Starting Up a Business: What to do

Starting a business is a daunting venture at best, and many people only have high hopes to crash and burn after all their efforts.  A pessimistic outlook to be sure.  The most important part of starting a business is planning. Planning may take time and effort, but it will help you see problems and potential roadblocks, which in turn will aid you in reaching your original goals.

Some ideas?

The first thing to do is decide what you’re selling.  Put together a list of potential products and discuss it with business partners, friends or family.  Use them as a sounding board to see if they can think of any problems with your idea.  These ideas can be for re-selling already existing products, or for something that has yet to be prototyped.  It doesn’t hurt to speculate.  Just keep in mind that this isn’t your business plan, it’s just the idea phase.

Goal!

The next step is to decide what your goal for the business will be.  Will your products and services be based on something that you love doing, or on drawing in a lot of capital?  Do you plan on building your business as an inheritance for your children, or are you going to build it up to sell it?  Choosing your end-goal will guide you in deciding what type of business you want, and in your business plan.

It takes two to Tango

You need to decide if you want to tackle this on your own or if you want to partner-up with someone. It might not be a bad idea to have willing friends helping, or at least ones who can give you good ideas.  The other type of partner is a silent partner, also known as an investor.  Investors can help with the initial start-up costs, but you will have to share profits along the way.  Which would you prefer?

When choosing a partner, however, remember to choose someone who is reliable. Even your good friend may not be a good business partner. Choose someone who shares your big picture goal (you will certainly disagree on details but bigger picture is the important thing). You also need to choose someone who complements your strengths. It will not help if both of you share a strength but also share the same weakness, the weak area will fail miserably then and there could be financial or personal problems.

The business plan

The next step for you is to write out your business plan. This is the document that summarizes the entirety of your idea.  It defines what you want to do, and how you intend to do it.  A business plan includes the concept, how much money is needed, who will be involved. It also tells you who your market is, how they can be targeted. It even includes how you will develop and make your product, whether from raw materials, or outsourced to a third-party.  This plan is crucial for possible investors and for those who may fund you.

The law of the land

Once your plan is done, you need to find an attorney or legal advisor to help you with the scores of laws and requirements that present themselves in business. They will help you to understand which requirements you need to meet and can advise you on how to obtain certificates and legal documents that you will require.

You will need to get an accountant to help you set up a business account and to register for tax. How you register for tax will depend on what entity you are, so choose wisely when you decide.

Money-talk

A big part of business formation is money. You will need enough money to start the business, and you will need extra for all the unforeseen costs. There will always be unforeseen ones and many a business has sunk because two months into it, they’re out of money. If you can manage, have enough funding to support you for a year without income.

Go!

Now you can get going. You know what to do and how to do it.  The only pit-fall is you.  The ball is now in your court, so you have to decide whether you’re going to score, or throw it away.

About the author

David Miller is a researcher who has several years of experience in the field of teaching, project management and training. He is associated with prestigious brands and many leading organizations for his expertise in project management. Currently, he is pursuing research in effectiveness of project management software and is also a contributing author with ProProfs.

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