Yeah, sure it’s not difficult, and obviously, that title is a little tongue in cheek. It takes a lot of hard work to obtain a venture off the ground. But, it’s worth every hour I’ve spent getting to where I’m now.
When I chose to start my conversation and image consulting venture, I tried hard to find a fantastic startup guide. I couldn’t find any that had all the steps. So, I decided to write one. So far, it’s mostly just the bare-bones outline (that happens to be long enough as it is) you see in this article.
I’ll be adding to it every week or 2, and writing more detailed articles on all of the steps, so try to stop by and check it out every now and then. Allow me to know how I’m doing. Shoot off an email to me if I’ve forgotten something or you have questions.
When you spend so much as a dollar, converse to a few experts. Go to the library or get on the internet and research, research, research. Take a little time to make sure entrepreneurship is right for you.
Generate a pro and con list of enterprise ownership, and evaluate yourself honestly. The amount of characteristics do you have in common with profitable business men? Is your financial position strong enough? Do you have the essential technical and management skills?
You’re not going to be the perfect entrepreneur. Nobody is. But to be able to make yourself the best entrepreneur you can certainly be, look into ways to compensate for almost any weaknesses you might have.
I’m from Canada, so the government agencies I’ve mentioned in this guide are Canadian, but really, it could be used by anyone. All you have to do, if you’re from somewhere other than Canada, is discover where you need to find some of the things I’ll talk about. Some of the steps may be slightly different, and you may not have to worry about things like GST for example, but I’m sure you’ll find this discussion helpful all of the same.
These steps to starting a business are in reasonably good order, but you might find yourself varying from it under your particular circumstances. That really isn’t a big deal, as long as you get most of it done. You’ll find some steps you’ll be able to skip as well, but please really do not skip any of the “big ones”, which I’m sure you’ll pretty much figure out from taking a look at the list.
So, assuming you’ve done your evaluation and you still want to begin a business, take a deep breath, and let’s get started.
1. Conduct a feasibility study of your business. Describe your typical customer, your product and your competitors. Who will your suppliers be? What will you charge for your product? How will you market your product? These are only a few of the questions you need to answer.
2. Write a complete enterprise plan for your enterprise, using the information you gathered from your feasibility study. This vitally important, often overlooked phase must have to include a description of your company, its goals, competitors, market, financial information, and obviously, how you intend to meet your goals.
3. Get your financing in place. There are many ways to finance your enterprise, from your own savings to personal credit cards to lender loans. If you need credit, know your enterprise plan from front to back and maybe even sideways.
4. Decide what kind of structure your company will have. From a legal standpoint, you will find three fundamental choices, sole proprietorship, partnership and incorporation, each with advantages and disadvantages.
5. Choose a name for your enterprise and check on name availability. Naming your enterprise is highly individual, but it’s the first thing associated with your venture, so choose your name carefully. You’ll need to do a NUANS (Newly Upgraded Automated Name Search) report, which checks your name choices for uniqueness against a database of other business names. A reserved name is valid for 90 days.
6. Decide whether you want to register federally or provincially and register your company. In the event you register federally, you’ll also have to register provincially, which almost doubles the cost. You do not have to have a lawyer process them for you, but it may be a great thought to at least talk to one. You might get the forms from your local government office, have them faxed to you or download them. You could fax or email printed copies, or complete the forms internet
7. Contact Canada Revenue Agency Venture Window for your business number, and to register for GST/HST, payroll, corporate income tax and import/export (if applicable). You can certainly also contact the CRA should you need general information about enterprise expenses. Chances are you’ll have to collect GST, but you may want to register for a GST number even should you do not have to collect it because of input tax credits.
8. Decide whether you need to collect PST. Should you do, you must submit “Registration as a Vendor” documents with your province.
9. Determine whether one can find special permits or licenses in your municipality. It’s highly unlikely that your municipality doesn’t have special permits or licenses.
10. Develop the marketing materials you decided on in your venture plan. They should include at least a company identity package, press kit and internet site. Your identity package is your logo, enterprise card and letterhead. A press kit could include letters of introduction, biography sheets, press releases, articles and a brochure. In today’s electronic age, printed materials aren’t enough. You’ll need a site that looks professional, matches your printed material and has great copy. You’ll also want to make sure it’s optimized for search engines.
11. Set up your venture bank account and record-keeping system. Your banker will need to see your incorporation documents, and you should most likely put in place more than one account so you can keep track of your finances better. Record-keeping is required, and could be done manually or with a pc system.
12. Purchase insurance. There are actually a lot of different types of insurance, but most most likely your company will need at least one. As an example, if you’re going to have employees, you have to contact the Worker’s Pay plans Board. Depending on your type of venture, you might want to contact them even in the event you really don’t have employees to insure yourself.
13. Contact potential creditors and put in place credit terms. You should have researched suppliers whenever you were doing your feasibility study. Now is the time to contact them.
14. Decide where your enterprise am goin to be located. Lease your business’ space. Alternatively, you could choose to start your business from home if it’s feasible. You’ll find advantages and disadvantages to starting your venture from home. You have tax write-offs for example, but sometimes your image suffers.
15. Purchase supplies and office equipment. You’ll need too several things to list here, and of course, each enterprise has different needs. You might need a fax machine and printer. You’ll most likely need pc. You’ll absolutely need paper, pens, pencils and a calculator.
Congratulations! Go out, buy yourself a bottle of champagne and celebrate. You’re about to embark on a most exciting journey. And may I be the 1st to wish you good luck and prosperous times in your enterprise venture.
As promised, here’s my email address so you might ask questions, make comments or add steps to my list. Or, in the event you want, you could just drop me a line to ok, i’ll know how your small venture is doing. I’d really like to know.
The author is the founder of internet advertising company nyc and A NJ SEM services firm. For more on small businesses, visit the author’s blog.