Industry

1. Have An Idea

This stage is usually reserved for the most entrepreneurial of us who are bold enough to envisage an idea and to progress through each stage of this business cycle. It must be acknowledged that the success rate of Start-Ups remains low so this definitely is not for everyone. 

 

2. Pitch the Idea to people with money

You have an idea and now wish to pitch it to venture capital organisations or angel investors, or both. These are people who have money who make some form of agreement where they effectively loan you money to kick-start your idea and in return, they obtain some financial return on their investment. Venture Capital organisations themselves may manage investment funds or manage the requests from innovative individuals – both of which require analytical minds such as BSc graduates. Furthermore, these organisations are likely to have their own connections which can help kick-start an idea into fruition by linking innovators to their required service providers. 

 

3. Receive mentoring / consultancy aid along the way

Sometimes, things go wrong. Consultants are poised to help deal with problems and recommend changes to fix such problems. There are specialised consultancy firms which employ people to deal with this. (Think of Gordon Ramsey in his series "Kitchen Nightmares"; struggling business; Gordon comes in; changes things up; Owner is super happy). 

 

4. Conduct Research and Development

In order to produce a product, one must have some sort of competitive advantage. In order to obtain such advantage, one typically needs to conduct research and development (R&D). Private firms are likely to employ their own scientists or research lab technicians to conduct such R&D. Alternatively, it is possible to contact research institutes or contract research organisations to aid in this regard. 

 

5. Manufacture the product

Now that you have an actual product, one needs to find the most cost efficient way to build the product. This typically goes hand in hand with R&D. Furthermore, one must ensure all products are of a certain quality and organisations are likely to hire quality control personnel to maintain such quality. For example, a drug company might want to test each batch of drug produced to ensure the correct dosage has been made.  

 

6. Protect Your Intellectual Property

When dealing in the private sector, patents, trademarks, and copyright issues are there to maintain your competitive advantage. There are legal firms which specialise in this and provide professional services to ensure enforcement of your intellectual property. Contrary to popular belief, you do not need a law degree to work in this sector, although a law degree would probably help. 

 

7. Sell Your Product

Whether your client is the lay customer or large organisations such as governments, your product needs to be marketed. Organisations employ marketing representatives to present their product to potential clients to achieve these lucrative deals which drive this corporate machine along. 

 

8. Logistics of Distributing Your Product

Organisations need to transport their product from their manufacturing location to the customer. Depending on the product itself, this may be a tricky task where temperature and temporal sensitive procedures might be required. Operation managers are likely to be in charge of this aspect and may need to compare the alternative routes available: rail, road, air, sea. Furthermore, crossing borders require special permits from the Customs branch of the government and again, depending on the product, this needs to be closely followed to ensure compliance.

 

9. Manage Your Company, Hire More People

From paying employees to hiring more employees; from setting up secondary offices around the country to expanding into the international market; a successful company can typically look to expand. With the addition of more employees, the creation of some form of Human Resources or Payroll departments will be needed to manage a company depending on its size. Whether you wish to work as a head-hunter at a specialist recruitment agency or as a human resources manager within a company, the role of internal management is essential.