You’ve got a great business idea! You are desperate to leave your boring 9-to-5 and become your own boss. What do you do now to turn your idea into an income-generating business that can sustain you, maybe even make you rich one day? Where do you start? What do you need to turn this business idea into the reality you are starting to dream of?
I have helped numerous small businesses get off the ground and have worked in small and medium businesses where I have contributed to huge growth in the early years. I built and sold my own business about 15 years ago, and have coached and taught many people considering how to get started. From all my experience, I have put together a Top 20 Tips or Steps on what is needed to start a new business. Twenty may sound a bit overwhelming, but remember you don’t have to do everything today! Consider timelines and planning and make sure the process is not overwhelming. I pride myself on straight-talking and being jargon-free, so this is suitable for absolute beginners.
20 Steps to take in building a Business
1. Define your Unique Selling Point
I promised you jargon-free and I start off talking about USPs… Epic fail. What you need to think about is how is your business going to be different (or unique) to everyone else selling that product or service.
2. Test Your Idea First
We’ve all done it. Had that brilliant idea that sounds so good in your own head. Then when you start to share the idea with loved ones and friends, they start picking holes in it. This is a good part of the process.
3. Don’t Give Up the Day Job yet
As tempting as it might feel, unless you are really sure you can afford to, try and build up your business in your spare time. It may feel tough to do, but is probably the safest route.
4. Write a Solid Business Plan
Even if you’re not planning on applying to banks for business loans, it’s essential that you create a solid business plan which you can track yourself against and keep you focused on the vision.
5. Plan out your Timelines to Launch
Especially if you are working full-time alongside starting up a business, you need to plan realistic timelines which take into consideration family life, maintaining a work/life balance etc.
6. Name and Register your Business
It’s probably something you’ve had in mind from day one, but you need to decide on a business name and ensure no-one else is using that name.
7. Build a Brand Identity
Whoops, sorry, another bit of jargon. Building your brand identity means planning out how you want your customers to perceive you, what you stand for to your customers, and who they are.
8. Behind the Scenes Preparation
Going it alone may need some investment in equipment, online platforms, systems and processes. While it’s not wise to rush into big spending early on, it’s a good idea to have a look at what’s possible as you scale.
9. What Upskilling Might you Need
Small business owners come from a wide range of backgrounds professionally. And running your own business often means you need to be a Jack of All Trades, certainly in the early days anyway. So what do you need to learn more about?
10. Separate Out Your Finances
It’s really easy to set up a separate business bank account and sensible to do so from day one. It will enable tracking your businesses expenditure a lot easier and make reporting more straight forward later on.
11. Decide Upon a Business Structure
You’ve heard terms like Sole Trader or Limited Company. Let’s explore what is the difference in business structures and how you decide what’s right for you and your business.
12. Track Cash Flow
As your business starts to shape up and you’re getting more edgy about wanting to leave your day job, let’s examine how you track your likely cash flow in the first year, so you can make informed decisions.
13. What are your Funding Options
Needing to get a loan to start your business or want to find out about what grants may be available. Let’s take a look at the resources available to help.
14. Where to Base your Business
Is this a business you can do from home? And if so, what are the implications? Or do you need to start looking for premises. What are the options to ensure you don’t tie yourself into huge financial commitments before you’ve even got started.
15. What Licences and/or Regulations to Consider
This will vary enormously by industry but let’s take a look at what certifications, licences and regulations you will need to achieve or follow in order to be taken seriously in your field.
16. Data Protection Minefields
Heard the term GDPR? Heard of data permissions? Let’s run through what you need to be aware of when you are managing your customers’ data, what you can and can’t do with it and how to keep it safe.
17. Marketing your Business
OK my favourite bit obvs! You will need to decide what channels you use to best get your business promoted. These are likely to include digital channels like social media, and may include flyers, business cards and networking events.
18. Building a Website
Very crucial to marketing your business is building a ‘digital shop window’ by creating your own website. It’s not as complicated as it sounds and there are many options to consider depending on how involved you want to be in website development.
19. Insurance and Tax Considerations
Might sound like the tedious stuff that been pushed towards the end of the list, but you need to be confident that you are running your business in a full legal and compliant way. You may need to look at public liability insurance. You also need to ensure your not shocked by future tax bills.
20. Finding your First Customers
The really exciting part – find your first customers. These might be friends and family or people already in your network. Really good to get their feedback and learn from it to shape your business as you go.
Read on for further blogs, which take each of these steps and give you more detailed advice on what is involved.
