So you want to go into business for yourself? Maybe you’re someone that has been thinking about doing this for a long time, but you’ve always talked yourself out of it, or felt that you just were not in the right place to do it? But when you think about it, there’s no right time to start your business. It’s something that you’ll always try to put off if you can, because of fear, or because of timings, or because of money. But really, you just have to go for it. Even when you start to acknowledge this and you know that it’s something that you need to just do – you can still be held back. Why? Because you don’t always know how to get started. If you’ve never been in business before, and you’ve certainly not started your own company, how do you know what you need to do?
Well, you’ve come to the perfect place for that. Because we’re going to talk through the fifteen key steps that you need to take to this happen. And the best part, it doesn’t have to be hard, or long-winded, or even (that) painful. Instead, it can be fun! Especially when you get to steps five, eleven, and fourteen – because these three points make you feel absolutely incredible about everything that you’re doing. So take a read through, and start working through the steps in any order that you feel will work best for your specific business idea.
Step 1: Know What You Want
The first step is to make sure that you’re really thinking about what you want. Sometimes, you’ll know exactly what kind of business you want to run. And that’s great. But that won’t always be the case. Sometimes, you’ll just know that you want to own your own business. But you don’t always know what that idea should be. So, you need to spend some time thinking about the kind of business that you want and the industry you want to be in, and then confirm an idea that feels right.
Step 2: Research The Idea
When you think you know what you want, you then need to spend some time researching the idea. And this is so important. Sometimes, you’ll start some research and then uncover that actually, it’s not so great of an idea. But this can also help you to work on the next step too.
Step 3: Write A Business Plan
When you’ve covered off all area of research, from the idea itself to the industry and the market, you should then start to pull together a business plan. And definitely take your time with this. Spend some time thinking about each of the sections and getting it right. Because you’re going to find that each section can help you to get the business off on the right foot. When it comes to the financial section, you’ll also find that this can help you to secure funding, so this has to be incredibly accurate.
Step 4: Find Investors
As we’ve already touched on, your next point is to think about getting investment. If you need to, that is. Look into venture capitalists and angel investors, and really tighten up your pitch. If your business idea needs funding, then you’re going to want to spend a lot of time on this section.
Step 5: Set Up The Company Legally
When you’ve worked through the first four steps, you’ll want to slow down and really enjoy this point. Because next, you need to register your company. Make sure that you get an address – a virtual one if you want to look more professional, and a free phone number to be contacted on too. And really enjoy this moment. Because it feels amazing to actually set the company up.
Step 6: Get An Accountant
While you’re doing that process, or shortly after, you may want to find yourself a great accountant too. Business financials can be tough. And if you’re not experienced, they can be costly too. So it’s better to hire an accountant to help you and provide you with money-saving advice too.
Step 7: Start Working On Your Product Or Service
Now it’s time to actually get to work on your product or service. Whether you needed funding or not, you then need to make sure that you’re buying the product, manufacturing it, or working out what services you will provide. And make sure that you’re focusing on quality here. You do need to ensure that you’re creating something that’s going to add value to your audience.
Step 8: Create A Website
Next, you then need to make sure that you have a website all set up and running. Even if you’re not running an online business, having a website can help you to access a wider audience and start to generate more interest for your offline business. And if you’re online, you need all of that too. If you can, invest in this as much as possible to ensure it has all of the functionalities that you need. But if you have a low budget, just get something in place and come back to it when you can.
Step 9: Secure Social Profiles
Next, you then need to make sure that you secure the right social profiles and handles for your company too. Even if you don’t start to use them off the bat, just get the accounts registered. Then, as you start to work on your marketing strategy, you can work things into the mix when the time is right.
Step 10: Start Advertising
Now, it may be in your interest to start marketing your company before you launch. It’s often important to drum up some pre-launch buzz, and advertising can help you with that. While you may want to pick out ideas that are more personal to your operations, here, things like creating that Facebook page, adding in content, and then advertising can help. Or running some PPC search campaigns.
Step 11: Network
From here, it’s also going to be helpful for you to network. Even if you’re not the most natural at it, just give it a go. You may be surprised by how effective business networking can be. Whether you want to start finding some B2B clients, connect with PRs, or just get your name out there, networking can provide you with the opportunities that you need.
Step 12: Find Suppliers
And don’t forget to connect with the right suppliers too. Even if you’re making the products yourself or providing a service, you may need software to do that or to find some packaging. Spend some time considering the costs and quality benefits of different suppliers, and make a choice on who will add more value to your business.
Step 13: Find Staff
At the same time, you may even need to start hiring some staff. This may be a step that you look to skip for now – depending on your company set up and how you’re running things. But, you may even just need to work with freelancers and contractors that are going to be able to provide you with the support you need, like design or web development, for the meantime.
Step 14: Launch
And then it comes the time to do something pretty spectacular again – and it’s your launch. Even if you’ve set yourself a huge deadline, don’t rush. If you want an epic launch, it’s so important to take the time to get it right. From drumming up the interest before you launch, to just being ready in terms of having the product and the purchasing functionalities. And then, go for it. Make sure that you enjoy every moment of your launch and getting your business off the ground.
Step 15: Keep Up The Energy
Lastly, you’re going to want to make sure that you keep up the momentum – even after you’ve launched. When you have passion for your business and what you’re doing, this should be easy enough. But at the same time, when things are finally live, you can also experience a dip. Yet this is the time where you should be pushing as hard as possible. So make sure that you’re really giving as much as you can to promote your business, generate sales, and provide incredible service to the customers that come your way first.
And there they are – the fifteen steps you should look to follow when you want to start your first company. When you have no idea what it takes to get a company started, it can be so much more overwhelming. But when you know exactly what you need to do, it can fire you up to get started. So make sure that you really do start to take some steps in the right direction. Follow your own path, work through the steps in whichever order works out best for you, and finally get that business idea off the ground. And long as you put in the work, it will be worth it!
Image credits; Image credits; Image credits
