Setting up a new business is such an exciting time, but it also comes with lots of questions and the unknown of where to begin – should you jump straight in and build a website, post on social media, or open a store and start hiring staff? No matter your industry, product or service, we’ve pulled together the 8 essential steps you should consider to give your business the best possible start.
- Define Your Business Goals
Understanding your why is essential to the structure and success of everything that follows. Pinpoint your brand’s purpose and desired result of your product or service. This will help craft your overall vision, mission statement, tone of voice, branding and most importantly, target audience.
- Know Your Audience
Customers are the lifeline of any business. Take the time to get to know them: their likes, dislikes, pain points, where they live, how they talk, how they engage etc. With this information, you can effectively communicate with them and create a customer database to build upon.
- Research Your Product/Service
Customers want to invest in something that enhances their lives: saving them time, money, stress or improving their quality of life. Highlight an issue within your industry and promote the product or service to resolve that problem; identifying what makes you different from everyone else. Ensure to research your competitors as this helps you to offer something different as well as determine price points.
- Create A Business Plan
This is an essential part of any sized enterprise. It guides you and your investors, as well as preparing you for future growth. A detailed business plan should also document your costs which justifies your pricing, helps with budget planning and is an important document if you ever need to apply for financial support through a Broker, Lender or Bank.
- Calculate Your Costs
Consider everything from setup fees, investments and returns to cash flow, expenditure and predicted sales. You’ll also need to include factors such as specialised equipment, vehicles, premises and staff. Although this may seem daunting, it’ll give you a clear prediction of the year ahead and determine whether financial support such as Hire Purchase or a Business Loan would be beneficial.
- Marketing and Branding
You’ve established your product and service, you know your target audience, and you’ve defined your brand and business goals. This’ll all go towards creating the right branding. From your name and logo to typography and colouring, your brand identity plays a huge part in the growth of your business. Go back to your audience research too, confirm what they respond to, i.e., social media, emails or adverts and tailor your communications via those channels.
- Choose Reliable Suppliers and Partners
When you’re delivering a product or service to a customer, it’s your representation on the line. If your customers are let down, it’ll be you whom they’ll look to, to resolve the issue. Minimise this risk by sourcing suppliers you trust and build a strong working relationship with. Do your research, ask around and look for someone whose ethics and values match your own. Don’t just go for the cheapest option if they’re not the right fit and consider local suppliers to reduce costs and timing.
- Be Prepared
When it comes to launching a business, it’s important to get things in order early on. Not only will this make everything seem more logical, but it also helps forecast future growth. It also increases your chances of successfully applying for additional funding. Our top tips include:
- Create a contingency plan
- Build a business budget
- Organise your accounts and bookkeeping
- Plan for future growth
- Get advice from Busby Finance
