Beginner’s Guide On The Essential Prerequisites for Starting a Business
Introduction
Starting up a business requires lots of things to be ready before one can venture into the business proper. In a situation where you need a physical address where your customers can come and meet you for your goods and services, you will need to rent a house/shop/warehouse before you can start the business.
Before you get to the level of getting a shop for your business, you need to have a proposal for your business.
Before you start that business, if you don't have a detailed information about your intended business written down as a guide to your business, you will be likened to a man who wanted to test the depth of a sea but use his two legs. In such a scenario, the man will end up confirming the depth of the sea with his whole body hence killing himself in the process.
I remember when i wrote my first business proposal. After writing my business plan, i met a business plan specialist who condemned most part of my write up. This gave me the opportunity to go back, re-plan and rewrite the business plan and it was finally approved by the business plan specialist.
Essential Prerequisites for Starting a Business
1) Validate Your Business Idea
Your intended business is possibly in your head however; to finally start it, you need validate the business by making basic research about the business. If you know nothing about the business and there is no plan in place to hire someone that understands the business, then the probability of the business failing is very high. Ensure you gather all your facts about your intended business before you finally start it.
2) Define Your Target Market
You've possibly gathered the fact about the business and now business you can run the business. Your next plan will be to know your target market. Your target market are those people that you have in mind to buy from you. Assuming you want to start a stationery business, you need to be sure that there are students that stay around area. If your business is located close to people that does not actually need what you offer, then your business is almost dead-on arrival. Knowing your target market is an essential prerequisite for starting a business.
3) Conduction Market Research
You have defined your market and you probably have also gathered all you need to know about the business however; there is more you need to know about the business in the area your business is located.
Before you venture into the business in that area, you need to discover and then analyze your competitors. You need to know the strength of your competitors and be sure you are ready to compete with them. You need to know the technique and price range of your competitors on all goods so as to know how to handle the buyers.
If there are lots of competitors in that area, then something must be unique about you, maybe the way you will treat your customers, the promotions you will do or the price you will place all your goods and services. If what you intend to offer is exactly what your competitors offer, then your new business will suffer because your competitors have been in that area before you. Your goods and services or the way your offer them will make the difference for you.
Before you start your business in that area, you need to identify the demand and the gaps in the market. Leverage on the gaps in the market, fill-in the gaps and then stand out from the crowd. The gaps you fill will help you stand out from the crowd.
4) Create Your Business Plan
A business plan is like a document that details all about your intended business. Your business is all that your sponsor needs to see to be convinced that you are truly ready for the business hence, packaging it right and meeting the right people will help your business come to existence as quick as possible.
The details in a business plan are summarized as;
Location, financials, customers, competitors, short-term and long-term plan etc.
i) Location: The intended location of the business should be captured in the business plan. This is not compulsory however it's best if captured
ii) Financials: How you intend to fund the business should also be captured in the business plan. The capitals as well as other ways of funding the business should be captured in the business plan
iii) Customers: Who do you think are your prospective customers? You need to have that idea. Will they be market women, bankers, students, pastors or office workers? Having an idea of who your customers will be will help you plan better.
iv) Competitors: Sellers you think will be your competitors should be captured in the document. Even if you think you don't know the exact sellers that will be your competitors, there will be need for you to capture it in the document so that you know that someone will be there to compete with you.
v) Short-Term and Long-Term Plan: Your short-term and long-term plan about your business should be captured in your business plan. Short-term plans are the plans that you intend to achieve in the early stage of the business while long-term plans are the plans that you intend to execute at the later stage of your business. You need to capture all that in your business plan. That will serve as your guide as you start the business.
5) Register Your Business Name
After getting the plan ready, you will need to register your business name. Your business name is the name you want your business to be known with; example GHENTECH Driving School. Sometimes it is preferred to register your business name before writing your business plan. This is because you might finish writing the business plan and notice that the intended business name is not available for registration. That is just the major reason why you will need to register your business name first before writing your business plan/ business proposal. For your information, your prospective buyers might make some background checks on your business before they finally decide to patronize your business, hence the need to register and personalize your business name.
Depending on the location of your business, this stage of registering your business name is also the stage that you will get all the licenses and permits that your business needs to function without government interference.
6) Set Up Your Online Presence
This is the stage that you will create your business website and then create all the emails that you will need to run your business.
Business website helps you provision your staff on your website domain and provide them with an email bearing their name (e.g. Patrick@ghentech.com).
Website is a place where your customers can look up for more details about your business and with the information you provide on your website, they will be convinced.
Website helps grow your business faster and i recommend Bluehost. The web hosting provider is cheap; you can do it yourself and they have 24/7 customer support. You can check out the website and then decide if you want to create your website with them or not. When it comes to choosing a web hosting, the choice is fully yours to make.
If you are yet to start your business and you already have a business name in mind, there will be need to head over to Bluehost or any other web hosting website to be sure that the intended name is still available for use. It is advisable that your business name bear same name with your website.
After getting all the needed tools ready for your business (business name registration, business plan, social media handle, social media handle setup, business location and shop etc.), then be rest assured that your business is fully ready to operate.
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