Thinking about how to start a business but worried you’re not an expert? Remember Walt Disney’s empowering words, “If you can dream it, you can do it.” Whether you’re in your middle years or just feeling the entrepreneurial itch, now’s the time to bring those dreams to life.

While starting a business in an industry where you lack experience can seem daunting, it can offer a fresh perspective and innovative opportunities, as well as an opportunity for a successful business. Here, we’ll explore the essential steps to successfully launch a business in an unfamiliar field. We’ll cover the essentials of conducting thorough market research to understand the industry and customer needs, identifying market gaps that your business can fill, and the importance of building a network with industry insiders for valuable insights and potential partnerships.

As you may have guessed, there are some things you need to know on how to start a business from nothing. You will need to acquire some necessary industry knowledge and skill fairly rapidly, and pursue relevant education, attend industry conferences, and leverage online resources. With all of this advice, you’ll be able to adapt your new business plan to the your new understanding of the market. By focusing on these strategic approaches today, you can navigate the challenges of entering a new industry and position yourself for success tomorrow.

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How to Start a Business in an Industry You Know Nothing About in 5 Steps

1. Do Your Homework

No matter the type of business you’re starting – whether you’re starting an accounting business or a pet store – you don’t have to know everything about how it’s ever been done. What you do need, however, is to understand what’s happening in the industry today. You can start with a simple online search or reach out to people in the industry for their ideas. Take them to coffee or give them a call to find out what’s going on in their world today. Chances are, the industry has changed significantly in the last few years with technological advances like artificial intelligence (AI) and changing patterns in buyer behavior from potential customers. The pandemic changed how a lot of industries do business, too, so it will be helpful to hear about all of those topics for your chosen industry.

To increase your chances of success, you also want to find out exactly what your customer base are looking for today – and whether or not they’re getting what they need. If they aren’t, for example, you may have found yourself a niche market where you can meet that unmet need. This is one of the key steps to starting a successful startup or business.

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2. Find the Experts

One way to get started on a business from scratch is finding experts is to check your LinkedIn page. Chances are good that you, or someone in your network, knows someone in the industry you’re interested in. And if they don’t directly, you can always reach out to people and see if they’d be willing to speak with you. You’d be surprised how helpful strangers can be!

If you find someone who is knowledgeable in the industry, or a mentor, spend time working with them to gather as much knowledge as possible. And make sure you offer them something in return – like a dinner or an introduction to someone who could be helpful for them.

When it comes to technology, specifically AI, it might be time to brush up on recent advancements. A lot has changed in the last few years, and a lot more is poised to change in the coming years. Benefits include efficiency and easier decision-making, but you also need to know about challenges you could encounter.

3. Hire the Experts

If you’re lucky enough to find a mentor or expert in your field, hang on to them. In fact, hire them if you can. Having this person on your team can be a huge advantage moving forward. If you’re a business whiz and find a technological guru, the combination can be a recipe for success.

If you’re not sure what your strengths are in business, make a list of them and identify any gaps in there, too. That helps you know who you may need to hire. You don’t have to know and do everything – you just need to hire the right people and make a successful team.

If you don’t have the funds to hire someone full-time yet, consider freelance or contract workers who often have industry knowledge and expertise and can be hired without the costs of full-time work and benefits.

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4. Join Industry Groups

Maybe you’ve found a mentor or have a line on someone from LinkedIn, but don’t stop there. Now is the time to find all the industry groups that you could get involved in that would be helpful for your knowledge and to build partnerships and connections. You can do this both online with searches and offline with attending in-person events and volunteering in your community. For example, if you’re interested in starting a pet store, find a local volunteer connection with pets and get to know the people and the events in the community. You can find online communities on social media sites like Facebook too that may be relevant to your work. The more people you get to know, the more your name will be out there when they are looking for your services.

5. Remember that Not Knowing Can be an Advantage

In many cases in life, knowledge is power. In the case of starting a business from nothing, know that not having your ego invested can be an advantage. For instance, if you start a printing business with no experience, you’ll want to spend as much time as you can learning about how the business works. You’ll want to talk to people who are in the know and get ideas and education. In other words, you’ll have a lot more reason to not be lazy and invest time, energy, and resources into learning all you can. And you may be so try so hard and work so hard that you can’t possibly fail. In the event that you do fail, you also won’t have your ego tied into that and can start fresh on a new idea. That’s less pressure – and less pressure feels better.

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Starting from Nothing – and Turning it into Something

While it may seem unusual, starting a business in an industry you aren’t familiar with is actually common. Many famous entrepreneurs have done it – and so can you. Research and education is the best route for you, as well as the other tips above, such as finding – and hiring – experts to be on your team. Joining clubs and attending industry conferences will also be valuable to you, as well as online networking through LinkedIn. Don’t forget, you can also always hire a consultant to help you get started if you’re still feeling like you’re floundering after your research and networking. While it may seem scary at first, learning on the go works for many entrepreneurs, and it certainly could for you.

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— Tom Gonzalez, Woof Academy

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