The road to becoming a business owner is filled with uphill battles and sudden pitfalls. Those who have gone through the procedure before may be able to get through it without too many hiccups, but it takes some long hours of work and research to ensure you’re properly prepared.
Before launching your very first business, it’s important that you talk to those who have experience in the field and knows what they’re doing – and that you take a long look at the steps below before you get started.
It just makes it a lot easier for your new business to start off and even make it past the difficult first couple of years. Give it the best possible foundation by following these essential steps to launch your first business.
First: What type of company is it?
In addition to formulating a clear business plan and hatching out a kickass name, figuring out what type of company you’re going to own is right up there with the most important things to do for your business.
It may be a sole trader, which means that you are entitled to all the post-tax profits but also solely liable for all of its financial dealings, or it may be a limited company which means that the profits, as well as the risks, are distributed among the shareholders.
Think about what works best for your specific situation. Are you not sure about how to form a limited company online? It is actually quite easy, but keep in mind that you should figure out a suitable name for your business first and ensure a domain name as well.
That way, you don’t risk missing out on that perfect domain name for your business.
Figure out a proper business name
You already know that you need a name for your company, but have you thought about just how important it actually is? Not just because people will associate your brand, products, and services with that name but also because you’re going to be stuck with it unless you’re willing to pay up for an expensive rebrand.
It is the first thing your customers see so you’d want it to be catchy and strong. Try to think about what you want it to communicate; should it simply say what you do or what you offer or is geography important as well? Fusing two words is quite popular lately because it’s snappy and intriguing, such as Facebook or Snapchat, so it’s a good idea to look at the biggest name trends for 2018 to keep it modern.
Next: Research your competitors
Studying your competitors has a lot of advantages. Besides from giving you an insight to who you’re up against, it’s also a great way of figuring out what their customers appreciate, what they dislike, and exactly what your business can do better.
Spend some time learning how much people are willing to pay for their products or services, for example, what kind of perks they offer and how you might be able to enhance your current offerings.
Social media is a great tool for this, by the way, as you’ll be able to check them out on their arena and even tap into their network. Try to focus on understanding what the market you’re going to operate in looks like; if it is dominated by one big player, you should try to offer something slightly better or tweak your business to meet the customers’ demands.
If it is rather fragmented, however, it may be a good idea to look into what kind of products or services the market doesn’t have access to – and launch this product, of course. The more you know about the market, the better suited you’ll be to understand how exactly your business can get ahead in the competition as soon as possible.
Have a look at this article as well for some brilliant tips on how you can use social media to do that basic market research before officially launching your business. It’s going to pay off in the future, that’s for sure.
Understand the laws and regulations
There are many aspects of launching your business that is fun and exciting while other parts are a bit more tedious. You have to get it over with, though, and sooner rather than later as it may take quite some time.
Read up on all the laws that your new company is going to operate under, figure out how much tax you need to pay, and make sure that you get all the proper licensing before opening the doors.
If you make mistakes or skip this part, you risk seeing your business fail due to some silly administrative issues. Give it a fair chance right from the start; read up on the law, get in touch with a lawyer, and speak to an accountant as well to take care of tax aspect while you’re at it. A professional will be able to look into this a lot faster so that you can get back to focusing on the fun stuff again.
Last: Make your business visible
When you’re ready, it’s time to spread the word and perhaps even host a kickass launch party. There is a lot you can do in advance as well, though, such as low-cost social media marketing and simply spreading the word through your friends and family.
High-level marketing costs a lot and you need to save as much money as possible in the beginning to give your company a fair chance. Now you should be ready to officially open your very first business and perhaps even prepared enough to keep it afloat for the first crucial years.
