Every business has to start from the very beginning, and it’s the passion behind it that drives you to start something and be your own boss. Starting a company from scratch need not be complicated, but requires a lot of planning and backend work. Here are a few tips on how to start a company from ground zero.1. Research & Refine your Idea
If you are thinking about how to start a company and set a business, you must be having an idea. Thorough background research of the idea is criticalAnalyze what market leaders are doing in that space and learn from their mistakes Talk to a lot of customers, understand their pain point and try to solve that problemConduct surveys, hold focus group meetings and research SEOs2. Prepare a Business Plan
After researching your business idea, the next phase is preparing a business plan that reflects steady & realistic growthDon’t rush into things before understanding the key aspects of a business. For e.g.
- What is the objective of your business?
- Your defined customer base
- Price points
- Sales projections
- Operational costs
- Market Strategy
This is very important before you decide to start a company. There are a few structures that SMEs can choose from:
- Sole Proprietorship where you are the ultimate boss and the cost of setting up is the least
- Partnership- Where you can start the company with a friend, family member or a business partner and decide your profit and loss sharing ratio
- Limited Liability Company (LLC)- This is a popular choice for small to medium sized businesses. The cost of set up is not very high and there is a separation between the owners and the company
If you are starting a new company, you need to address finances and see how the funding will take place One of the ways to do this is to prepare a break-even analysis. This is essential for financial planning to know when your business will be profitable The simplest way to do this is to calculate your fixed costs and your variable costs and get the difference between the twoSet a financial goal, this will help in keeping a check of whether you are stretching your budget or there is room for marginKeep a list of the funding options available to you and at what stage you would like to use them
5. Build a Founding Team
Human resources are important to every business and an entrepreneur should be clear that he cannot manage all the functionsGet together a team by assessing their strengths and weaknesses, so that everyone is an asset to the companyDelegate work effectivelyIncentivize the team so that when the company grows, they also benefit from it6. Improve on the GoOnce you have clarity on all your initial steps, there is never a better time for starting up. Improvisations can be made as you go along. Most successful companies have launched with imperfections but that did not deter them from adapting to the changesLearn from the journey and enjoy every bit of it!7. Decide a launch Strategy
Once you start a company and your product is ready to hit the market, be clear about how you want it to launchThink about media spends and the mediums you want to use, how do you want to market the product initially and grow it phase by phaseStart branding yourself using social media. Build a following on Facebook and Instagram to create the initial buzz Build a logo, create a website and let people identify with your brand
