How to create a startup

Startups by their very nature are businesses that seek to disrupt the status quo by offering innovative products or services as opposed to businesses that operate under the premise of entrepreneurship and serving their local market. If you’ve had a lightbulb moment and you’ve thought of an idea that may disrupt the marketplace, then you’ll want to create a startup.

You can either use your talents and turn them into marketable skills that people will pay for, or start off small by taking on small projects before creating your startup. Either way, you have to first define the problem you’re planning on solving and figure out exactly how you’ll ease someone’s life.

To do this, there are several steps in the startup process that you need to be aware of. Let’s take a look. 

Choose your legal structure

Your business structure will determine your legal responsibilities, your tax obligations, potentially affect your sources of funding, and much more. You can choose from different structures, depending on your aims. For example, there are partnerships, private limited companies, public companies, etc. You will also need to decide on the name of your company and make sure it’s not been used by someone else.

You can do this at your local business centre. Then there are the legal documents you need to fill out. You’ll need an attorney’s help for this to get started off on the right foot. 

Market research 

Market research is going to be critical to getting started. This is where you’ll identify the product or service that’s in demand and provide an awesome solution for it. Scarcity is what makes it and if you’re offering something rare, your startup is likely to be more successful. However, keep in mind that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You can simply take what your competitors are doing and do it better.

To this end, examine their strategies, look at the market conditions, determine your business branding – this will entail your brand identity, character, personality, customer psychology, history of the brand, perceived value, etc. 

Create your business plan

A business plan is necessary for every entrepreneur. It’s an essential document that you create yourself with your business vision, mission and goals in mind. Keep in mind that most business plans have the same structure. You may also need to do a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis. In addition, you should view your business plan as a living document – one that’s bound to go through changes as your startup develops and grows. This means making adjustments to your projected revenue, your forecasts, analysis, and more. Make sure you also have time frames for when you’d like to have certain goals achieved by. This is a good way of helping you stay on track.

Also be sure to take your market research and incorporate it into your business plan.

Set up a budget

Your budget will also appear in your business plan and it’s going to be a great way of drawing in funding – whether from a financial institution or from an investor. The budget itself can be something quite simple in terms of visual presentation.

However, you’ll have to consider that you’ll need equipment, office supplies, inventory, factor in shipping costs, think about furniture, licenses and permits, leases, utility costs, insurance, legal and accounting fees, salaries, travel and transportation costs, entertainment, benefits, as well as advertising and marketing costs. 

Market your startup

To market your startup, create a customer avatar by defining who your ideal customer is. Then, you’ll want to make sure you’re available online by creating your website. Make sure it’s got catchy copy, it outlines the benefits of your product or service and tells people how you’ll resolve their pain points. You also need to use the logo you created earlier throughout your site for the sake of a consistent brand identity. Then, it’s time to get onto the social networks. It’s a must for all types of businesses which want to be found by their clients. Make sure your brand identity is clear and consistent throughout the various channels you make use of. You should also consider making videos of your product or service offering as video is also becoming a huge way to market yourself.

Finally, use the right keywords on your site to help you rank better in search engines. 

Once you get started…

When you launch your product or service to the world, your job has just begun. You need to make sure you stay in frequent contact with your customers to make sure they’re getting the value which you’re promising them. Show confidence in your offering and become a good listener as well as someone who asks a lot of questions. It’s also important to surround yourself with the right people – from lawyers, bankers and accountants and more. 

Conclusion

Coming up with a great startup idea is awesome but you need to take actionable steps to have your idea see the light of day. There’s a lot of hard work and preparation before you begin, and then it’s only just the beginning because your startup will keep you busy for months and even years ahead. Choose your business idea wisely and follow the steps above to help you with the startup adventure.