The Short-Version of a Startup Checklist

entrepreneurship startup checklist River Avenue Digital

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.

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).

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Sal
Graci

Digital Marketing Manager

Walkout Song: Piano Man – Billy Joel

Bio: Sal Graci is an experienced and enthusiastic marketing professional with a broad range of skills. He has more than 10 years of experience designing, developing, and implementing a variety of marketing campaigns and projects. Sal has a proven track record of helping companies grow and achieve their goals through his own agency and private companies.

Education: Sal graduated from St. Joseph’s University in 2004 with an M.Ed. in Instructional Technology. He specializes in search engine optimization, PPC, and the overall design and development of marketing strategies. He also has extensive experience with a variety of marketing automation tools like Hubspot, Active Campaign, and SendInBlue.

Community: Believing in staying active within the community, Sal performs musically for a variety of charity events including fundraisers for CHOP. He also donates and works with various food banks throughout the Philadelphia area.

In his free time… Sal enjoys playing with his band Good Night Graci and recording/writing music. He also has a love for sports and is a regular host on a bi-monthly podcast called Enough Said.