Starting a business is not an easy task. It can take years of planning for some to actually step into the founder’s shoes. It also means that you need to have an all-rounder idea of issues like legal, financing, sales and marketing, human resources, and much more. Being an entrepreneur needs not just skills but an equal amount of dedication and patience. Today, the entire start-up culture is at its peak. If you are a budding entrepreneur, not taking advantage of this situation is foolish. With the number of resources available at hand and the opportunities surrounding us – building a start-up has never been this accessible.
Many successful businesses have had their “Day 1”. Startups like Facebook, Airbnb, Uber, and others are inspirational for everyone. Their first day has become multi-million dollar businesses today with the right effort and unhindered commitment.
In this article, we will discuss some of the key factors that you, as an upcoming entrepreneur should consider.
Having an Idea of the Required Commitment & Upcoming Hurdles
Most entrepreneurs have no idea about the huge amount of planning, time, resources, and energy that is required to start something new. Founding a business in itself is a huge commitment. So much so that many successful business owners had to give up precious personal time during the initial period of their businesses.
Here are some challenging factors that entrepreneurs are most likely to face:
- Coming up with a great product, in some cases a unique product/service that might be revolutionary.
- Have a determined plan and vision
- Have enough financial support
- Hectic work hours
- Getting rid of bad employees to avoid any bad motivation.
- Not getting discouraged in case of any rejection
- Efficiently managing time
- Maintaining the work-personal life balance
Always keep in mind, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.” There is no giving up, even if you face rejection multiple times. With rejection comes the motivation to rectify and continue.
Do Not Lose Personal Assets
It is best to not start a business as a “sole proprietorship,” which risks your personal assets for the debts and liabilities of the business. It is favorable to start any new venture as,
S corporation
C corporation
Limited Liability Company (LLC)
Though many business owners mistake that they are completely safe from personal liability by filing a Certificate of Incorporation for a corporation. It is not true at all. The simple process of incorporating does not protect the owners completely. To decrease the chances of personal or shareholder liability, you should,
- Always use the corporate name
- Always stick to a proper signature
- Follow corporate formalities
- Keep corporate funds and funds of shareholders separate
- Corporate transactions should be separate from any individual transactions
Choose an Attractive Business Name
Finding the right name for your business can be a tedious job, but enjoyable at the same time. It is crucial that you find a good business name to avoid any kind of legal liabilities in the future.
Here are some tips that can help you to find the perfect name for your business:
- Try not to come up with confusing or hard-to-spell names
- Don’t pick a name that might be inflexible to your business growth
- Search the internet thoroughly for a proposed name
- Search in and out for any registered trademarks
- Make sure that the name motivates you and your employees
- Test the name among your employees, partners, shareholders, and if possible, with your potential customers
Build a Good Product & Launch As Soon As Possible
Constructing a great product starts by mapping your competition and its offerings. Then you design a product that is either better than theirs or different from theirs. Another important factor is customer feedback. Once you have finished designing the product, conduct customer-based research. This will give you a clear idea of your product’s capabilities and most importantly, its shortcomings. This way, you can concentrate on improving your product/services.
Also, keep a launch date in mind and work accordingly. It will help you to achieve greater results without taking too much time. Building a business is one thing and launching it to your customers is another. Taking too much time to launch can cause demotivation among employees thus, decreasing the overall excitement and efficiency.
Invest in a Great Website
In this digital era, your business can only be accessible to the mass through a good website. So, it would be best if you dedicate time and effort to building a website. Everyone, including your prospective customers, investors, partners, and shareholders are going to check out your website first.
Here are some useful tips that will help you in your website-building journey:
- Study your competitors’ websites
- Sketch your desired website template
- Choose 4-6 websites to show your website designer as a reference
- Make sure to build a site that is search engine optimized
- Also, your site needs to be mobile-responsive (the device most used by today’s consumers)
- Your site must have mentioned tabs and guided instructions.
- Keep it simple and fuss-free so that it loads quickly
- Post high-quality and original content, make it visually pleasing (this is what differs you from your competitors)
- Put extra time and effort into making your site user-friendly
If you have no substantial resources to build your dream website, then allocate it to someone who knows what they are doing, which can be an outsourced team or website design agency
At Your Flow, we pride ourselves on creating fabulous websites for our growing entrepreneurs. As a business owner, you already have loads of responsibilities on your shoulders. Designing your dream website is should not be one of them. Trust our highly experienced team to build the perfect website for your startup. Why think any longer? Call us today and start your entrepreneurial journey towards a successful business venture.