The five things you need to do before you start a business
At one of my monthly meet ups someone asks a multitude of questions. Which is great because frankly these free events are created for you to ask questions and I am happy to answer them. The question they asked inspired this post. Which I am calling “The five things you need to do before you start a business”.
Very simple and to the point I know but sometimes I like to just get straight to the point. Five things you need to do to start your business are:
1. Figure out your business name. Remember the story I told about my local cafe. They chose a name that was used for another local cafe. They had not done their due dillegence to ensure the name was not currently being in use. There are many services you can use. I prefer Legal Zoom as they made it very easy for me to legally set up my business. I always say in business we don’t know what we don’t know. Certain things we can learn and DIY, whereas others we should not. In my opinion anything legal should not be DIY.
2. Work with an accountant to determine your budget for this venture. Do not go into a business where you have no concrete plan but you are constantly funnelling money out but not seeing any money coming in.
3. Is your business idea an actual business or a hobby? A friend of mine found out in a very easy fashion. She was creating a conceirge service. She realized that while working fulltime she did not have the time nor the desire to do things that needed to be done. Like laundry or grocery shopping. Every day errands that she could not find the time to do and would pile up. She determined that she would gladly pay someone to do this for her and thought “Wouldn’t others pay for such a service”?
She then polled her friends and family a small questionaire in which she was pleasantly suprised with the outcome. Hence a business was born.
That is one of the ways in which you can determine whether your business is that an actual business or a hobby. There are many others, but frankly poling your friends and family are a fun way to start
4. Write your business plan. Now I am going to contradict myself as i am not a big believer in business plans. Conventional business plans. I will tell you a secret (don’t tell anyone lol).. A while ago when I started my business I belonged to a few entrepreneurial organizations/local groups. We were all like minded individuals and the one thing I noticed from a few of these ladies was that they loved to talk about what they were going to to. They were working on their business plan for a year (not kidding)! They were waiting for this and waiting for that before they could even think about going beyond the actual busines plan format.
They were in a bit of a business cul de sac. Constantly circling the same area over and over again but not getting anywhere. SO this is why I do not believe in a convential business plan. That said I wrote mine withing 72 hours. Createed with budget and revenue streams and opportunities. Granted this changes over time but it was my starting point. Everyone needs a starting point.
When you create your business plan just don’t get caught up in the business cul de sac that others do..
5. Find out who your competition is and figure out how you can be different than them? I hate a copy cat but I love an innovator. Look at what they are doing and create a clear line of division. I will use my favorite latte place as an example. Their drinks are superior to others in my neighborhood (starbucks included). Their snacks are all natural and gluetein free. They will only have water in paper cartons not plastic bottles. They have a brand message they rarely veer away from. They stick with local suppliers as they like to “support the community”. I like their ethics and their products. This keeps me coming back for more.
So get started on your business. Would love to hear how you got started. Also are you in our private facebook group? Well you should as I share free support with our tribe of like minded entrepreneurs.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/LBJCONSULTING/
Be on the look out for our Fashion School will be opening up soon. Those on my mailing list are privy to the discount so make sure that you are on the list!
by 
