Top 10 Tips on How to Successfully Start Your Own Business

The top ten pieces of advice existing entrepreneurs have for people hoping to start up a business, according to a recent RBC survey:

1. Know your competition (51 per cent)

2. Develop a business plan (50 per cent)

3. Research the market (49 per cent)

4. Network, develop alliances (45 per cent)

5. Take time for marketing (38 per cent)

6. Seek out mentors (35 per cent)

7. Spend time defining the needs your business will meet (35 per cent)

8. Survey potential customers (34 per cent)

9. Do homework about where to locate your business (34 per cent)

10. Join clubs/associations (32 per cent)

These are some of the findings of an RBC poll conducted by Ipsos Reid between July 27 and August 3, 2007. The online survey is based on a randomly selected representative sample of 3,806 adult Canadians of which 2,253 owned small or medium-sized businesses (entrepreneurs) and 1,553 aspire to own small or medium size businesses (aspiring entrepreneurs). With a representative sample of this size, the results among entrepreneurs are considered accurate to within +/- 2.1 percentage points, and among aspiring entrepreneurs +/- 2.5 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled.

SOURCE: RBC Financial Group

SOURCE: RBC Royal Bank