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10-Step Guides To Starting A Business: How I Did And You Can Also

Career and business blogs

Highlight: I believe that entrepreneurship is something that you can’t do by learning from a blog or a book. So, why I write this article-’10-Step Guides To Starting A Business’. Well, I just want to help you learn from my personal experiences so you can plan safe and make a successful business.

I have seen a lot of people talking about starting a business for years. Whenever you see them that is all they talk about. Eventually, we get tired of it. Many of you are going through the same situation.

“What the heck are you waiting for?”

A lot of people assume that the process of starting a business is complicated. Many of them do not want to go through all that stuff unless they are sure their idea is perfect or doubt their ability.

See, knowing your situation and staying aware is good. But trust me; there is no limit on who can be a great entrepreneur. You don’t necessarily need a college degree, a considerable amount of money in the bank or even business experience to start something that could become the next major success.

Starting a business is daunting. There is so much to think about and so much to do. But if you’re starting from scratch, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel or waste brainpower on figuring out what to do. You do not need to learn everything about “business” before you start.

There are just a few essential things that you should do when starting a new business.  I will walk you through each one of them step-by-step. These are the exact steps I take and the tools I use to start my businesses:

10-Step Guides To Starting A Business

Step- 1: Refine Your Idea

10-Step Guides To Starting A Business

If you’re thinking how to start a business from scratch, you likely already have an idea of what you want to sell, or at least the market you are planning to enter. Now, do a quick search for existing companies in your chosen industry. Learn what current brand leaders are doing and find out how you can do it better.

When you know why you are launching your business, it will differentiate you from others.

Just because you have a great idea and don’t jump into launching their business without thinking through whom your customers will be or why these people should want to buy from or hire them.

Be clear why you want to work with these customers.

If you are thinking how to start a small business at home or best business ideas for women, check this article.

Step- 2: Create A Blueprint For Your Business

10-Step Guides To Starting A Business

After getting the idea, ask yourself:

  • What is the purpose of your business?
  • Who are your customers?
  • What are your ultimate business goals?

Now, do market research, conduct surveys, hold focus groups, and research SEO and public data. It will help you to understand your target customer – their needs, preferences, and behaviour and also your industry and competitors.

The best small businesses have products or services that are differentiated from the competition. This has a significant impact on your competitive landscape and allows you to convey unique value to potential customers. 

When you compile your business plan, it is a good idea to consider an exit strategy—having some idea of how you’ll exit the business forces you to look to the future.

A business plan helps you figure out where your company is going, how it will overcome any severe issues, and what you need to sustain it.

Step- 3: Assess Your Finances

Assess Your Finances

Funding is another significant part of starting any business. Determine how you’re going to cover your business costs. Do you have the means to fund your start-up, or will you need to borrow money?

Many start-ups fail because they run out of money before turning a profit. One way you can determine how much money you need is to perform a break-even analysis.

You must try the break-even analysis as a tool to ensure the minimum performance your business must achieve to avoid losing money.

Fixed Costs / (Average Price – Variable Costs) = Break-Even Point

Do not spend money on unnecessary things when you are at the initial phase or just launched your startups.  If you need financial assistance, go for a commercial loan in a bank.

If you need significant funding, investors can provide several million dollars or more to a fledgling company. Alternatively, you could launch an equity crowd funding campaign to raise smaller amounts of money from multiple backers.

Step-4: Legalize Your Business

10-Step Guides To Starting A Business

Legalizing your business is one of the most important of this 10-Step Guides To Starting A Business. Before registering your company, decide what kind of entity it is. See, your business structure legally affects everything from how you file your taxes to your liability if something goes wrong.

  • When you own the business entirely by yourself, register for a sole proprietorship. But it would directly affect your credit. If you want to separate your liability from your company’s liability, consider forming one of several types of corporations.
  • A partnership means that two or more people are held personally liable as business owners.
  • Limited Liability Corporation is a hybrid structure that has the legal protections of a corporation while allowing for the tax benefits of a partnership.
  • Corporations, especially C-corporations, are suitable for new businesses that plan on ‘going public’ or seeking funding from venture capitalists. 

Overall, it is up to you to determine which type of entity is best for your current needs and future business goals.

Step-5: Register With The Government & Important Licenses And Permits

Register With The Government & Important Licenses And Permits

To become an officially recognized business, register with the government. It needs an “articles of incorporation” document, including your business name, business purpose, corporate structure, stock details, and more.

After you register your business, get an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS.

It is not required for sole proprietorships with no employees. Besides, certain file forms to fulfill your federal and state income tax obligations.

You may need some federal, state or local licenses and permits to operate. Businesses and independent contractors in certain trades are needed to carry professional licenses.

You should also check with your city and state to find out if you need a seller’s permit that authorizes your business to collect sales tax from your customers. 

Keep in mind that these requirements and names vary from state to state.

Step-6: Buy An Insurance Policy

10-Step Guides To Starting A Business: How I Did And You Can Also

Insurance policy for business is something that always slips from your mind as something. But purchasing the right insurance for your business is an important step that should happen before you officially launch. It would help you in dealing with incidents like property damage, theft, or even a customer lawsuit can be costly, and you need to be sure that you’re properly protected.

You may also need other types of coverage as per your location and industry, but most small businesses are advised to purchase general liability (GL) insurance or a business owner’s policy.

If you offer a service, you may need to get professional liability insurance.

Step-7: Build Your Team

10-Step Guides To Starting A Business

Now, it’s time to think about building your team. Finding your founding team, understand what gaps exist, and find out how and when you will address.

When you have built your team now create a proper strategy  how the team will work together.

Define and roles and responsibility, division of labor, how to give feedback, or how to work together to keep your company in proper flow.

Step- 8: Find Your Vendors

10-Step Guides To Starting A Business: How I Did And You Can Also

We all need third party vendors in every phase from HR to business phone systems to exist to partner with you and help you run your company better.

If you’re searching for B2B partners, be careful.  Because these companies will have access to vital and sensitive business data, so find someone you can trust.

Before taking their service, ask vendors about their experience in your industry, their track record with existing clients, and what kind of growth they’ve helped other clients achieve.

Step- 9: Do Your Proper Branding

Promote your brand 1

Before you start selling your product or service, do some branding, and get a following of people ready to jump when you open your literal or figurative doors for business.

Create a logo to make your brand identified easily and use it across all of your platforms. Take benefits from social media to spread the word about your new business, perhaps as a promotional tool to offer coupons and discounts to followers once you launch.

Keep your digital assets up to date with relevant, interesting content about your business and industry. This process, mainly in the starting, is just as important as providing a quality product or service.

As you build your brand, ask your target audience to communicate with them. The easiest way to do this is by using opt-in forms. These are “forms of consent” given by web users, authorizing you to contact them with further information about your business.

Step- 10: Flourish Your Business

Step- 10: Flourish Your Business

Now, we are at the lost step of 10-Step Guides To Starting A Business. Your launch and first sales are your first task and important step to start a small business or as an entrepreneur. Keep pushing and growing your business to make a profit and stay afloat. It would take time and effort, but you’ll get out of your business what you put into it.

Try to collaborate with more established brands in your industry. Reach out to other companies or even influential bloggers and ask for some promotion in exchange for a free product sample or service.

Bottom Line

Hope you like my 10-Step Guides To Starting A Business; How I Did And You Can Also. While these tips will help launch your business and get you set to grow, there’s never a perfect plan.

It’s a long journey of rewards and challenges, often both at the same time. And as you are open to your reward, you also have to be as open to your challenges.

It is like your kind, and you have to take proper care of it in every circumstance. Be clear about your target audience, and it is very important. Then satisfy the target audience by helping to fix their problems. And also focus on your business model – you’ve got to take care of that, too!

Have you started your own business? What is your suggestion to make it profitable? Share your tips and experiences in the comment section below.

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Puja Bhardwaj

Hey there! This is Puja Bhardwaj from India. After 4 years of the editorial and inbound writing journey, I started #Female Insight with a passion to empower women through words and covering all aspects of a woman's life. I'm looking forward to hear from you!

http://femaleinsight.com

19 thoughts on “10-Step Guides To Starting A Business: How I Did And You Can Also

  1. Great tips, especially for me starting my own business. I love that you’ve went through all the steps.

    Great post

  2. Thanks for providing this guide, it will help a lot of women by giving them courage and structure to start a business. It can be very daunting at first, as you said, but if you take it step by step things will be fine! Thanks for sharing!

  3. These are great tips! it’s so important to think about your target customer and what you can do for them, rather than just thinking about what you can sell and make a profit on. If you provide a real value to people the money will come!

  4. Excellent advice – especially about funding. So many think starting an online biz isn’t going to cost. But every profitable business takes investment.

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