Find a Good Co-Founder
Nobody can make it alone, particularly not in the business world. Not having a co-founder can dangerously limit your vision, work output, and resources. Find someone who genuinely understands your vision, is equally driven and passionate about the problem you are trying to solve and has the technical expertise and skills to contribute. A good co-founder may be a family member, relative, or coworker, but don’t just limit your search within your circle of people. Extend to outsiders, like people you find on social media or meet at seminars.
Understand Your Market
Simply identifying the industry you operate in is not enough to compete at a high level. You need to dig deeper and identify who your competitors are and what they’re doing, who your ideal customer is and what their budget and shopping patterns are, etc. When you understand your market, you can devise effective marketing campaigns that they can relate to and that convert leads into paying customers.
Setup a POS System
A point of sale system is imperative to closing a sale. Without it, you don’t have any systematic and symbolic way of finalizing a transaction with your customers. A point of sale system basically pertains to the time and place where your customer finalizes the purchase of a product or service. It is often associated with cash registers but can encompass a broader set of technologies and tools. Before you start selling, make sure you have the best point of sale hardware for your business to actually make a sale.
Establish a Base
Whether you start out in your parent’s garage or in a prime city location, you need to establish an office or headquarters if you want to officially open your business. Tech startups usually have more leeway when it comes to where they get their work done while traditional brick and mortars, and businesses that sell hardware, need to find enough space to build a production facility or to serve as a storefront that accommodates customers.
Legalize Your Business
If your business isn’t legally recognized by authorities and institutions, it will get shut down fast, not to mention it will have a bad effect on your brand name as customers see you as a shady business. Pick a business structure that is most appropriate to your current business model. The structure you pick will influence how much you pay in taxes as well as the liabilities your business takes on. Next, register it with the corporation’s department of the state where your company is headquartered in.
Opening a business isn’t as difficult as it seems if you start out the right way. Use the five steps above to give yourself a good head start.
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