Business Start up Print E-mail

What to think about during the Start up stage

So you've decided to start your own business - Good on you! Its a big decision - but a rewarding one, if you get it right. 

Before you go to see your bank manager to ask for a loan - make sure you know the answer to these questions, so you can put together a well thought out Business Plan to wow the bank manager with. 

Set Up

  • Business Name
  • Domain name
  • Business Structure (will you be a sole trader or a Pty Ltd to begin with?)
  • Set up an ABN
  • Possibly look at Trade marking the name
  • Register for GST (if you need to)
  • Are you eligble for any Government grants?
  • Set up an accounting package - MYOB and Quickbooks are the most common and your accountant will be able to work with the files easily.
  • What services will you offer?
  • What sort of price will you put on your work?
  • What sort of Insurances do you need?
  • Do you need to purchase any assets (Property, Equipment, and Vehicle?)
  • Do you need to belong to any governing bodies ad have any licenses?
  • What kind of budget do you have to set up the business and how much do you need to market and run the business?
  • What timeframes are you looking at to get this happening?

 

 

Market Research

  • Who are your competitors?
  • What do you competitors offer in terms of service, delivery & price?

 

 

Target Market

  • What market do you want to concentrate on (Niche is best – too broad and you’ll get lost)
  • Who will the decision makers be?

 

 

Marketing

  • How do you plan to get your work? Tenders? B2B work? Residential?
  • Have you got any clients you can work for already?
  • What will your pitch be?
  • What is your USP? (Unique selling proposition – what makes you better/different to your competitors? – hint higher service levels are better than price discounts)
  • Do you have a mission Statement? (Or can you create one?)

 

 

Branding and promotions

  • What sort of budget do you have to set up?
  • You will need a website – have you thought about how you want it to look?
  • Do you have a business name/domain name?
  • Do you have a logo in mind?
  • Do you know where you need to advertise?
  • How do you plan to measure the success of any campaign you run?
  • What risks do you think your marketing plan has? If there are risks – what measures do you have to minimize risk and avoid losing money on marketing that isn’t returning profit on the investment

 

 

Things to think about for your marketing budget

  • Website
  • Logo design
  • Business Cards
  • Stationary (at least so you can send nice looking letters, invoices, emails etc)
  • Brochure (Tri fold is most economical for space you get)
  • Advertising - Press, Media, Billboards, Inhouse, Direct Mail
  • Press Releases about new emerging business in local papers (depends on Target Market though)
  • Sign writing your work vehicle and keeping it clean
  • Building signage
  • Online advertising
  • Google adwords
  • SEO campaign for your website
  • Telephone message on hold – so if you are out – they don’t just get your mobile voice mail – it makes you look small and unreliable.
  • Listings on relevant online Directories
  • Building a specified database of companies you want to target
  • Database Communication campaign: Sales letter with brochure posted to the companies – with follow up call to get leads and email addresses to add to your database so advertising to that company the becomes free after the first hit.
  • Email Campaigns – monthly
  • Affiliate Marketing (working in conjunction with another couple of companies who have the same target market but complimentary but different services to you – then marketing out together as a collective) Its cheaper and it works like a referral.
  • Networking – you need to do this regardless of how uncomfortable you might be at first.

 

Operations

  • How will the business work?
  • Who will do the work?
  • Who will do the marketing?
  • Who will do the books?
  • Will you have any inventory – how will you keep track of it?
  • Will you put systems in place from the outset? (It is best)
  • Will you hire staff /contractors/sub contractors – if so how will you manage/pay and terminate them?
  • You will need to implement OH & S Strategies - outline these
  • How will you divide your time each day?
  • Who will answer your phone? (make sure you answer your phone with your name, your company name, followed by how can I help?)

 

 

Exit Strategy

  • Do you have an exit strategy – the business plan will need to reflect that you have
  • Will the business be “sellable?”
  • What assets will you sell with the business?
  • How much is your IP (Intellectual Property – what you know) worth?

 

All of these things you need to think about carefully before you jump into setting up a business. 

Get this right and you are on the right track to starting, running and growing a successful profitable business.

 

 

 

 
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