When it comes to starting a business, it is one of the best but also the scariest things you will ever do. As they say, nothing worth having comes easy, and running your own business could be one of the biggest and most rewarding parts of your life. Once you have made the decision to start up your own business, there are a few fundamental aspects you need to consider. It is a lot more complex than just having an idea and bringing it to fruition. If you are in the position of starting up a company, then we have put together some top tips that are some to help. Here are some things you need to think about when starting a business.
Where your money will come from
One of the most important things you need to consider when you are starting a business is where your money will come from. Will you make money from selling goods? Will you have a physical store or an online one? Perhaps you will sell advertising space, or maybe you will provide a service such as marketing or consulting to businesses or individuals. When it comes to taking payments, it’s important to consider what is high risk payment processing and find a way that will be best suited for you and your needs.
Your social media
Social media is another vital element to any business, particularly in today’s climate. Whether you are a marketing consultancy, cafe, cheese shop or photography business you need a social media presence. Social media comes in a host of forms, from Linkedin and Twitter to Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. You don’t need to be on all of them, instead you need to think about what would resonate best with your audience and the demographic that you are looking to target. Visual apps such as Instagram and TikTok work better for more fun and visual companies with a younger audience, while LinkedIn and Facebook are a lot more corporate.
Your website
A website is essentially your storefront and as such you want it to make a good impression. By having a website that is optimized for SEO, easy to use and navigate and attractive for users, you are much more likely to have a higher conversion rate than if you have one that is old and clunky. Make sure to run your site through tests with a host of different people, finding out their user journey and checking that it is simple enough to find their way around and get to where they want to be. You could run user surveys to help you get a good idea of what works and what doesn’t.
The start up costs that are involved
No matter how much you want to save, there will always be some sort of start-up costs involved with your business. This doesn’t need to be a lot depending on the type of business you are in, but it’s vital that you are prepared and can plan for them. Some of the costs that you might have to pay for, include your website building, website hosting, premises if you are having a physical store, and materials you might need. You’ll require a laptop and phone as well as things such as stationary and perhaps a printer or marketing materials.
How you will market your company
Marketing is another important element you want to consider and this is how you will spread the word about your company. Think about if you want to do it in-house or if you will hire someone to help you out. You could get a freelancer or look for a company. Types of marketing include getting flyers made and sent out, doing social media, and running campaigns. You will also need to get a solid SEO plan in order to have your business showing and able to be discovered on search engines.
These are just a few things that you need to consider when starting a business. Whether it takes you a lot of time to get off the ground or you hit it off straight away, try not to overthink it. Owning a business is something that takes a lot of time and effort and this will pay off eventually. Have a solid plan of how you will grow and work until you know you’ve put everything into it. Have you started your own business or is it something that you have been considering? If so, what are some tips you found that helped you along the way? Let us know in the comments below.