Entrepreneurship is certainly not an easy task. It may look sparkly and shiny from far away, but it takes a lot of learning before you finally make it. Many of our clients are startups and there are several checkboxes that many entrepreneurs miss in our experience.
Support System
Before you officially begin your business, you need to create a picture of the entire process and find likeminded individuals who can provide a sounding board for you. When you work in a vacuum, you are bound to make mistakes. Your best decisions will come after you collaborate with those who have been in your position. There will be pressures and tensions that come with starting a new business and you’ll need a shoulder to cry on or someone to give you a needed high five!
Prepare a Business Plan
A business plan is extremely important for all kinds of businesses, especially for a startup business. It will help you stick to the plan or raise capital for your startup when you present the plan to potential investors if that is your goal.
Legal Forms of Business
There are three major legal forms of business:
- Sole proprietorship
- Partnership
- Corporations
You’ll want to consult a CPA and possibly even a lawyer to make sure you are positioning your company for scalability and not painting yourself into a corner.
Required Business Licenses, Special Insurance, and Permits
You need to be sure if your business will require any special permits. For example, if you’re providing a service for a client, you may need errors and omissions insurance (E&O). This is a type of professional liability insurance that protects companies and their workers or individuals against claims made by clients for inadequate work or negligent actions. Similarly, there are many other licenses and permits that may or may not apply to your business. You need to make sure that you acquire all of those.
AND all of that is before we even get to how to market your business (which is where we come in).