24 Sep Your New Business Checklist: Getting Started in Business
When you are getting started in business, there has to be some organisation. It’s a huge venture to be involved in, and it can be complicated. Lists can help you to stay as organised as possible, and when you start your new business, life can be made easy simply because you kept track of everything that you put into it.
There are certain things that you need to consider when you are starting out in your new business, and we’ve put together a comprehensive list of things that you need to add to your own list.
When you work your way down this list, you can guarantee that you have thought of everything that you need for your new business to be a success. Some of the things on the list you may not be able to get in place before your business launch date, but that’s not going to hold you back! Let’s take a look!
Get Started In Business
What’s In A Name?
There is no business out there without a name. It’s the hardest thing about starting a business as you want a name that will make you stand out from the crowd, but you also want to ensure that this name isn’t already taken when you go to register your business with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC). You also have to ensure that the business name you want is free in domain name form so that you can get online with your new name. It’s a personal decision, so play around with some names first and see what suits you.
Get On The ABN
When you’re opening a business in Australia, you need to have an ABN in place so that you can issue invoices. This is your Australian Business Number that identifies you as a business. You should have a financial team or legal team in place to be able to advise you on this, but this step should be the very first one that you make. The structure of your business is fundamental, but whether you go for a corporation or decide to be a sole trader, you need to consider that your ABN needs to be acquired. You can register through abr.gov.au and get started with your business. You can always change the business structure as you grow as a new company, but whatever you start out as must be registered.
Plan, Plan, Plan Some More!
Some people currently choose not to write a business plan, and this is a mistake. A business plan isn’t something you put in place for the benefit of the bank – though they will need to see it to get you the funding you want – but it’s something that you should be writing for you.
Your business plan is your map, your guide to show you where you want your business to be in the next two, five, ten years. It calculates everything that you need to consider for your business, from the rent and employees to places you could choose to invest in if things go well. When you’re feeling stuck about where your business is headed, your business plan helps you to move back on track and get in the game again.
Getting Registered Online
Domain name registration is surprisingly essential. Imagine if you registered your business name only to discover that your business name is already taken in website form. You should ensure that your domain name and hosting options are with the same place online so that you can have better domain management.
Where Are You Positioned?
How aware are you of your target audience? Every business needs to consider what they are offering their target audience, whether it’s a product or a service and what the motivations are behind it. How do you expect to deliver this? Positioning your brand alongside your competition is going to help you to know where you are in the business arena. When you have an idea of your positioning, you can understand more about your business.
Discovering Your Brand
Your business is going to come to life with your branding. You have a good chance to ensure that your logo is eye-catching, your colours stand out and you have the design elements that encapsulate who you are as a business. For this, you need an excellent design team to ensure that you are doing everything right. If you share your document on brand positioning with them and what you are looking to project to your intended audience, they can help you to come up with a branding strategy that makes sense for your business as a whole. They’re going to make you look good – pay attention to what they say!
Marketing Tactics Are Important
You have your name, you have your branding, and you have your business plan. Now you need to determine what you want to achieve with your marketing strategy. Without marketing, your business is dead, which is why careful attention needs to be paid to your marketing goals, your marketing budget, and the marketing avenues that you hope to conquer. Marketing is everything that your business will need to show who you are to the world, and you need to be careful about your strategy so that you get it right.
All About Your Website
Being online is vital in the business arena today, but it’s not just about having a website. You must determine your website hosting as well as your email hosting, and if you ensure you have everything with the same company, you’ll find it far easier to manage your website. You have options when it comes to your website, from building your own site to hiring a company to do it for you. Shared hosting can be cheaper than managed hosting but managed hosting is always better for your email and website as it’s targeted to what you need. Your website can be built for you with expert freelance help. There are options: now is the time to explore them!
Branded Documentation
You can still consider your paperwork even if your business is mostly online, and this includes branded documentation for your business. Business cards adorned with your colours and your brand, brochures about what you do and even email signatures in your specific font and colours all count. You should ensure that you have your presentation folders branded and your uniforms branded, too, if you need them. There is a long list of things that you can stamp your brand name onto, and you must decide what’s the most important to you so that you can get it right. Of course, you may not need everything branded upfront, so you can wait until you have a better cash flow before you get started.
Social Media Savvy
One of the most critical aspects of your business is your social media strategy. Almost everyone out there in the business world is on social media, and you don’t want to miss out on a slice of that social media pie. You should claim some business space on every social media platform out there so that you can get your business as far and wide as necessary to get noticed. Know where your target audience is, and pour your efforts into those social media platforms. You can engage your audience and appeal to them in a way that other businesses can’t. Once you engage your audience on social media, you’re going to have a better time of outreach and encouraging traffic to your website.
Creating New Content
Once you have your social media strategy in place, you need to think about the content that you plan to put out there. Are you blogging? Vlogging? Are you strapping a GoPro to your head for a day in the life of your business? Either way, your content needs to be engaging, entertaining, sharp, and gives your audience something to look forward to devouring. With the right content strategy, your audience is going to keep sharing your content, which is going to continue to improve your customer rates and how widespread your business name becomes. Your content is critical to your business success, but you don’t have to be a content genius to get it right. You just need to know where to find one!
Hire An Accountant
You are a genius in your field, but that doesn’t mean that you know how to keep your books straight. The best thing that you can do for your business is to identify where you need to pay attention and do so; even if that means hiring an accountant to manage your financial strategy instead of doing it yourself. When you are paying employees, yourself, budgeting for expenses and ensuring that you are keeping up with invoicing, you need someone else to oversee this so that you can concentrate on other business activities. An accountant can do this for you and ensure you’re not behind on taxes and lodgements that you should be making.
Time For Launch
Lastly, and most importantly, it’s time to launch your business onto the world. You are ready now, and you just need to decide how you are going to do it. Press releases, events, and parties with industry experts on the invite list are always a good idea. You can network to the locals, and get your name into the community, put your name on a charity event and show your philanthropy. No matter what you do, you need to give people a reason to get interested in your business. This way, your launch will be a roaring success, and you get the best possible start for your business.
