Do you want to learn how to start your own business? You found the right place, I started my business when I was 18 years old and can give you some personal insight into how I started my own business. At that time, I was working with my old boss and I noticed I could be making much more by myself. I never really tried to start my own business until one day I noticed my time with the company wasn’t appreciated so I decided to leave. The next day, I came up with the business name LER Web Sevices because my mom had a business for sewing named “LER” after her name initials. Then I ordered a simple business card with my name on it with a simple logo. Later that week I drove to the closest business plaza and knocked door to door and offered my business card. I always had my iPad or laptop with me to show my portfolio. Eventually, I got my first client doing this and haven’t worked for anyone but myself and my clients since then. I did make mistakes just like everybody but learned how to avoid them. Today I’m going to share with you what I advise new clients to do when they are starting a new business.
1. What Value Can You Provide
You need to think about what you’re good at and enjoy doing. This is very important because starting a business can be very difficult, stressful, and demand very much from you such as investing all your time and money into it. So you need to make sure whatever you decide on selling, you have a passion for it and trust your vision. If not, you’ll be discouraged and feel like a failure.
2. Conduct Market Research
Now you need to conduct market research on your field and learn who your customers are and where they’re most active. This will help you discover the advantages you can have in your field. So for example, you are doing accounting/taxes right? So you will want to research how many accountants there are in your local area. Do they all have the same tone of just a professional accountant? Then maybe you can try something different that’ll help you create a distinct relationship between you and your customers. You can also see where most accountants are active on such as blogs and social networks. Do a lot of research on what your competitors are doing that you can implement into your business plan.
3. Choose Your Business Name
It’s not easy to pick the perfect name. I come across a lot of business name’s and not all of them are the best but maybe that’s just my opinion but I also know a thing about what’s appropriate for you business. Some people like to have their initials for their business and that’s ok but it’ll be more difficult for people to understand and you need to be ok with that. Ideally, you want a business name that translates what you do. You’ll want one that reflects your brand and captures your spirit. You’ll also want to make sure your business name isn’t already being used by someone else. For example, you have a Soda Tea, you wouldn’t want to name it “NGC Soda” because it doesn’t really translate the fact that it’s a tea. But something like “Cozy Soda” does translate what you do a lot better don’t you think? This is why it’s really important you don’t add initials to your business because it just doesn’t translate well. I did it for mine “LER Web Services” and it took me a while to come at peace with it but now, after a lot of work, a lot of people recognize my business name and can easily find it online. So, I’ll be sticking with it for now. Maybe in the further future, I will change it to something else.
4. Create Your Business Plan
Now you just need to have a business plan and business name, this will be your business structure and how you run, grow your new business. This will also show you how you should invest in your business that’ll help you grow and make life easier for you. At this time you can also come up with your mission statement and vision of your business. And finally, now that you have your business plan and every other detail you need to run your business, you’re ready to register your business with the state at https://dos.myflorida.com/sunbiz/start-business/efile/fl-llc/
5. Get a Business Location
Now that you finished registering your business to the state, you should probably look where you’re going to do business. Whether you’re setting up at a business office or launching an online store, the choices you make will affect your taxes, legal requirements, and revenue. From my experience, you don’t need to have the biggest office but you definitely need to have an appropriate space where you can meet and discuss your ideas with your clients comfortably. But not everyone can afford to rent an office or store, so most new businesses start from home and that’s completely ok. Depending on what you do, you can run your business from home and visit clients at their location or conference call.
6. Open a Business Bank Account
A small business checking account can help you handle legal, tax, and day-to-day issues. The good news is it’s easy to set one up if you have the right registrations and paperwork ready.
7. Take Care of Your Online Presence
Now you just need to set the tone for your brand and make sure you have the appropriate online presence to get new customers. Having your business online opens the door to advertising your services. So it’s really important you hire someone who has the experience and willing to go the extra mile to make sure you and your clients love your logo and website.
8. Start Advertising Online
Now you’re ready to start advertising online and get ready to see the money come in. If you completed all these steps carefully, advertising online should be a lot easier and see much better results. Remember when you’re advertising online your brand should come off as confident and reflect the right message of what your business is. The first impression your business has with your customer is very important so don’t skip on your brand’s logo and overall tone. Digital marketing will play a major role in how successful your business will become.
Finally, you did it! You started a business from scratch, did your research, came up with the right name, and got the best logo to advertise your business online. All you need to do now is grow and trust the process. Get ready to invest in your business and see bigger results. I’ve come across businesses that give up on their ideas because they don’t see the results they’re expecting and they’re within their right to do so. If my business wasn’t making money I wouldn’t be able to continue either. I also have many of my current clients that have listened to my advice, completely started from scratch because they had a bad business name, and are now making $30,000 a month with a simple $1,500 investment per month. Crazy right? That’s the power of confidence that’ll affect your results online. Good luck and hope to talk to you soon! If you have any questions or would like to write a blog post for us please contact us at [email protected]