10 Things to Consider
When Starting a Business

1. The Business Plan

First things first, you should take the time to sit down and figure out exactly what your business is.

Are you a service provider, or a manufacturer? How will you make money? Why are you starting this business and what goals are you going to set for the first couple of years?

All this information and more makes up a solid business plan. This document will serve as a foundation for your business and help you measure how successful your business venture is.

2. Your Target Customers

When starting a business, you really need to start thinking about who your customers are going to be. Work out what your typical customer might look like: their age, where they’re based, their income level, spending habits, etc.

Once you know who your customers will be, you can then dig even deeper and figure out what exactly they want and need. From there you can work out loads of other things crucial to starting a business, like where you should market yourself, the location you’ll set up, and what social media you’ll use for communication. If your business is going to be service-based, you need to ensure you implement an online booking system. This intelligent process automation tool will enable you to boost productivity and engagement while saving time and money.

3. Startup Costs

The next thing to think about when starting a business is just how much money you’ll need to get things started.

Some businesses might have zero startup costs, others might require a couple of thousand, and some others might even require some investors to back you. Start saving up now, because the more capital you have, the bigger the investment you can make in your business to ensure its growth. And you’ll need to be prepared in case your business takes a few months before it starts turning a profit.

When starting your business, you need to consider investing in a cybersecurity strategy that includes a user access review. This refers to a periodic inventory of access rights to certain networks and systems and the users who have access permissions into those networks and systems. Furthermore, you need to make sure that you have best practices for user access review in place because if not reviewed periodically, privileged access can fall into the hands of bad actors, whether on purpose or on accident.

4. Location is Everything

Far too often will people see a space for rent on a busy high street and jump at the chance to open their business there. But take your time, because location really is everything when it comes to starting a new business.

Leases for space can involve long and expensive contracts, so really think about whether you’re ready to commit to a space. Remember, more than a few businesses that started out of a bedroom have found success. But if you are lucky enough to work your business from home, remember to try and separate your work and living areas as much as you can.

5. A Marketing Plan

Growing your business into something great will take a good marketing plan. Getting your name out is the obvious way to grow your customer base – if marketing is not in your business checklist, then your new business will more than likely struggle to get off the ground.

Usually, people start off with some basic marketing, like business cards. There’s no need to hire a marketing agency yet, but it’s something to keep in mind for your business down the line.

6. Your Online Presence

One of the best and easiest ways to market a new business is by crafting your online presence. Establishing a consistent presence across your chosen social media channels will go a long way to engaging with your customers. It’s also proven to be far more effective than any regular marketing techniques, although that doesn’t mean you should ignore them.

The best part about social media is being able to engage with your audience in real time, bringing them value and increasing the chance that they’ll spread the good word to their social circles.

7. Operating Costs

Another thing to consider when starting a new business is to figure out the day-to-day operating costs.

From salaries and rent, office supplies and utilities, to the annual fee of LLC, note down everything that you’ll have to pay to keep your business running. This will also help you figure out how much money you’ll need to get started as well.

8. Business Insurance

An important part of the ongoing costs of starting a business is business insurance.

This will protect you and your customers if something happens, for example someone injuring themselves in your store. Without insurance, you’d be on the line for the legal bills and any compensation, which could put a big dent in your cash flow and even send your business under.

8. Accounting and Financials

There’s no doubt about it, the accounts and finances of a new business can get tricky – especially if you’re off to a successful start.

It’s important to keep your business and personal finances separate, but beyond that, it might be worth employing a professional accountant to run the books for you. This ensures that you won’t get bogged down in complex spreadsheets, cost flow analyses, and payroll for any employees you have. Instead, you can focus your energy on continuing to grow your business.

9. Don’t Forget Your Passion

No matter how much money, time, and office space you have, to start a successful business, you’ll need one more thing: passion. That’s the whole point of starting a business anyway, to get involved with something you love.

Owning and operating a business will be full of ups and downs. It will be exciting, frustrating, exhausting, and fun. It’s a long learning process, so having the passion to show up day after day to continue working will go a long way to whether your business is successful.

10 Things to Consider When Starting a Business