Every business whether small, medium or large scale usually starts with an idea. In most cases, these ideas are ones that add value to potential customers.
To get started, create a simple, one-page business plan that is a high-level overview of the business you’re about to start.
Define your objectives in the form: What shall I do? -- What are my goals -- that will lead to the accomplishment of my mission and vision?
How are you going to achieve the objectives that you have just highlighted?
While I highly recommend you keep your costs as low as possible, you’ll still need to determine a budget to get started and how much you’ll be able to spend. If you’re self funding, be realistic about numbers and whatever you anticipate your budget to be. I’ve found that an additional 20 percent tacked on for incidentals is a realistic overage amount that helps you plan your burn rate.
Your burn rate is how much cash you’re spending month over month. It’s an important number for you to figure out to determine how long you can stay in business before you need to turn a profit.
You should set up your business with profitability in mind the first 30 to 90 days. It’s possible. But have a budget reserve so you can survive if things go leaner than expected.
Often in the initial “test” phase for your small business, it can be wise to start as a sole proprietor, as it means less paperwork and up-front expenses. That can save you some big-time cash while you determine the viability of your business. Do be aware though that acting as a sole proprietor can put you at personal risk, so you’ll want to weigh the benefits vs. risks and then speak with a local attorney or tax professional to decide which is smarter for your short-term vs. long-term goals.
You can always file for a business entity once you’ve proven in the first three to six months of business that you’ve got a viable, sustainable model.
Don’t pay for an account or get any kind of credit lines yet, just get a holding place you can keep your money separated from your personal accounts. This should take you no more than hour at the financial institution of your choice.
Regardless of whether your business will be brick or mortar or online, you’ll need a website and that means securing a URL. Popular domain sites such as HostGator and Go Daddy will allow you to search for the website domain address of your choice and purchase it for as little as $9.99.
If you’re starting an online business, you can tie your domain to an online shopping cart and store front such as Shopify for a low monthly fee, or you can build a basic website yourself on top of your URL with do-it-yourself drag-and-drop site builders such as Weebly for a low fee. Both are less than $100 a month.
You now have enough of the foundation that you can start testing some sales. Try to spread the word in an inexpensive but creative ways.
Do you have a service-based business? then, get involved with your local chamber of commerce or small-business chapter immediately and ask what resources are available for you to speak or present or share information about your new business.
If you have a product-based business, test the viability of your product at local swap meets, farmers markets or other community events to test what the public really thinks (and if they'll purchase) from you.
Try using effective marketing skill to drive traffic to your website through Facebook Ads with capped budgets, or set up a simple Google AdWords advertisement account with a budget cap to test if traffic is going to your business website.
Watch this motivational business start up video
You can follow these six steps by yourself for any amount of money you purposed for starting up your business.
Once the business idea is conceived, the next thing you have to do is to transform it into action. The process of converting this idea to an action is where many to-be businessmen and women start feeling overwhelmed.
It is quite understandable if you end up freezing or getting cold feet at this stage of getting your business started, but you will also want to know that getting going is actually way more easier than you think.
Similar to any other goal you might want to achieve, if you take your time to break each activity into sizeable and achievable chunks, you will definitely be able to handle enough of the smaller actions needed to get your goal or business started in less than no time.
In this article, we give a quick run-down of the processes necessary to start your new business. These steps are not too technical and anyone with an average education can apply this business start-up strategies.
The first thing you might want to do is start by writing at least a one-page business plan. As you may have known, the key to any successful business during the start-up phase lies in keeping things simple and at the lowest cost possible.
Start by writing a business plan.
The first thing you might want to do is start by writing at least a one-page business plan. As you may have known, the key to any successful business during the start-up phase lies in keeping things simple and at the lowest cost possible.
Note that cost in this sense does not mean finances but also your time.
The temptation that many would-be business owners get themselves trapped into is the issue of trying to create the largest and robust business plan the world is yet to witness. This is not a good idea when starting a small scale business. You will only need such robust business plan if you are seeking for financing and investors.
The key to a successful small business, especially in the startup phase, is to keep things simple and at a low cost. Costs don’t just mean your monetary costs, but also your time.
If you have a big heart for the future of your business, you could write those ideas for a very different business plan but for the mean time, start by writing a small business plan that is cost effective and achievable.
It is highly recommended for small-business owners to start by doing testing with their idea before pumping money and time into it.
To get started, create a simple, one-page business plan that is a high-level overview of the business you’re about to start.
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| Photo credit: EventsInNepal.com |
Vision
Start out by defining the business vision i.e. What will be the end result of the business you want to start?Mission
Define your business mission. The mission is different from vision, In your mission statement, quick explain the purpose of your company or business.
Objectives
Strategies
Outline your basic business strategies.How are you going to achieve the objectives that you have just highlighted?
Action Plan
Draft a quick and simple action plan and bullet out the smaller task-oriented actions required to achieve the objectives you have just stated.
That’s it. Your ideas might be longer than one page, but it will surely be more organized and shorter than a full business plan, which could take weeks or months to write.
Decide on a budget
While I highly recommend you keep your costs as low as possible, you’ll still need to determine a budget to get started and how much you’ll be able to spend. If you’re self funding, be realistic about numbers and whatever you anticipate your budget to be. I’ve found that an additional 20 percent tacked on for incidentals is a realistic overage amount that helps you plan your burn rate.
Your burn rate is how much cash you’re spending month over month. It’s an important number for you to figure out to determine how long you can stay in business before you need to turn a profit.
You should set up your business with profitability in mind the first 30 to 90 days. It’s possible. But have a budget reserve so you can survive if things go leaner than expected.
Decide on a legal entity
Filing paperwork to start a business costs money. Often, depending on your state, it can be a lot of money. You’ll need to account for city or municipality licensing, state incorporation or business entity fees and more. Do a thorough search ahead of time to determine what the filing fees are for your city, county and state before starting any business.Often in the initial “test” phase for your small business, it can be wise to start as a sole proprietor, as it means less paperwork and up-front expenses. That can save you some big-time cash while you determine the viability of your business. Do be aware though that acting as a sole proprietor can put you at personal risk, so you’ll want to weigh the benefits vs. risks and then speak with a local attorney or tax professional to decide which is smarter for your short-term vs. long-term goals.
You can always file for a business entity once you’ve proven in the first three to six months of business that you’ve got a viable, sustainable model.
Take care of the money.
Whatever business entity you decide on, keep the funds separate from your personal accounts. This is a big mistake that makes tax time and financials so confusing. It’s really easy to set up a free business checking account with your local credit union or bank. All you’ll need is your filing paperwork, sole proprietor licensing information and an initial deposit to get set up from most financial institutions.Don’t pay for an account or get any kind of credit lines yet, just get a holding place you can keep your money separated from your personal accounts. This should take you no more than hour at the financial institution of your choice.
Get your website.
Regardless of whether your business will be brick or mortar or online, you’ll need a website and that means securing a URL. Popular domain sites such as HostGator and Go Daddy will allow you to search for the website domain address of your choice and purchase it for as little as $9.99.
If you’re starting an online business, you can tie your domain to an online shopping cart and store front such as Shopify for a low monthly fee, or you can build a basic website yourself on top of your URL with do-it-yourself drag-and-drop site builders such as Weebly for a low fee. Both are less than $100 a month.
Test sales.
You now have enough of the foundation that you can start testing some sales. Try to spread the word in an inexpensive but creative ways.
Do you have a service-based business? then, get involved with your local chamber of commerce or small-business chapter immediately and ask what resources are available for you to speak or present or share information about your new business.
If you have a product-based business, test the viability of your product at local swap meets, farmers markets or other community events to test what the public really thinks (and if they'll purchase) from you.
Try using effective marketing skill to drive traffic to your website through Facebook Ads with capped budgets, or set up a simple Google AdWords advertisement account with a budget cap to test if traffic is going to your business website.
Watch this motivational business start up video
You can follow these six steps by yourself for any amount of money you purposed for starting up your business.
Nice Idea
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