We are lucky enough to live in an age where technology affords everyone the opportunity to start a business. It may seem like an impossible task, but it’s actually so easy it can be done while relaxing at home with your computer and favorite CBD edibles.
Making the transition to being self-employed is one of the most empowering feelings in the world. Why work 9 to 5 for someone else, when you could be making a lot more money doing it for yourself and pursuing something you’re passionate about.
While nothing in life is free, and the best things require both planning and execution, with a little effort you can be on your way to being your own boss and taking life into your own hands.
When you’re just getting started, things can get overwhelming. This simple list will provide you with 5 tips on how to get your start-up off the ground and headed in the right direction!
- Find The Perfect Name
Finding a name for your product or service may seem like the easiest part of the whole endeavor, but it’s actually quite difficult, and has a huge impact on your results moving forward. You want to find a name that describes what your business offers. The name needs to be short, catchy, and to the point.
The difficulty of your name is certainly something to consider. Is the name difficult to spell? Easy to remember? And is it available?
It’s a good idea to start with the “name game’. Have a meeting with your business partners and make a list of 20 words that describe what your company does. Next, try combining these words in different configurations, or even mashing two words together to create a single title that conveys both points. Spending sometime hashing out the name with your partners can turn into a time-consuming endeavor, but it is indeed time well spent.
- Research The Competition
Figuring out what you’re up against is a crucial part of developing a business. You might want to make this the very first step you take. You may have an absolutely brilliant idea that’s worth millions of dollars, but someone may have had the same idea a few years earlier.
Once upon a time, the batteries in my T.V remote were dead. I had the clever idea to spin them in the remote, wondering if the small charge from static-electricity would be enough to power the remote. It worked! In an instant, I was certain I’d be rich. I tried this on several remotes with dead batteries and found the results to be consistent. I immediately started drawing up prototypes for my invention.
After committing tens of hours to my design, I realized that I should probably do a web search to see if I was the only one designing a batteryless remote. It turns out that the remote had been successfully developed by a team of students at M.I.T just a few months earlier. It had already hit the market, and there was no way for me to compete. I could have saved myself 20+ hours of my life if I had just researched the competition.
- Trademarking
Once you have your business name, and you know you have a fighting chance in the saturated market, you need to protect yourself and your business.
Apply for your federal trademark earlier than later as it takes up to 6 months to process. The sooner your product is trademarked, the sooner your product can hit the market.
- Marketing
Marketing your business is what will make it grow. If you fail to market your services or products, no one will know about them, so it’s immensely important to develop your marketing strategy on the before launch.
Your budget for marketing will be small at first, but with careful planning, you can still reach a large number of people. Try placing paid ads on social-media platforms or paying for guest posts on sites you think your potential clients would frequent. You also need to be on top of developing SEO-rich content.
Finding writers and marketing firms to work with is easy, but making sure you’ve working with someone who shares your vision is crucial. Spend some time developing your marketing strategy and finding competent search engine optimizers. Your efforts will be rewarded with customer acquisition.
- When to Launch?
One of the hardest parts about starting a business is knowing when to launch. Your product or service needs to be dialed to the point where people will see it as a final product, even if you plan to make it better. Spend some time considering what your minimum viable product looks like, and don’t hit the market until you’ve reached your goal.
Starting a business can be scary, but if you follow these five simple steps, you’ll be on your way to success in no time!
