Things To Do Before Starting a Business

Are you inclined to turn your passion and make money out of it?

Or perhaps want to take your next leap in your life by collaborating with like-minded individuals?

Yet, as you stand on the cliff to jump into the ocean of business, it's natural for a mixture of anticipation and trepidation to fill your thoughts.

This sentiment is widely shared, I believe.

Having presented the insights here, you can find certainty in your decisions and get started on your entrepreneurial path.

You need an idea

Figure out your idea.

You have committed to starting a business, or already have something overflowing your mind.

Indeed, you need to provide something to the community in return for compensation that's called cash.

If the idea doesn’t keep you up at night, whether from excitement or contemplation. Does that idea hold weight?

However, it does not need to be that exciting at the start.

Maybe, you hear that idea from your co-founder, and you are fascinated by the marketing or tech side.

Don’t make it complicated - an idea that sells is enough here.

Know where your offerings rely upon

1. When Uber embarked on its journey, it gave a totally fresh approach to the market.

2. Similarly, Airbnb revolutionized the booking process and made it easy for travelers to book hotels.

3. IKEA offers varieties of furniture at affordable pricing. It’s a DIY assemble makes it a rewarding experience for the customers.

It is rather a two type that can be categorized as new to the market or having different approaches.

Well, you need to identify where your product or service relies.

For what?

So that, you can pinpoint the reality of your offering and can eventually plan how you can hone it.

SWOT analysis - It means strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat.

Through this lens, it guides you towards informed decisions and improved outcomes.

Write down your business plan

You figure out your offering and have done a SWOT analysis.

As a result, you get a bunch of data, which can be used to write down your business plan.

Furthermore, you can get deeper by outlining your business goals, target audience, competitive analysis, marketing strategy, and operational plan.

By doing so, you'll not only be guided in the decision-making process but also helps you allure the potential investors or a mentor.

Identifying your audience

Understanding who needs your product/service gives you a clear picture of who they are, what they want, and what is missing.

Delve into the things like demographics, psychographics, behaviors, and pain points of your target audience.

Recognizing the nuances paves the way for your business and lets you figure out your strategy and offerings.

Analyze your competitors

When you have pinpointed your offering, you have someone to compete with you.

In rare cases, some had no competitors when they existed, but as I said, it's rare.

In other cases, the competitors are too backward with their approach. (Like Uber)

In simple words, you either had a new product/service that’s completely new to the market or the offering you had existed before you made it available.

Analyzing competitors provides valuable insight that can shape your business strategy, help you make informed decisions, and increase your chances of success.

• Identifying the gap and opportunity
• Understanding what your customer wants
• How can you be better than your rivalries
• Honing your pricing strategy
• It gives you an idea of how you can market your product

This can be done through market research, surveys, online research, attending industry events, and even interacting with your competitors' customers.

Building your team

It is crucial yet determines the success rate of your business.

After figuring out everything mentioned above, you need a team to scale your business.

When starting a business, you can’t handle everything on your own.

The work needs to be dissipated to the right individuals, who are credible in handling such tasks.

While grouping your superheroes, make sure they’re really passionate about your idea and are capable of doing their role.

Legal requirement

Starting a business involves various legal requirements. But it can vary depending on your location, the type of business, and other factors.

Here are some common legal requirements to consider:

1. Business Structure and Registration

Choose a business structure (e.g., sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC, corporation).

Register your business with the appropriate government agency.

It might involve filing articles of incorporation, forming an LLC, or registering a "Doing Business As" (DBA) name.

2. Business name & Trademarks

Choose a unique business name that complies with trademark regulations.

Consider trademark registration to protect your brand name, logo, or other intellectual property.

3. Permit and Licenses

Obtain the necessary permits and licenses to operate legally in your industry and location. This can include local, state, and federal licenses.

4. Tax requirements

Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS if your business will have employees or if it's a corporation or partnership.

Register for state and local taxes, such as sales tax or business taxes.

5. Insurance

Consider purchasing commercial insurance, such as liability or property insurance, which protects your business from potential risks.

Funding

Starting a business indulges various operational costs, such as product development, hiring, marketing, and rest.

Though, not everyone is gifted with a huge investment to manage those expenses.

But there is a way to raise funding, such as by approaching banks for loans, networking with possible investors who believe in your vision, or crowdfunding.

A Bank loan is recommended if you don’t wish to give your share to the investor.

The loan can give you the initial push to your business, and then you can bootstrap it, which many have found success in it.

Showing your presence: Web and mobile app

After doing all this from the idea to the end product, you need a platform to market that.

As traditional methods gradually lose their impact. Now, websites & apps have become essential for businesses to market their product/service.

When you're in the startup phase, the resources required to develop websites and applications can be daunting.

Cause already they’re seeking the investment and reducing their cash spend.

However, some businesses on the other hand go with the readymade solution readymade solution, which is a cost-effective and easy option for them.

To sum up, without a website or an app, you’re missing out on something.

Marketing: A way to create a presence of your business

Picture this: you've laid a strong foundation and perfected every aspect, yet your potential audience remains unaware of the range of products and services you offer.

You can’t expect them to purchase what you offer.

That’s why marketing is essential, which helps you to create awareness or show that you do exist.

Marketing goes beyond mere paid ads. In the current scenario, you can leverage every marketing channel to do better.

Some of them are social media platforms, your website, content marketing, e-mail campaign, and whatnot.

Recapping all this

Starting a new business is an exciting journey, but it's essential to lay a strong foundation to understand the market better.

Before starting your business, the above checklist would definitely give you a hand.

Let me repeat it for you.

• Doing thorough market research
• Developing a solid business plan
• Securing funding
• Registering your business
• Building an online presence
• Creating a brand identity
• Setting up financial management systems
• Hiring and training your team
• Developing a marketing strategy.

Take your time doing all this. Even though business is all about “fail and learn”, you had to do the rest of the work on your side before starting one.

I wish you to find a great niche, where you not only find profitability within your offerings but also scale your business while leaving a meaningful impact.