Thinking of Starting a Business? What You Need To Know Before You Launch
You have found something you love to do or make and you have decided to become an entrepreneur and start a business providing this thing or service to others who could use it. Congratulations!! You are about to embark on an incredible journey full of hard work that reaps many rewards most all of all, personal fulfillment.
WAIT! Before you start launching a business there are a few things you need to do before you take the big leap. I know you are so excited about this though if you want to make sure you have long term success you need to build a foundation of stability so you wont have to back track and wonder why you hit a plateau in sales. Here are some introductory steps you should do to make sure you have all you need before you you launch officially. These steps aren't just for large corporations and small businesses, but for you, the micro business, the entrepreneur, solopreneur, mompreneur, or anypreneur. 1. You make a thing and this thing you are excited to start selling officially because this thing is being appreciated by some friends and possibly even some strangers. Though who is this thing made for? Who will want this thing? Figuring out who your target audience/market is is extremely important for future marketing strategies and an integral part of your personal branding. 2. Make your business legal by registering your business with your local government and then find out what taxes you will need to report.
3. Speaking of taxes you will want to make sure you know how to keep your books. Don't have time or find it overwhelming, welcome to the club. Bookkeeping and accounting are in fact two different things and we don't really realize this until it is time to get those taxes done. You need well kept books in order to keep your accounting in check. I suggest you find a CPA that also works with you on bookkeeping so you wont have to deal with any hiccups along the way. This is an invaluable resource that keeps your mind on your business and not your books.
4. Register your domain. Yes, websites are an important aspect to providing your thing online and as a marketing tool. Working with a skilled web developer who specializes with SEO (search engine optimization) will help you take care of important things online so you can just do your thing. This is a very short list and there is much more to think about though these are what I find important prior to launch that most entrepreneurs forget, gloss over, or straight out ignore until it hits them hard and backtracking puts a halt to their business. I wish you all the best in your entrepreneurial journeys. For more information on personal branding strategies send me a message to get a personalized branding consultation.
~Saz
