Where do you begin?

Here are some things to consider to get you going:

What’s in a name?

First things first, do you have a name for your new business?

Is it something catchy that’s easy to remember that your customers can relate to? 

Your business name is a huge part of your brand.

It’s how customers recognize and remember you. 

Some things to consider when you create a business name:

Make it memorable, catchy, and easy to remember.

Does it reflect the business you are in? 

Did you do a name search in your state and other states to make sure it is available? 

Register your business name in your state and possibly Nevada or Delaware if you want added protection as an LLC or corporation.

Are there other businesses that have similar names that you wouldn’t want to be closely associated with that could cause brand confusion or impact your reputation negatively?

Do you feel good about the name? Does it reflect you and the overall image you want to portray to your customers?

A name is important but don’t get stuck there. Figure it out. Set it up. Then move on, because that is just the beginning.

Branding

Have you figured out who your target audience is? Get very specific. Don’t be general. It will save you time, money, and frustration if you establish your brand early on rather than later.

Here are some things to think about:

Who is your ideal client? 

Who wants and needs what you offer and is willing to pay for it?

Where can you find them?

What are the problems you solve for them?

How do you solve them?

Why should they work with you rather than a competitor? 

How are you unique or better? 

What can you give them that your competitor can’t? 

Dig down deep and think about it. It may be a combination of things that add up.

Legal Structure

What kind of business structure are you going to set up? 

Do you know the difference between a sole-proprietor versus a Limited Liability Company (LLC)? Do you know what business structure will work best for your business?

Have you considered the legal and tax ramifications of setting up a business to make sure you limit your liability?

There are essentially five types of business structures you can set up:

Sole proprietorship

Partnership

Limited Liability Company

S Corporations

C Corporations

It is important to do your research and seek professional advice from a CPA or business attorney. They will help advise you on business and tax structures will be the most advantageous for your business to limit your legal and tax liabilities. 

By the way, setting up the legal structure of your business entity is not the same as getting a local business license. Check with your local city or county to find out what their requirements are for business licenses.

Startup Costs

Starting up a business costs money. Plain and simple. Even if you are going to bootstrap it – use your own money to fund it until it starts making money. 

In some cases, you may not need a lot of money to get started. If you offer a service instead of a tangible product, you don’t have to worry about inventory. But, it still costs money to start up a business, no matter what kind of business it is.

Some of the start-up costs you need to budget for include:

Setting up the legal structure and getting a business license. They are not the same thing. There will be separate costs for each. Plan on several hundred up to $1,500 total. Depends on what state or service you use to set things up.

Branding – logo, website, business cards, signs if needed, setting up social media accounts with covers and banners etc.

Marketing – in the beginning, there are a lot of things you can do to market your business that are free or low cost. Ultimately, you will need a marketing plan and budget.

Operating costs – do you have a brick and mortar business where you pay rent, utilities, and have other operating expenses. Home-based businesses may have less overhead. In either case, you will have some start-up costs – cell phone, internet service, virtual assistants, postage, administrative fees, and whatever else your particular business needs to function day-to-day.

Taxes – plan now to submit quarterly taxes to avoid penalties and interest. It’s not worth it to have IRS tax problems later. Plan ahead and budget appropriately for taxes to reduce stress and worry. Hire an accountant to help you plan accordingly.

Networking and Marketing

Networking and marketing are essential to your business success.

They let the world know that you exist.

What is networking?

Networking is building relationships and tapping into resources in order to do your business.

Do you need other professionals in your network in order to function and thrive and provide your product or service?

There are a lot of ways to network to develop relationships with the right people who will make up your professional tribe. We all prefer to do business with people we know, like, and trust.

Set standards and don’t compromise. 

Determine what and who you need.

Look for mutually beneficial relationships that will last.

You’ve got to give to get. 

Make sure there is a balance of give and take.

Research and Experiment

Take time to research to find the right places, groups, and people. 

Will you find them online or offline? 

Will you attend networking groups or professional associations? 

Find other professionals with related products or services that aren’t competing with you. Perhaps you can set up an affiliate agreement to refer each other business.

How can you create win/win scenarios?

What is marketing and why do you need to do it?

Let’s keep it super simple.

Marketing is how you get the attention of your ideal clients so they can find you. If they can’t find you, they can’t do business with you.

You will hear or see a lot of people using fancy terms like marketing funnels and lead conversion. Don’t let that intimidate you. That’s important to track at some point but not right away. Keep it super simple in the beginning and just start.

So, where do you start, especially if you don’t have much of a marketing budget? There are a lot of things you can do for free to market your business, if you are willing to invest some time.

Start here:

Like it or not, social media is here to stay. And, it’s an efficient way to get in front of a lot of people quickly. It doesn’t matter if you aren’t into social media. Think of it as a way to connect with a lot of people for free. Figure out which social media platforms you will find your target audience on. Millennials are more likely to connect with you on Instagram than on Facebook, even if they use both. Know who your ideal client is and where you can find them. We teach you marketing in our Entrepreneur Academy core curriculum.

Ads – online or offline, will ads in a local neighborhood newsletter or community paper be a good way for you to find your ideal client? That will depend on what kind of product or service you have.

Email marketing has proven to be the most effective way to communicate with your ideal client. Businesses use social media to build their contact list to email to sell their product or service to. You will probably do a combination of things both online and offline.

Outbound marketing is when you are proactive and reaching out to initiate contact with prospects, like cold calling or door knocking.

Inbound marketing is more passive, such as ads, mailers, and flyers that you wait to receive inbound calls or responses to.

We teach entrepreneurs how to network and market their businesses and coach them through the process of mastering these essential skills.

We covered a lot of ground in just one blog post. There is a lot to consider when you start-up a new business. We can’t cover everything in one blog post. Hopefully, you gleaned a tip or two that will help you get started.

In our Entrepreneur Academy, we teach and coach our members on how to startup and grow their businesses to scale up to that coveted 6 and 7 figure annual income goal. .