People who want to start a business need to come up with a workable plan. At some point, you’ll need to go from a more abstract concept to a concrete strategy. That’s if you want to get serious and get your idea off the ground. As you begin to shape your desired startup, you’ll need to think about what you’ll need versus what you can discard. You’ll probably need to partner with some individuals who share your vision and bring something useful to the table.
Let’s look at four of the things you should consider as you move closer to turning your startup idea into a reality. You might not need every one of these, but you’ll want to at least consider each one.
1. A Lawyer
When you’re starting a business, having a lawyer on your side is frequently a smart idea. They can advise you on many different things, such as setting up the proper tax documents.
You might consider having a lawyer on retainer, depending on how big of a project your startup is and what exactly your business model entails. Lawyers generally know things you don’t, including all kinds of tidbits that you can use to your advantage.
For instance, if you’re in a California vehicle accident, and there’s more than $1,000 in property damage, you must report that to the California DMV. Maybe the vehicle in question was one of your company’s trucks. You might not know to report what happened to the DMV if you didn’t have a lawyer watching out for you.
2. Funding
You’ll also need startup money. If you already have all the cash you need, you’re on stable footing. However, the reality is that when most individuals have a startup idea, they rarely have all the money sitting in the bank already.
Assuming you’re not independently wealthy, you’ll need to get the startup money some way. You might approach a credit union or a bank and talk to them about a business loan. If you’ve got a solid business plan and at least a decent credit history, you may be able to get the cash you require for the basics.
You might also talk to a venture capital firm. If they feel like your idea is strong enough, they might be willing to fund it.
There are also various other investors you might pursue. You might locate angel investors, or perhaps if you have a wealthy relative who’s looking to invest, they might loan you some of the money you need.
3. A Business Website
As you’re about to get your business off the ground, you’ll need to create a company website. It’s rare these days for any company not to have a website, regardless of what you do. People will want to find you online, and when they Google your company name, your website should be the first thing that appears in the search engine rankings.
You can hire a freelance web designer to create your business website. They will probably use either WordPress or Wix, the two most popular web design suites.
You might also hire a permanent web designer if you feel like your site will keep expanding. Maybe you’ll even need multiple websites if your company has several divisions.
Of course, if you hire a web designer who you have permanently on staff, they will probably want benefits like healthcare and perhaps a 401K plan or other perks. You’ll need to crunch the numbers and see if you think it’s worth it.
4. A Physical Space
Presumably, unless you have an all-digital business model, you will also need a physical space, or more than one. You might have a brick-and-mortar store people can visit. You could have a chain of them.
Alternatively, you might need a physical space, but just for production. Maybe that’s a warehouse space where your employees create and assemble your products. If that’s your business model, the warehouse might need assembly line components, packing areas, a loading dock, etc.
You can have your physical space where you make the products, and then you can send them to people via an eCommerce business model. If you choose this model, your website must be flawless. You’ll need it to be streamlined and intuitive, or else your products will never become popular.
You might also need vehicles to ship your products. You might require a marketing manager to handle your social media ad campaigns. As you’ll quickly find out, an entrepreneur’s work never ends.
