One of the most effective ways to increase your money is to start a business.
It can be intimidating. It can, however, be made simple with the correct systems.
The good news is that everything you need to start a business has already been done a million times. You don’t have to recreate the wheel or spend hours researching what to do if you’re beginning from scratch.
When launching a new firm, there are at least 24 things you should do. I’ll take you through each of them one by one. Don’t be put off by the length of this list; many of them may be completed simultaneously, and others can be outsourced to companies like LegalZoom.
I’m going to presume you already have a business idea, and in this article, I’m not going to show you how to start or expand one. These are the procedures that must be taken in order to begin operations.
First and foremost, define your company.
#1 Create a high-level and fundamental business plan.
You wouldn’t go on a long road trip without first planning your route. You wouldn’t want to do the same thing to your company.
As a result, you must begin by answering two simple questions:
What steps do you need to take to become profitable?
How are you going to pay for all of the things you’ll need to accomplish to get to profitability?
Don’t give it too much thought. Be realistic about how long it will take.
Make sure you’ve done your homework, know your numbers, and have a plan in place. When you put it all down on paper, the business plan will become a handy instrument that will serve as a compass for the first 6–12 months.
To get started, utilise our business plan template or consult our guide to developing a business plan.
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#2 Come up with a name for your project.
This is a difficult phase to do. It’s essential that you have a decent name. It must be memorable as well as brandable. It doesn’t have to be perfect or a made-up word like Google or Yahoo. However, you’ll be saying this name a lot, and it’ll probably be your URL as well.
I prepared a comprehensive tutorial on How to Buy the RIGHT Domain Name, which you should read. Here’s what’s important in general:
Have faith in the name. To be honest, this is most likely all that matters. It’s without a doubt the most crucial component of coming up with a name. You can’t sell it if you don’t like it. For a long time, you’ll be selling it 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That is, at least, the plan.
Choose something unusual. When searching Google for a name, make sure there isn’t an existing business or product with the same name.
Your name should be simple, memorable, and brandable. You don’t want to make it any more difficult to be identified and recognised.
Get your name’s.com domain. This is quite important. It’s amazing how many individuals take this for granted and ignore their domain name entirely. Make sure you have the.com if you want people to consider your business seriously.
This is an excellent method for coming up with a business name:
Make a list of as many phrases, concepts, ideas, beliefs, adjectives, etc. that fit the picture, vibe, feel, or product/service you’ll be offering as you can.
Create a list of names based on the ideas you came up with in step 1. To assist you with this phase, you can use free business name generators.
Use Google to look up the names. Delete any possibilities that are already a well-known company, especially if it isn’t in your industry.
Make sure the domain name is available for purchase. For more information, see our tutorial on how to buy a domain name. Expect to pay more than $7 a year to register a domain name. You should seriously consider purchasing a domain name for your company name. If you’re on a tight budget, think outside the box. If you put in the effort, you can get a wonderful name that checks all the boxes for under $1,500.
Here are some more suggestions for naming your company:
Consider your name on a large sign in your prospective office area, complete with a logo.
Consider having your name printed on a T-shirt.
Declare your name aloud. “Hello, my name is Name from Company Name.” How does it make you feel? Do you think that sounds good? Try saying it as though you were on the phone with a client.
Make a list of your options and discuss them with others.
Spend some time thinking about it and then put it aside. Do you find yourself returning to the same name?
#3 Purchase a domain name
Your domain name is really important.
That means you shouldn’t be frightened to invest in your domain. I buy my domains from Domain.com, which you can learn more about in our evaluation of the best domain registrars.
Depending on your industry, you may say the URL as much or as often as you utter the company’s name. The more money you have to spend on your domain name, the more you can accomplish.
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#4 Keep your social media accounts safe.
It’s difficult enough to come up with a solid name that allows you to purchase the.com extension. After all, the Internet has been around for more than 30 years. Many “good” domain names have already been taken.
And even if you do find one that works, you’re unlikely to get perfect match social network accounts.
However, you should make every effort to obtain them, but if that fails, get inventive. Although your social media handles / URLs aren’t as significant as your website, they’re nonetheless worth working on.
You may select how much work to put into your social media accounts right away – you can simply obtain the name and keep it, or you can fill them with a few photographs and bits of information. It’s entirely up to you. For the time being, I only want you to double-check that you have the handles.
#5 Create a distinct brand identity
Your brand’s identity is crucial. Customers associate your brand with certain colours, pictures, and logos.
It may appear to be a lot of work, but you can always adjust your brand identity later, so the first run only needs to be adequate. 99 Designs is an excellent place to go if you need a complete brand identification bundle. You can have a design competition in which you can choose from hundreds of choices.
Your brand identity, unlike your company name, isn’t set in stone. It’s perfectly fine to take a “beginning approach” here; it doesn’t have to be flawless (or expensive); all that matters is that it gets done. You may always come back and do another round of design – most companies do.
#6 Create a Google Apps account.
The most crucial tool for our company is G Suite, often known as Google Workspace. G Suite is where I do practically everything. My entire staff uses G Suite for email and calendaring. We also use Google Docs and Drive a lot.
As soon as you get your domain name, you’ll need to get this set up. Then you’ll be able to effortlessly set up your business accounts. A Basic account costs $6 per user as of April 1, 2019.
