You might be raring and ready to go with your business and, indeed, sometimes a fast start to things can be very useful, using your momentum to get things done before the costs come rolling in. However, before you dash off from that starting line, it’s good to make sure that you have everything that you need in place. You need to do the old “wallet, keys, watch” routine with your business. Here are a few of the things that you need to make sure that you have in before you get things up and running.
An idea
It might sound like a no brainer moment, but there are entrepreneurs out there that get so ahead of themselves that they start building hype, start making plans, and even start looking for funding before they have a real solid idea of what the business is. This means having more than just a vague notion of what product or service you can offer. No matter how revolutionary a spark of inspiration is, you need to take the time to craft it into a real idea. There are plenty of ways to research your product or service to make sure that a) you can offer it, b) no one’s already doing it, and c) that it’s viable in the first place. Of course, you need to ensure that you have customers willing to pay for it, but that’s the next step.
Some customers
Of course, before you start shouting on the street corner about all the wares that you have to sell, you have to make sure that there’s an audience to listen. To that end, you should take the time to determine who, exactly, your audience is going to be. By doing some research, you can get a good idea of your target demographics, their purchasing behaviour, as well as the pain points and needs that drive them to pay for the products and services that you offer in the first place. This can help you create a buyer persona that will be the guiding light any time you want to think about how you can better reach or appeal to your target market.
The roadmap
You have the products or services you want to sell, an understanding of the market as is, and the target market that you want to reach. From there, you need to make sure that you know exactly how to do that. Writing a business plan is the first serious step that an entrepreneur takes toward starting a business. It commits you to making the business more than just an idea, but it also starts answering the tangible questions of “how much money do I need to start? What resources do I need? How do I earn enough money to stay viable? What goals should I be aiming for?” What’s more, it’s crucial for getting the funding you need, as most lenders or investors won’t look twice at anyone who hasn’t put the work into business plans that they can show.
The message
A business is more than just a perfunctory way to exchange goods and services for money. That might be the main mechanism that keeps them afloat, but you need to support it with a strong brand, as well. Almost every great brand is built from a message. This can be as simple as figuring out your unique selling proposition, the problem that you are solving or the need you are fulfilling that potential customers can pay for. It can be a more elaborate brand story that gets people to identify and side with the brand
The company itself
Of course, you can’t just open your doors and start trading out of the blue. You need to make sure that you are legally within your rights to start offering your goods and services. This means that you need to look at what structure your business is going to be and submit a company registration. Depending on what type of business you want to run, this can be simpler or more complex. Sole proprietorships tend to be the simplest to get up and running but limited liability companies tend to offer better protection for the business owners, so you should make sure that you weigh your options and look into the help that you need depending on what path you intend to take.
The workspace
It’s crucial to identify, as early as you can, where you’re going to be working. You and any employees you might have are going to need some room to take care of the day to day operations of the business. This might mean looking at office spaces or co-working buildings where you can set up. It might just mean looking at how to turn your bedroom into a great workspace if you’re working alone from home. What’s crucial is that you have the area ready and you make it into the effective, productive, and motivating zone that it needs to be.
The location
This is a different point from the workspace, though it will undeniably go into the factors that help you choose the right workspace. You’re going to need to choose a location for your business. If it’s entirely online or if your resources are limited then you might have to narrow it down to your own home. Otherwise, however, there are several factors to consider that go into choosing an appropriate location for your business. For instance, how close are you to your suppliers? Are you in a good position to reach your customers? You might want to consider how accessible your location is to any employees that you want to work for you as well, such as its proximity to transport links in the area.
The assets of the business
This point is a little more nebulous because the assets you’re using in the business will largely depend on the nature of the business. For an online home-run business, it might just mean the computer, desk, and office supplies that you need to do all the work yourself. For a larger office, it might mean more hardware and software to give everyone the tools they need to work, not to mention the office furniture to give them a place to work. For a manufacturing business, you will require the machinery needed to keep the production line going as well as the safety equipment to protect your team. Figure out what resources you need to buy and create a shopping list for when you get the funds you need.
The funding
It’s such a crucial point of the business, why leave funding til last? Simply put, when you get the funding that you need, that’s when the clock truly starts running. That’s when you start counting down towards your next repayment (if it’s a loan) or start having investors that you have to answer to every now and then. As such, look at the funding methods that are available for you, and make sure that you’re using your business plan to get a good understanding of how much money you actually need to fund all of the resources mentioned above and to keep the business running. If you try to start a business without thorough research into how much money you need and where to get it, then you can run out of cash quickly, grounding your progress to a halt and putting you in some pretty precarious positions.
Without any of the above, you can’t operate your business as successful as you would, otherwise. To that end, take the time you need to plan, only starting your business when you get everything up and running.