A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE ON HOW TO START A BUSINESS II

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Wherever your interests lie, there's almost certainly a way to turn it into a business.

> ### The journey to starting up a business isn't an easy one. To start up a business, you need time, effort and hard work. *** CONTENTS: 5 DEVELOP YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE. 6 MAKE IT OFFICIAL 7 BUILD YOUR TEAM 8 CHOOSE YOUR VENDORS 9 FIND A LOCATION 10 BRAND YOURSELF AND ADVERTISE 11 GROW YOUR BUSINESS *** ### DETAILED EXPLANATIONS *** ### 5 DEVELOP YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE. Whatever you’re going to produce, you need an expert, even if you’re one. At times what you’ve experienced another may not have experienced it, and what another may have experienced, you may not have experienced also, thus you need diverse views to create a balance. If you need to mass-produce an item, you will have to team up with a manufacturer. When you are ready to do product development and outsource some of the tasks make sure you:  °Retain control of your product and learn constantly. If you leave the development up to someone else or another firm without supervising, you might not get the thing you envisioned.  °Implement checks and balances to reduce your risk. If you only hire one freelance engineer, there’s a chance that no one will be able to check their work. If you go the freelance route, use multiple engineers so you don’t have to just take someone at their word.  °Hire specialists, not generalists. Get people who are awesome at the exact thing you want, not a jack-of-all-trades type.  °Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Make sure you don’t lose all of your progress if one freelancer leaves or if a contract falls through.  °Manage product development to save money. Rates can vary for engineers depending on their specialties, so make sure you’re not paying an overqualified engineer when you could get the same end result for a much lower price. *** *** ### 6 MAKE IT OFFICIAL Do well to acquire all of the legal aspects early enough. That way, you don't have to worry about someone taking your big idea, screwing you over in a partnership or suing you for something you never saw coming. ### A quick checklist of things to shore up might include: 1. Business structure 2. Business name 3. Register your business 4. Federal tax ID 5. State tax ID 6. Permits 7. License 8. Necessary bank account 9. Trademarks, copyrights or parents. *** *** ### 7 BUILD YOUR TEAM You need people to help you get started, except you're planning to be your only employee. According to Joe Zawadzki, CEO and founder of MediaMath, “entrepreneurs need to give the "people" element of their businesses the same attention they give their products.” "Your product is built by people," Zawadski said. "Identifying your founding team, understanding what gaps exist, and [determining] how and when you will address them should be top priority. Figuring out how the team will work together ... is equally important. Defining roles and responsibility, division of labor, how to give feedback, or how to work together when not everyone is in the same room will save you a lot of headaches down the line." *** *** ### 8 CHOOSE YOUR VENDORS Running a business can be overwhelming, and you're probably not going to be able to do it all alone. That's where third-party vendors come in. Companies in every industry from HR to business phone systems exist to partner with you and help you run your business better. When you're searching for B2B partners, you'll have to choose very carefully. These companies will have access to vital and potentially sensitive business data, so it's critical to find someone you can trust. *** *** ### 9 FIND A LOCATION Are you going to use an office or a store? Whichever of these, the following would be of help: ### °STYLE OF OPERATION Make sure your location is consistent with your particular style and image. ### °DEMOGRAPHICS Start by considering who your customers are. How important is their proximity to your location? If you're a retail store that relies on the local community, this is vital. For other business models, it might not be. ### °FOOT TRAFFIC If you need people to come into your store, make sure that store is easy to find. Remember: even the best retail areas have dead spots. ### °ACCESSIBILITY AND PARKING. Is your building accessible? Don't give customers a reason to go somewhere else because they don't know where to park. ### °COMPETITION. Sometimes having competitors nearby is a good thing. Other times, it's not. You've done the market research, so you know which is best for your business. ### °PROXIMITY TO OTHER BUSINESSES AND SERVICES. This is more than just about foot traffic. Look at how nearby businesses can enrich the quality of your business as a workplace, too. ### °IMAGE AND HISTORY OF THE SITE. What does this address state about your business? Have other businesses failed there? Does the location reflect the image you want to project? ### °ORDINANCES. Depending on your business, these could help or hinder you. For example, if you're starting a daycare center, ordinances that state no one can build a liquor store nearby might add a level of safety for you. Just make sure you're not the one trying to build the liquor store. ### °THE BUILDING’S INFRASTRUCTURE. Especially if you're looking at an older building or if you're starting an online business, make sure the space can support your high-tech needs. If you're getting serious about a building, you might want to hire an engineer to check out the state of the place to get an objective evaluation. ### °RENT, UTILITIES AND OTHER COSTS. Rent is the biggest facilities expense, but check out the utilities, as well, and whether they're included in the lease or not. You don't want to start out with one price and find out it's going to be more later. *** *** ### 10 BRAND YOURSELF AND ADVERTISE A business without an advertisement is like a body without the eye. Before you start selling your product or service, you need to build up your brand and get a following of people ready to jump when you open your literal or figurative doors for business. Create a logo that can help people easily identify your brand, and be consistent in using it across all of your platforms, including your all-important company website. Use social media to spread the word about your new business, perhaps as a promotional tool to offer coupons and discounts to followers once you launch. Be sure to also keep these digital assets up to date with relevant, interesting content about your business and industry. *** *** ### 11 GROW YOUR BUSINESS In order to grow, you need to collaborate with more established brands in your industry. Reach out to other companies or even influential bloggers and ask for some promotion in exchange for a free product sample or service. Partner with a charity organization and volunteer some of your time or products to get your name out there. This requires time, effort, hard work. > ### Wishing you a huge success! *** *** ### REFERENCES: 1. [Business news Daily](https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4686-how-to-start-a-business.html) 2. [Entrepreneur](https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/297899) *** *** Missed out on part one of this topic? No worries, read 👉 [Here](https://serey.io/met/@drstarry/a-step-by-step-guide-on-how-to-start-a-business) *** ***  designed by me *** ## Follow @drstarry for daily Business Tips ## Thanks for reading!  Credit to me