Starting your own business is a huge step, one that requires a lot of preparation, learning, and improvisation. It is never something to do on a whim. Without enough preparation in advance, you will quickly find that challenges and problems keep on coming – unless you know what to expect.
You cannot prepare for every eventuality, but if you create a strong enough foundation, then you can better weather any storm that comes your way. To help you start your own business in 2022, and more importantly, to see it thrive, use this guide:
Create a Business Plan
The first step is to create a business plan. This plan is how you workshop your idea into a workable business and is essential when it comes to registering your business, getting funding, and also managing your company once you launch.
Though a business plan itself is short, the research and consideration you put into it shouldn’t be. The more you investigate and the more answers you have, the greater chances you have of success.
What you should research isn’t necessarily complicated, either.
You will want to know:
- Who your competition is, their business model, and why they are succeeding.
- Who your customer base is, their needs, and their budget.
- The legal regulations and restrictions you will need to adhere to.
- What you need at minimum to launch.
You can always outsource large parts of your business, but to outsource correctly, you need to know what you need and who you need it from. If you have the skill but not the know-how, you can consider looking into getting a business coach or consultant who will be there to walk you through the process.
Funding Your Business
Getting funding is often a huge challenge, and one that you need a viable plan for. For best results, always use multiple funding streams. Your own savings (but not all of them), friends and family (without putting them out), loans, SBA loans, angel investors, capital investments, and crowdfunding are just a few of the most common funding sources. By branching out, you can borrow a little from multiple sources.
Just remember; a little from multiple sources works best from friends, family, and other zero or low-interest options. If you are taking out a loan having just a few lenders is easier to manage.
Registering Your Business
There are a few different approaches that you can take when it comes to actually registering your business. In the United States, your options are sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, an S corporation, and a Limited Liability Company (LLC). In the UK, you have sole trader, partnership, limited liability partnership, and limited company.
Understanding the differences in your country and which option is best for you is one of the most important steps forward, though you may find the best option remains relatively consistent wherever you are. If you are looking between being a sole trader, enterprise, or wondering, should I go limited? Then know that there are many benefits for going through with the extra steps to go limited. As a limited company, your business will be separate legally from you, meaning you benefit legally and even financially, as you tend to pay lower tax than going the sole trader route.
Limited means that it will become a separate entity – the business, not you, will be held liable in the event of any financial or legal problems.
The rules will, of course, vary depending on where you are located, where your company is located, and who your customers will be. If you are ever unsure, find professionals who can advise and guide you through the process so that you avoid issues in the future.
Launching Your Business
Finding the right people is crucial to starting your business, especially if you know from the outset you cannot do it alone. Even if you are the only one actively working in your new company at the start working with the right partners, outsourcing your needs, and asking friends and family for help are all important to help you launch.
For best success, outline a timeline and keep to it. This is how you will stay on track and maintain a good budget. It is also how you will know when you can start marketing and PR to build up hype before your business launch. Try to launch with as big a bang as you can with an event, preorders, or by sourcing clients in advance so that you immediately have work and revenue come your way.
