decisions?
Answer: with a slight delay, I like to think things over, but I do it quickly enough.

6. Am I strong enough to overcome possible difficulties?
Answer: I'm not 100% sure, but I definitely don't like to give up.

To me, these are the answers of the average person, except that I want to have a large collection of books with the writings of philosophers and key scientists.

You should also ask yourself these questions and think carefully about the answers. Remembering that it is not worth lying or embellishing - you are doing it for yourself, and no one will know about it.
Because at this stage, you, like me, should find out what motivates you.

It can be the desire to buy a car that you have dreamed of since childhood, an apartment for your family, the opportunity to travel, or a strong desire to prove to yourself and everyone around you that you are capable of more than living your whole life at work from 8 to 18:00.

In essence, the reason for your “I want!!!” not essential. The main thing is that it should be a desire with three exclamation points - the strength of motivation and its constancy are important.

My main "I want!!!" - these are books, each time overcoming difficulties, I thought about a new rare edition or a whole series of books. Which gave me the incentive to continue after the first difficulties with suppliers appeared and then when I was simply tired of daily petty annoyances.
By the way, I spent my first serious profit on the cycle "Philosophical Heritage" from the publishing house Thought. As far as I remember, it cost me two or two and a half thousand dollars.

What will you buy with the money from your first earnings?

What makes a profit - Business ideas!

Realizing that I had enough incentives to start my business from scratch, I moved on to the next stage - a business idea. With my resources and opportunities (no experience, no connections, almost no money), I picked up the following options.

1. Training and consultations.
This is a good way to earn money if you are good at something and can teach it to other people. In addition, it does not require a lot of money. Let me explain with two examples how people make money in this area.

Example #1. You are a professional plumber, locksmith, welder of the highest rank, working in the ZhEK and you are not satisfied with your salary. If I were you, I would buy a good video camera and shoot some instructional videos on how you repair or do something.

Next, I would create my own YouTube channel and upload the captured video there. After through the social networks and specialized forums began to advertise their training. If you do this systematically and do it well, then over time you will have a sufficient number of subscribers and your YouTube channel will begin to make a profit.

Later, having gained considerable popularity (from 20 thousand subscribers), you can engage in hidden advertising, using or mentioning certain tools, brands or store names in the video.
The thought may come to you, they say, no one needs it, but you are mistaken! I myself recently changed the fittings in the drain tank, guided by the video instruction. In addition, by doing such a business, you do not need to leave your main job.

Example №2 . I have a friend named Eugenia, the proud owner of a red diploma in psychiatry from one of the eminent universities, specializing in human archetypes and family psychology.

So, two years ago, when the economic crisis of 2014 hit, she lost most of her clients, as people began to save on everything and on her services in particular. And she has two small children in her arms and a husband who has a high chance of losing his job.

Realizing the direness of her situation, she decided to take matters into her own hands by opening her own small seminar business. To do this, she called her colleagues and classmates, found among them those who were also experiencing financial difficulties, and invited them to her home for a cup of tea.

At the meeting, Evgenia told about her situation and suggested that they unite to create a company for training and advising people through seminars. But she did it wisely, having found out in advance:

• How much do these teachers earn?
• How many competitors will they have;
• How much does it cost to rent a room with an open area for lectures;
• How to formalize such activity from a legal point of view;
• What is in demand among the local population, what problems do they have.

In other words, Evgenia did not propose an idea, but a normal business project with sufficient justification. Several of her colleagues decided to give it a try, and after a couple of weeks of preparation, they held the first workshop on how to survive a crisis.

I will omit the details of how they prepared for the seminar, as these things are individual. Let me just say that a year later, their small "troupe" began to be invited to other cities. And that says a lot.

2. Trading on the Internet.
This is probably the easiest way to make money. Since this is a common purchase and sale of goods (speculation), only in this case, customers do not come to your store, but to your website.
Therefore, for such activity you need:

1. Analyze possible options regarding what you will trade;
2. Establish a legal face;
3. Create your own website or social media page networks where you will offer your product to visitors;
4. Find suppliers and make the first purchases;
5. Advertise your store and product by all available means;
6. Make the first trade and continue in the same spirit, increasing the pace.

This is how a medium or large online store is created. But there is another option for speculation on the Internet - trading on avito or Olkh. These are web portals where people post ads about what they want to sell or want to buy.
To trade like this, you only need to do four things:

1. Understand what you will trade;
2. Register on avito.ru and/or other similar site;
3. Post an ad about what you are selling;
4. Wait for the buyer and make a deal.

As you can see, it is not difficult and accessible to everyone. The only difficulty is to understand what you will trade. But given the audience of such sites, which is tens of millions of people, it is best to choose what you are knowledgeable about. And do business on it.

3. What I can do, I do, but without the authorities!
This section includes all types of entrepreneurial activities for the provision of a wide variety of services. For example, if you are a gas equipment repairman and work for an intermediary firm, then you can refuse the extra link and communicate directly with your customers.

Let me give you an example from my personal life. I have a friend Victor, who used to work as an auto mechanic at a large automatic telephone exchange, he earned relatively good money, but he had enough for his own car. And after another conversation with the boss about a salary increase, he got angry and quit.
When the anger passed, he was a little frightened and even thought about the humiliating return to the automatic telephone exchange from which he quit with all the suggestive pathos of an offended employee.

But he can be said to be lucky. One of the leaders of the construction company, which often repaired its equipment at the mentioned automatic telephone exchange, was surprised that Victor was not there. Remembering the professionalism of my acquaintance, he found him and offered him to repair several cars at their station. Thus, another private entrepreneur appeared.
I must have been wrong. Victor was not lucky - it was entirely his merit.

5. Banal, but very simple earnings on the Internet - advertising!
Surely you all already understood what I will write about from the title. Yes - it's trite, yes - everyone and sundry do it, yes - this ad got you. But it does bring in a lot of money. Therefore, this way of earning fits into the category of how to start a business from scratch.
So what do you need for a novice advertiser?

1. First, you need to create a place where advertising will be placed - a page in the social. networks, blog or website.
2. Secondly, you need to attract as many people as possible who will regularly visit your site or page - to create interesting and constantly updated content.
3. Thirdly, after you need to find advertisers and make them an appropriate offer to advertise their goods and services on your portal.

The last point can be done independently, or you can use special advertising banners from Internet search engines. By placing them on your page, you will make a profit without making any effort to find an advertiser.
This is one of the easiest ways to make money, but it has one significant disadvantage - a lot of competition. Which is natural - the easier it is to enter the market, the more people want to enter it.

6. How can you make money if you have a lot of money?
The options listed above worked for me and may work for you if you have little experience and little to no money. However, if your resources are not as limited as mine, then you should probably consider other, more costly options.

1. Startups- this is, roughly speaking, making money on the business ideas of other people. There are two types of them: the first is the search for people with ideas and the implementation of their ideas; the second is to act as an intermediary between people with ideas and investors.
2. Classic production is the creation of goods by processing any raw material. For example, the creation of clothes, cast iron pans or children's toys.
3. Agriculture- apart from growing mushrooms in the basement, this is a difficult and very expensive undertaking, requiring very specific knowledge of what you will grow.
4. Mining is the extraction of fossil resources from the bowels of the Earth. Difficult, expensive, requires connections.

What kind of entrepreneur am I? Which one of you?

So, we have determined that we have a reason and motivation to start our business from scratch, and we have considered the possible options for how you can make money.
Our next step is to select the most suitable for us among the types of entrepreneurial activity.
To do this, I used a method borrowed from psychologists. It consists of the following:

1. We take a piece of paper and divide it vertically into three parts: my pros, cons and what excites me. Regarding the latter, this is something that you can do for a long time, and it does not cause you negative emotions. We fill in all the columns.
2. After, in a similar way, we divide the A4 page in MS Word and send it to all our relatives, friends, classmates, colleagues, clients. At the same time, we kindly ask you to take some time and fill out the document with all seriousness and honesty. Justifying the request with the fact that you decide your fate or, alternatively, it is necessary to participate in a seminar on advanced training.
3. After receiving the answers, analyze them, highlighting the repetitive ones. Compare the result with your answers.

This simple method will allow you to understand how you see yourself and how others perceive you. Among the answers, we are most interested in observing people about what you are interested in and what inspires you. Once you find this, you will know what to do.

Given the responses I received, my skills and education, I came to the following conclusion:

1. The only services I can provide are teaching philosophy or consulting from an economist.
2. But making money on buying and selling is not new to me. I worked for a construction company for several years as a wholesaler. And judging by the reviews of my colleagues and former clients, I did it pretty well.

I decided to become a speculator. Understand in the best sense of the word.
After reading a lot of success stories of entrepreneurs and tips on how to start a business from scratch, I chose for myself the easiest and at the same time the most budget option for starting a business - this is an online store selling clothes and shoes.

And that's why:

1. First, the cost of opening such a store is very small. It is enough to buy office equipment, open an individual entrepreneur and make a small supply of goods.
2. Secondly, ease of entry into the market combined with ease of management. Of course, there is competition in this segment, but it does not satisfy all existing demand. And management comes down to technical solutions, understanding which is sufficient once.
3. Thirdly, footwear and clothing are in stable and steady demand. I decided to trade in those clothes that are considered branded in our country, although in fact they are not. That is, this is what costs from 50 dollars in our country, and in Europe from 5 euros.

Using the scientific method to build a business from scratch.

You probably already understood that I have a technical background and I love philosophy. Therefore, you are unlikely to be surprised by my approach to the process of creating your own business.

To achieve my mercantile goals, I applied the Scientific Method of Cognition to solve the set tasks. Which proved its effectiveness 2 thousand years ago and is successfully used to this day.

It consists of 5 steps:
1. Definition of the task, goal or problem.
2. Observation.
3. Making hypotheses about how to accomplish a given task or solve an existing problem.
4. Conducting the experiment, that is, the implementation of the hypothesis in practice.
5. Summing up: if the goal is achieved, then this leads to the end of the process; if not, go to the first point and start a new cycle.

Next, I will tell you how to apply the Scientific Method to starting a business. But first, I suggest you read Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. This is the best-selling book of American literature of the last century, which is considered by many people and publications like The New York Times to be among the 100 best books in world literature.
In this case, it will be useful to you for two reasons:

1. It tells a lot about how to apply the Scientific Method of Knowledge in everyday life;
2. There is also a whole chapter on estimating in the book.

Regarding the latter, this is an old word that combines three concepts: will, desire and enthusiasm. The book describes how to work smart so that it does not disappear, and you always have the motivation to do what needs to be done.

The first step is understanding the problem.

Where can I get money to start my own business? This is the problem faced by 95% of new entrepreneurs! In the article, we have revealed the most relevant ways of obtaining start-up capital for an entrepreneur. We also recommend that you carefully study the results of our experiment in exchange earnings:

After you and I have decided which business is best to open, we must take the next step - set clear and very specific goals for ourselves. Both intermediate and final.
In my case, this is a monthly stable income of 2 thousand US dollars, buying an apartment, creating a collection of books.

At the same time, I should receive such a profit a year after opening a business, I planned to buy an apartment in a maximum of five years, and the collection of books should be replenished monthly.
As you can see, according to the scientific method, the goals should not only be identified, it is also necessary to set a time frame for their achievement. By not doing this, you will always find a reason to put off something important until later.
As for the ultimate goal, I have prosperity and well-being of my family. You may have something similar or something more specific. For example, earn $222 million and retire. You can also wish to become a leader in your market segment.

Step two - observation (market analysis)

After setting the goal, it is necessary to understand the environment in which we will act, highlighting the subjects and objects, cause and effect in it. What in our case will be a marketing analysis of the market.
In other words, you need to conduct research on your own or turn to a marketing campaign. During which we must understand the following:

1. Who is our consumer and what are their needs;
2. What about the competition;
3. What will we sell - specific items of goods or services.
4. Where will we get the goods from if we trade;
5. What are the advantages of our product and what are the advantages in my organization compared to competitors;
6. How to attract customers and how to stimulate sales by increasing the average check;
7. How to increase the number of regular customers;
8. In what legal field will we act.
9. Who is the most successful among my competitors and why.
10. What is the stability of the market, and what are the risks in this area of ​​activity.

In my case, the answers will be:

1. Women from 15 to 45 years of average income, men from 20 to 35 years of average income, parents and guardians of children from 15 to 18 years of average income. Their need, which I focus on, is the purchase of branded, high-quality clothing at low prices.

2. My competitors are divided into two types: stores and private sellers selling via the Internet, as well as ordinary boutiques. I decided to select clients in the latter.

3. Sports shoes and clothes from famous sports brands, budget category. And outerwear is mostly women's from well-known brands. I don’t remember the exact names, it was a year and a half ago, and fashion, as you know, is highly changeable.

4. We bought goods almost directly from manufacturers and transported them on our own, we also bought goods with big discounts on Aliexpress and similar portals.

5. Our main advantage is the price. Also, we have offered many discounts for customers and generous coupon draws for free shopping in our store.

6. It was decided to attract clients through the Internet and acquaintances. In addition, in front of several boutiques, we bought banners and showed a couple of goods on them that are sold in boutiques nearby and with us. Comparing prices. Very effective, but there may be problems with boutique owners.

7. We attracted regular customers with the quality of service and its speed, as well as promotions and discounts.

8. To open a business, it was necessary to establish an individual entrepreneur and hire a contractor to provide accounting services. In general, nothing complicated.

9. The most successful competitors are boutiques in crowded places (we cannot repeat their success) and several online stores that have been operating for a long time. The latter were successful thanks to excellent (I would say expensive) advertising. They also had a huge assortment and big seasonal discounts. From this, at first we adopted only seasonal discounts and some positions of their Top Sellers.

10. Given that our segment is budget clothing and footwear, we can say that the market is very stable and there is always demand. But there are also risks, for example: border closure for trucks, changes in legislation in terms of duties and customs clearance rules. I bet you will come up with something similar in many positions. And like any novice entrepreneur, you will earn on the market by offering the same, but: cheaper, faster and better. Just like Gerald Ford said.

The third step is prediction and hypotheses. Business planning!

Having understood what our environment is, you can start laying the foundation - creating a business plan. It is a fundamental document for any enterprise. Because it prescribes what, how and why to do in a given situation. In other words, this is the instruction by which you will act when you open your business. As a rule, a business plan consists of the following sections:

1. Description of goals, objectives, environment, current state.
2. Description of what you will do, what services or products your company will offer to customers.
3. Marketing part. How you will sell, to whom you will sell and by what means., including advertising and other marketing tools
4. Where will you get the goods or how will you create services for sale.
5. Organizational part. It describes everything about the staff and the technical aspects of your activities.
6. Budget. More precisely, its planning for several years ahead.
7. Methods of control and methods of summing up the final results.
8. Description of critical situations, such as ruin or force majeure.
9. In what ways, if necessary, the legal form of your business will change.
It is necessary to draw up a business plan in such a way that it prescribes the most probable development options, as well as extreme options. With the addition of instructions for action to each of these options.
It is important to note that a business plan is very often a document of internal (secret) use. You understand that you should not disclose your action plan to potential or current competitors.

Step Four - Practice!

I will not describe this step too much, since a scientific experiment in our case means the implementation of a business plan in practice. And everyone at this stage will have their own personal and unique experience. I will describe only the basic details.

I did not want to get involved with legal issues, so I used the services of a firm that specializes in this. Their employees opened an individual entrepreneur and took care of my accounting.

This was over a year and a half ago. There were no problems with the tax service and other government agencies, so I have no desire to refuse this cooperation and hire a full-time accountant. After creating the IP, I bought the necessary office equipment and set up an office at home. I also hired an assistant. By luring him away from a successful competitor, offering a partnership if the store starts to make a profit.

This, by the way, helped me a lot, both with the creation of a client base and with the search for suppliers. And frankly, at the beginning I was a subordinate, and my future junior partner was a boss. Which for sure saved me from a lot of growth problems.

In parallel with solving legal and technical issues, I also started a small advertising company. Which mainly consisted of the distribution of advertising cards on the Internet.

On one side, they showed celebrities in casual clothes, and on the other, photos with an assortment of boutiques. At the same time, price tags were drawn on the image, showing how much it cost to buy clothes for celebrities and how much they cost in boutiques. And at the bottom of the picture are small slogans like “feel the difference” or “not everything is gold that costs a lot.”

We also placed such pictures on banners near boutiques. Which had a twofold effect. We have increased our clients, but the owners of these boutiques “noticed” us and decided to “help”. Sending the tax and fire departments to visit us for a cup of coffee was fun.

Step five - preliminary results and amendments to the primary action plan.

This step, according to the Scientific Campaign, is carried out to control the effectiveness of the tasks and draw conclusions about the success of the hypotheses.
In entrepreneurial activity, this is the preparation of quarterly, semi-annual and annual reports. What is needed to understand the general situation and control the level of sales, profitability, availability of goods in warehouses, etc.

Having compiled a report, it must be compared with the forecasts described earlier in the business plan. If there is such an option for the development of events, then you need to continue to do everything, as it is written in the instructions. However, if the results achieved and the state of affairs go beyond what was predicted, it is necessary to make adjustments to the planned action plan.

At the same time, you need to once again compare the tasks and your resources, because sometimes everything changes so much that you will not be able to make a profit even with the optimal development of events. In addition, sometimes there are risks that outweigh the possible benefits - this means that you need to close your business and start from scratch in a different market segment.

In my case, everything was very successful. After organizing everything and buying the goods, my store started working.
The first clients were my friends and acquaintances, who knew that I would not deceive them. After that, acquaintances of acquaintances came, and then their acquaintances, and in such a simple way, my shop found the backbone of the client base. Which gradually grew over time, thanks to advertising and satisfied customers.

A year and a half later, my online store ceased to be only mine - I had two partners. What made it possible to increase turnover, and more importantly, it freed up a lot of time that I can spend on what I like.
I have not changed my plan for the development of an online store, it still works.

The big problem is where to get the money for start-up capital?

As you can see, my example turned out to be very simple and easy to repeat. The only thing you may have difficulty with is the formation of start-up capital.

Frankly, it is the money to create your own business that is the main obstacle to most new beginnings. For this reason, I missed this point in describing my experience as an aspiring entrepreneur.

However, I did this not in order to bypass this detail, but in order to pay more attention to it by devoting an entire section to it.

Where can I get the right amount?

To begin with, let's look at all the possible options from where, at least theoretically, you can get money for start-up capital.

1. The first option - take a bank loan either lend money to relatives, friends or private lenders. I will write about this in more detail a little later in the text.

2. The second option - use of personal funds and savings. As for me, this is the best option if you have free money or savings without a specific purpose for using them.

3. The third option - search for an investor. That is, you need to find someone who will give you money to implement your business plan. Not a bad option, but as a rule, this way you will lose some control over your business even before it opens.

If you want to find an investor, you can contact special startup structures or put your business plan on one of the crowdfunding sites.

Crowdfunding is the group financing of something on a voluntary basis.

In the CIS, these are such platforms as Kickstarter and Boomstarter. By the way, posting your idea on one of these sites, you can understand how feasible it is and how much investors believe in it. Big and small.

4. The fourth option - earn. It’s hard to add anything here, just work and accumulate funds until there are as many as you need to open a business.

5. Fifth option - sell what you don't need property, but one that you can do without. For example, a house in the village, a summer house, a car or an unnecessary decoration. In this case, carefully weigh everything and think about whether it is worth risking what you already have.

6. The sixth option - few people know, but there are many international foundations that donate funds various kinds of undertakings. As a rule, this is everything related to the environment, the fight against poverty, the development of society, and the like.

If your business project directly or indirectly affects these goals, then you can receive a grant to create your own business.

How to start your business from scratch without loans?

Remember the advice from those who built their business from scratch? Among them there is one who says that you should not take a loan to form start-up capital. This is really not worth doing for beginners, and here's why:

1. First, without experience in a novice entrepreneur, the risk of ruin is very high. By taking out a loan, you take on financial obligations that will remain even if you go bankrupt.
2. Secondly, loan payments will eat up the lion's share of your income, which will hinder your development or completely deprive you of income.
3. Thirdly, by taking money on credit, you by and large become under the control of the lender.
4. Fourthly, the need to pay money to the lender every month almost always has a detrimental effect on the emotional state. As a result, the quality of decisions made decreases.

Where did I get the money?

Having calculated in the business plan how much money I need at the initial stage: about 10 thousand dollars for solving technical problems, about 5-10 thousand dollars for promotion and about 3-5 thousand more dollars in order to live until the store will start making a profit. I realized that I was missing half of this amount - 10-15 thousand dollars.
I did not want to take a loan - it is unlikely that they will give it to me without collateral, and if they do, then the interest rate will eat up all the profits.

There was another option with loans to relatives, but as smart men say on television, “modern economic realities did not allow this idea to be implemented, and therefore it is necessary to look for other options to achieve the optimal development of this situation.” Therefore, I decided to follow the proven path - I began to trade binary options more actively.

For those who do not know what it is, I will explain. Binary options are a kind of tool for trading contracts for the purchase of goods with a predetermined time for their execution at a price predetermined in the contract. With such trading, the trader makes a profit if he correctly determines the movement in the value of the goods.

In other words, if you bought an option on Rosneft shares for $100 with an upward forecast, and the price of these shares increased by 40% before the contract expires, then you will make a profit of $40. If the value of the shares fell, you will lose $100 in full or most of it, depending on where and under what conditions you trade.

As you can see, earnings on binary options come down to predicting the movement of the value of goods. And it's actually not that difficult. In addition, trading can be entrusted to a third party, in which the percentage of successful binary options transactions is quite high - 85-95%. And just make a profit, like with investments, but faster.

Examples of successful stories from new entrepreneurs who built their business from scratch!

I probably won’t sum up my story with beautiful words and praise itself. Let me tell you two more stories of successful business start-ups from scratch that can serve as a good example for you and maybe you will repeat them.

Masha, who could!

I have a great friend Masha, who received a diploma in ethnological history a couple of years ago. When asked why she needed it and how she would earn money, Masha always answered - I like it, but somehow I will get the money.

So, after graduating from the institute, she got a job as a waitress, because of which many made fun of her. And what to dissemble - I also often did it. And to her, at least henna, she was always cheerful and self-confident. Which we attributed to her friendly nature. But after some time we realized how wrong we all were. It turned out that all this time there was a grandiose plan lurking in her lovely head, which she gradually embodied in secret from all of us.

The essence of her idea was simple - to find those who make authentic things of the 16th-19th centuries and find those who need them. You will say that it is simple and everyone can do it! However, by doing so, you only show that you do not know what is at stake.
Yes, there are many copies and surrogates of antiques, but there are very, very few truly authentic, authentic products of antiquity. It's like selling Katanas - there are genuine swords from masters of their craft, which take months, and sometimes even years, to make. And there are simple stamped copies in souvenir shops.

Let's continue the story. It took Masha a little more than one year to carry out her plan. During this time, she traveled around the darkness of cockroach towns and villages, where she sought out blacksmiths and craftswomen needlewomen who do everything the old fashioned way. When enough of them gathered, Masha arranged an exhibition of these products, inviting representatives of the press, owners of firms involved in organizing various kinds of celebrations. In addition, there were many lovers of historical reconstructions.

At the exhibition, our heroine offered everyone to try everything on and with extraordinary generosity handed out her business cards "Representative of the best masters of needlework and blacksmithing." In the end, the idea worked out. Six months later, she put this case, as they say, "on stream." And now he makes fun of us, sometimes.

From photoshopper to head of an art studio.

The second story will be about a simple guy named Dima. He did not stand out in anything special and lived a quiet, calm life, working in a photo studio, receiving quite normal money for this. Dima, as they say, was a professional “photoshopper”. But as often happens, he was not lucky - he met my friend Alla. I love her of course, but frankly, such a "saw" still needs to be looked for. Yes, and her requests are not small.

And when everything became serious with them, she began to eat away his brain with talk about the future, about children and the need to strive for more, which means earning more. Dima, as a true man, of course, resisted for a long time. About a week, but at the end he unconditionally capitulated.

At first, he began to work as a freelancer, fulfilling orders that he received on specialized exchanges. And very quickly, he began to add money. Literally after two months of work as a free mercenary, his salary increased two to three times.
During this time, Dima acquired regular customers and began to cooperate with several freelancers like him, only those who were engaged in programming and copywriting. Together they from time to time made websites for one customer.

Surely you already understand what is going on. Yes - Alla got her way and Dima opened an Art Studio.
I won’t talk about what happened next, as they say - this is a completely different fairy tale, but with a “happy ending”.

Epilogue.

I will probably end my story with one of my favorite quotes: “In baseball, like in business, there are three types of people: those who make things happen; those who look at what is happening and those who are surprised that this is even happening. This was said by the famous basketball coach Tommy Lasorda.
Of course, he talked about his own - about baseball. But, as for me, this is the best parting word for a novice entrepreneur. You have learned how to start your own business from scratch, now act!
Be the surprise, not the surprise!

Currently learn business it is possible and necessary as well as any other business. Because the business sphere is so dynamic that it is extremely difficult to follow its trends without special education.

In the direction of "business" it is possible in a specialized business school, functioning separately or at a university.

In addition, there are a large number of various preparatory courses, seminars, trainings, webinars. Most of them, of course, are paid.

We will briefly review the prices for such educational services. The price of short-term courses is from 13,600 rubles, seminars, webinars, trainings - from 5,000 rubles. MBA preparatory courses as additional education in the absence of higher education from 15,000 rubles for 1 subject.

Postgraduate vocational education - from 55,000 rubles to 110,000 rubles. The first higher - from 210,000 rubles. Second higher - from 90,000 rubles to 184,000 rubles.

Additional to the highest - 300-350 thousand rubles. Each business school has a variety of training programs, directions for future activities.

It can be management, finance, insurance, trade and other areas of business and related areas of activity.

Some novice businessmen, unfortunately, believe that business does not require any theoretical basis and learn business possible in the process.

It is enough to know where it is cheaper to buy and how to sell it at a higher price later. But this is the main misconception of Russian entrepreneurs.

First, business is not limited to the “buy and sell” scheme. This is purely philistine thinking, which has nothing to do with business realities.

Secondly, it is a complex environment in which serious businessmen compete at a fairly high level of information. That is, the leader is the one who knows more and understands his business more competently. Agree, there is a huge difference between a professional and an amateur. The same is true of entrepreneurship.

Besides, learn business is possible not only in special schools, but also on the experience of successful businessmen. Today, this path is facilitated by a huge number of published works of entrepreneurs or their biographies.

Unfortunately, this path is not for everyone. But only for the category of people who are capable of analytical thinking. After all, reading useful information is not enough.

You need to analyze what you read, draw the right conclusions, be able to apply, adapt the information to your own life, environment, situation.

Competently summarize (draw conclusions) can not every person. No matter how easy it may seem. This is due to the different perception of information by different people and the unequal way of thinking, thought processes.

In addition, not always literature allows you to get some practically applicable skills. in business means absolutely nothing. In addition, Russian business practice is often radically different from theory, especially from Western theoretical calculations.

Probably the most efficient way learn business- to participate in real business. You can be an assistant to a businessman, a so-called trainee or an ordinary employee of the company.

The main thing is to delve into the essence of what is happening, carefully from the inside. It is best to turn to a familiar businessman to teach you how to practice entrepreneurship. And if there is none, then look for a different type of participation in the business. Here you also need to be able to draw the right conclusions. Without logical conclusions now nowhere.