How to Start a Business: 8-Step Roadmap to Domination

How to Start a Business Step Three: Realise

Brand identity can be a very important part of business success. Make sure to invest the time in defining and building your brand prior to starting a small business. Confused branding, or rebranding, can be costly and have a negative impact on customer experience. Social media has become increasingly useful for building early interest, and social media for business is all about branding.

Realise your business during step three and you’ll avoid issues that your competition may struggle to action later on. Realisation of brand will also support your success of step four, strategy, which involves securing financing and other resources. A strong and engaged brand is likely to secure a better response than a small business that still appears unformed and half-baked. Great branding provides motivation to investors. Strategies to form a coherent brand early in your business setup include:

• Decide on a Business Name — Even if you are a sole trader, it’s a good idea to give yourself a branded business name to make it easier for potential customers to remember, then build the branding around it. Step one in realising your company is naming it.

 

• Design a Business Logo — Key to making a business recognisable is a great logo. It’s recommended to invest in a professional designer when it comes to logo production. It’s worth the price to get it right the first time.

 

• Create a Colour Scheme — Carefully selected colour schemes can not only make your business instantly memorable (such as the Cadbury purple), but it also helps give users a sense of what your business is about. Certain colours are prevalent in certain industries. Such as greens in healthcare and wellness, and blue in social enterprises.

 

• Decide on Voice & Culture — You’ll find it easier to connect and engage with customers if you create a company culture and brand voice they identify with and appreciate. Think about how you want customers to view the business and all that form the foundations of its identity. This primarily involves how you treat customers & employees, as well as language used in internal and external communications.

 

• Build a Business Website — For many, early experiences of your business will be through a company website and it’s web design — especially if they decide to Google it. It’s one of the most valuable assets. Ensure you build a quality website and that it does everything it needs to do. To ensure you meet standards, it’s a good idea to evaluate potential competitors to see what their websites are like. Failure to build a website can really impact your capacity to succeed in your market, and failure to build a good website can be just as damaging.

 

• Establish Branded Social Media — Social media provides small businesses with the ability to engage with customers and develop their branding quickly within relatively large circles. Customers also expect all businesses to have social platforms. Setup your social media accounts to secure brand authority. As with websites, look at what competitors are doing. If they’re avoiding Facebook and YouTube in favour of Instagram and Twitter, focus on these formats. Each social network platform has a different audience and set of features — use the ones that play to your strengths.

 

• Print Business Cards — It might seem like one of those old fashioned methods of branding, but business cards are highly beneficial even for the most complex and modern operations. A card with contact information and your business name makes it very easy for people and customers that you meet in public to get in touch with you. Simply telling them your business name, your name, or giving them a number, risks them losing other vital information or forgetting it entirely. Business cards remain a great way of advertising your business and securing new streams of revenue.

How to Start a Business Step Four: Strategise

The business strategy phase is essentially about implementing the first stages of your business plan.

The idea is to establish a foothold by preparing actions and resources so you can hit the ground running.

In the strategy phase, you don’t necessarily make any deals or arrangements, but instead source them for future investment when the time comes to start your small business.

What does this include?

• Source a Business Premise — Decide on business location, and start looking for potential workspaces.

 

• Source Marketing Channels — In your marketing plan, you should have decided how you will advertise your new business to potential customers. Now is the time to locate your marketing channels and prepare them for launch. You want to reach as many people as possible early on to get the word out about your new product or service. There is no specific ‘best’ marketing channel or marketing strategy for new small business owners, only that which is suitable for your type of business, products and services, target audience.

 

• Secure Funding — Whether you are seeking early angel investors, crowdfunding platforms, or your start-up costs are funded by a small business loan or personal credit cards, now is the time to secure the money. You’ll also want to look into a business bank account and which business accounts can provide the best money management conditions and services. Even if you’re launching without much money, new business owners should at least secure whatever financial support they have included in their plan.

 

• Source Suppliers and Resources — If you need to source materials, equipment, supportive services, resources or anything else for your product or service from other businesses, begin the process of deciding who will provide these offerings, and possibly make preliminary agreements with them or begin contract negotiation. You may wish to do research and get quotes for their business rates, or build partnerships. You don’t have to make deals or purchase supplies just yet, but in order to be ready to launch your product later, research can form a basis from which to quickly move forward from.

 

• Consider Logistics — This does not apply to all businesses, but some small companies may have to transport goods to clients, import items, or move about themselves. Form a business strategy for how you’ll achieve this.

How to Start a Business Step Five: Support

Stable small business infrastructure often relies on support from third-parties.

Your business will have a variety of tasks to complete that are made much easier through outsourcing or incorporating technology — technology that is designed to streamline both day-to-day tasks and actions specific to your industry.

Supportive resources to consider implementing for your small business include:

• Accountancy Software — Almost all businesses must pay tax. Tax obligations are not optional for a limited liability company. Accountancy software can make the management of taxes much easier. It’s also a great tool for managing other financials, including budgets, expenses, invoices, pay and more. This software lets you report back on finances and gives you better control over accounting. Out of all the extras you might consider under support, make sure accountancy software is a priority. You can often connect this software to the business bank account and payment methods to simplify financial management further.

 

• Communication Tools — Good communication makes a massive difference to success and failure. Both internal and external communication structures play a massive role in securing a sustainable future for your company. If you have multiple employees (especially if you have remote workers and operate home business yourself) look at developing internal communication channels through a combination of systems. Solutions like Slack, Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams, Skype, and other software can help communications within your small business be free-flowing. As for external communication, you want to make sure that clients and customers can always reach you. Systems like automated phone handling, virtual receptionists, chatbots, call-forwarding software and live chat solutions can all dramatically improve customer experience and boost availability, or an insurance company using software to automate acquisition of insurance claim information.

 

• Industry-Specific Solutions — Depending on your small business circumstances, there may be some very specific solution that helps you operate effectively and compete with rival companies. If others in your sector are using a specific solution, you also need that solution. An example would be a marketing company using software to track lead generation.

 

• Task Management Tools — When starting a small business, you’ll find your plate becomes very full, very quickly. From having to find information on target customers to managing business bank accounts, business debts and payments — as a business owner, your list tasks during the start-up process can start to pile up. Instead of keeping a to-do list in your head, task management tools like Teamwork, Monday or Trello can help stay on top of work, avoid mistakes, manage deadlines, and ensure you never forget an important task. These tools are great for work-life balance, as they allow you to plan your time better. They can also be utilised to support employees perform their tasks as well, and you can often track their progress.

How to Start a Business Step Six: Launch

Once all business structures are in place, it’s time to make things official.

Starting your business means registering the business and getting things off the ground. If you’re starting a limited company, you need to register a company name with Companies House. Once you register your business, you’re officially a limited liability company capable of trading.

If you are starting a freelancer/sole-trader/partnership enterprise, you’ll need to register for self assessment tax with HMRC. You don’t need a business name to register your business if you aren’t becoming a limited liability company. Instead, you register under your own name.

Both of these form the legal foundations of being allowed to operate a business in the UK.

How to Start a Business Step Seven: Ground

So far, we’ve been looking for creating strategies, plans and support structures that enable small businesses to survive and thrive. Now you’re officially a business after step six, so it’s time to stop thinking and start doing. You must ground your business in the foundation structures that make it functional. It’s not a waiting game anymore, it’s time for action.

• Acquire Insurance and Legal Advice — Taking care of the legal side of business is important. It’s essential you protect yourself from liabilities and that you don’t come in breach of laws like data protection, consumer privacy, or copyright and trademark rules. If finances permit, it is recommended you seek legal aid to shore up protection methods for your small business. If not, then reaching out to legal communities on social networks and online forums, or those in your personal network with legal knowledge, can be effective solutions. Insurance for a number of different elements of business cover should also be considered, including business insurance, liability insurance, and property insurance.

 

• Register for Trade Associations — Depending on your industry, you may find that there are governing bodies, trade associations, unions, or guilds that you can join. Being part of these communities can not only provide additional support and protection from problems, but also help you build your small business network — especially when starting a small business in an unknown sector.

 

• Get Licensing, Permits and Certification — Again, depending on industry, there may be certain government licenses, permits or approvals required before you can start your small business properly. Food providers need authorisation for hygiene standards, for example, while those selling alcohol need a license to do so, and healthcare firms may need approvals from certain organisations. Not every small business requires certification, but you may do, which means now is the time to secure necessary responsibilities. You may also need to consider health and safety rules, permits for property and buildings to engage in certain work activities.

 

• Hire Employees — Not every small business needs employees, but for some, they are the lifeblood of the organisation. Thanks to staff members, your dreams can become reality. You can’t have employees without hiring, however. Once you’ve become established, start to fill positions as early as possible. People are a valuable resource. Finding good quality talent with the skills, passion, and qualifications to suit your needs and secure profits is unlikely to be easy. Even if the hire isn’t essential immediately, it’s best to start looking now to find the perfect fit. From sourcing sales personnel to IT managers, the pros of building your team early almost always outweigh the cons.

 

• Acquire Your Suppliers and Resources — It is rare that a small business can run without using resources and suppliers acquired from other businesses. In our business plan step, we looked at identifying what resources your small business will need. Then, in the strategy step, we outlined making a plan to locate the best providers of the goods and services you need. Now it’s time to execute this foresight to fulfil your dream of starting a business and make deals and agreements for the supplies and resources you require.

 

• Make Your Tax Arrangements — Money management is not optional for small businesses. Like lawyer paperwork, your property energy bill, and those pages of admin you’d rather not deal with, tax is just unavoidable. The best thing to do (and something many small businesses owners rarely do) is take tax head-on, and deal with it early. If you have the money available, then it may be worth paying for an accountant to help you — especially if you are a larger SME. If hiring accountants is not an expense you can afford, or you feel the help from a firm is unnecessary, make sure you invest time in registering for appropriate tax, understanding your obligations, and making plans to ensure payment. If you follow one of our tips above and acquire accountancy software, this area of business management can be made a lot easier.

How to Start a Business Step Eight: Earn

You’ve now finished the process of starting a small business, and opened your doors. The final step is to earn. Utilise everything you’ve set up along the road to establishing as an SME to start making yourself money.

Remember that earning is not a straight line from now on.

Your development stage does not end here. It will continue every day until the day your business is no more. Your small business should be in a constant state of learning and growing. The business plan you built can be adapted and improved — changed to make things better. Always listen to customer feedback and your management team, looking for ways to better secure your market position. The strategies you have can be revisited, to perform better. The same can be said for things like supplies, resources, third-party providers and finance options.

This article is meant to be a guide to starting a small business, but it can also be used to evaluate a struggling business, or a business that needs a new lease of life. Don’t make the common error of assuming that once you’re set up and earning, you’ll be earning forever. Business work is tough, but if you put in the effort and keeping moving forward, it can be incredibly rewarding.

Mint Formations are experts in supporting the development of SMEs. From helping you start your small business by registering your limited company to setting up elements with greater complexity, like transferring shareholders or VAT registration for your VAT tax return, we’re here to help! Need an office address? Want to register trademarks? Looking to add a new shareholder to your business? Do you have a small business legal responsibility that needs addressing? Mint Formations can do all this and more! Contact us today!