How to Start a Business in 9 Simple Steps

It can seem like an intimidating endeavor to start a business from scratch, especially if you have never done it before. But when you take things slowly and stick to a tried-and-true method, success may come much more quickly.

Have you considered launching your own company? It’s not just you. Two out of every three American adults believe that entrepreneurship is a good career choice, according to Babson College data. As dislike for corporate America grows, more and more people are taking matters into their own hands and starting their own businesses. The younger generation only seems to be following this trend; a recent Nielsen survey revealed that more than half of those between the ages of 15 and 21 desire to launch their own business.

But as Johnston Community College notes, more than 90% of business owners have no formal training in the subject. Of course, starting a business requires more than just being book-smart, if you want your firm to succeed, you must have a plan. A step-by-step manual for launching your own business is provided below.

Step 1: Coming Up with Your Idea

Many entrepreneurs just take their current pastime and convert it into a side business before expanding it into a full-time profession. Some people find themselves starting over.

Simon Sinek underlines the necessity for business owners to comprehend the driving forces behind their enterprise in his best-selling book Start with Why. He writes, “People don’t buy what you do. “They accept your motivation. And your actions just serve to validate your beliefs.

Infographic demonstrating how the ideal business concept integrates your abilities and passions with what the market wants. It can take some pondering to discover your “why.” Want assistance getting going? Pick up some paper or a whiteboard. Draw a line through the center. Consider the needs of the world around you in one column. Concentrate on issues like For instance, there could not be enough of a specific kind of restaurant or construction contractor in your community. You have a chance to start a profitable business if you can meet these criteria.

Step 2: Validate Your Idea

Finding your company idea is one of the most crucial phases in beginning a business (if you need some inspiration, check out this list of business ideas). But it’s crucial to test your idea before you go out and produce your business cards. In essence, you want to determine if your business idea will be successful.

A man presenting his company concept to a group of peers who disapprove. It was a difficult conversation, but you will be pleased you had it before committing fully to your plan. You may not precisely have a sizable budget for market research, which is understandable. You can start by carrying out some basic research, such as Ideally, you’ll learn that your concept is not only workable but also satisfies the unique requirements of your target market.

Sometimes you’ll find that despite having a great idea, you’re up against fierce competition from other companies. If so, you’ll need to improve your business concept even more. What distinguishes your proposed business?

If your potential consumer base doesn’t show a lot of interest, don’t become disheartened. Go back to step 1 and take suggestions from others to focus on a particular need that your company can meet.

Step 3: Create a Business Plan

Do not omit this phase. You can keep focused on your unique business goals with the aid of a well-written business plan.

It can also be used to share information about your company with audiences outside of your company. You’ll probably be asked to show your business plan if you’re talking to possible investors or just seeking to get a small company loan.

Step 4: Build an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) or Service Offering

A prototype known as an MVP, or minimum viable product, is used to gauge how well your final good or service will please customers. Consider your MVP as a simple prototype intended to test how well the requirement you defined in the earlier steps is satisfied by your ultimate product or service.

Obviously, depending on the type of your firm, this will appear different. You should put focus on getting a product to market quickly. What essential attributes must my product or service have in order to appeal to my target market? You can always go back and adjust your first design, so ignore the specifics for the time being.

It’s time to deploy once your MVP has been created. Once more, it only needs to be “useful,” not “beautiful.” Take advice from your clients’ experiences. If you’re unsure about taking this step, you might want to look at some resources, such as Making an MVP is a thrilling stage since it enables you to observe how your business is developing. Additionally, it gives you an additional chance to learn about and improve your company before your actual launch.

Step 5: Legal Steps

You must abide by current business regulations in order to run your business. You’ll need to conduct some study to ascertain your precise demands because several of these standards differ from state to state.

Find Your State’s Requirements

You can find materials on the Small Business Administration website to help you ascertain your legal needs by state. Some of these needs will also be influenced by the legal form of your company. These standards are there to make sure you pay taxes as they should be paid and to comply with industry and safety regulations.

You must adhere to licensing and permit criteria if you run a business in particular sectors, such as the alcohol or gun industry. On the SBA website, which categorizes these standards by state and industry, you can discover further information.

Apply for an EIN/Federal Tax ID

It serves as a sort of Social Security number for your company and is also known as your federal tax identification number. One is free and available on the IRS website.

Do not wait. When requesting small company loans, an EIN is frequently needed, and if you choose to recruit staff, you’ll also need one.

Step 6: Financial and Accounting Steps

Even though it may seem difficult at first, taking these actions now will make things much easier for you in the future. Your daily operations will be impacted by the structure you select, which will also help you take on less risk when beginning your own company.

Separate Your Business and Personal Finances

Business founders frequently invest their own money in their enterprises, particularly in the beginning. However, combining your personal and corporate assets might be confusing during tax season and put your personal assets in danger if your firm collapses or faces legal action.

You should open a company bank account right away because of this overlap. When choosing a bank for your business account, there are many comparison websites like Nerdwallet or Bankrate that may help you reduce your selections.

For instance, while some banking institutions provide retailers with resources, others offer special solutions for eCommerce businesses. A local, brick-and-mortar bank may also be more convenient for some business owners, especially if they need to make frequent deposits, even though it is feasible to utilize an internet bank.

Choose Your Accounting System

Using accounting software to manage your own books. Engaging a bookkeeper or accountant. Giving your bookkeeping to a specialized accounting company. Each option has advantages and disadvantages. While managing your own records makes sense when your organization is just getting started, you can find that these administrative requirements prevent you from concentrating on expanding your enterprise. When compared to engaging a real bookkeeper or CPA, third-party companies can occasionally be less expensive.

Consider Finding Financing

You might think about getting a small business loan or a business line of credit to finance your company (LOC). While a loan can be helpful for initial costs, buying goods, and purchasing equipment, a line of credit is frequently appropriate for ongoing needs.

Your bank may already offer some choices, and it will probably be able to guide you through the SBA loan program’s requirements.

Step 7: Get Insured, if Necessary

Need business insurance, really? Your state can mandate you to carry business insurance if you have employees. Additionally, it’s customary for landlords to demand insurance from tenants renting retail space.

Similar to how some equipment producers might favor doing business with organizations that have insurance. Additionally, business insurance safeguards your assets in the case of a lawsuit, vandalism, or natural disaster.

The SBA website offers a summary of the benefits of each type of policy in more detail. The fundamental concern is whether your company faces enough risk to require insurance. It’s best to buy a policy when:

You’re appointing personnel
You run a store that customers frequent.
You work in a dangerous field (like construction) and rely on resources that are expensive to replenish.
Like any sort of insurance, you might find that having it and not needing it is preferable to needing it and not having it.

Step 8: Explore HR Needs

You might decide to recruit an extra pair of hands or even an entire crew, depending on your business. The SBA and the jobs website Indeed.com both offer some great resources for hiring personnel.

You probably won’t need to worry about the things listed here if you are just starting out as a one-person operation, but it’s important to have them on your radar in case your firm expands and you need to hire more staff.

Here are just a few items to take into account while managing your human resources (HR) requirements:

Benefits Offerings and Administration

Unless all of your employees are part-timers, you must offer some sort of benefits plan. This must include health insurance at least, but many businesses also provide retirement benefits and other financial perks to entice and retain top workers.

Legal Notices

Labor laws are always changing. Displaying legal notices in the workplace is one-way employers must maintain compliance.

On the Department of Labor website, you can learn more about these notices and posters. You will be responsible for keeping up with changes in legal and compliance matters that affect your employees as the business owner.

An SOP and SOG

Standard operating procedures (SOPs) and standard operating guidelines (SOGs) regarding employee conduct, job requirements, and workplace safety must also be developed by employers.

Options for HR

You have three basic options for managing HR, similar to your accounting requirements:

Self-managing HR
An HR manager being hired
HR firm outsourcing

It can be challenging to keep up with evolving regulations as your business expands, which may prompt you to outsource your requirements to a third party or hire your own HR manager.

Step 9: Finding Your First Customers

A woman is drafting her marketing plan on a whiteboard.
That old Kevin Costner film erred in saying that just because you build something doesn’t guarantee that people will buy it. While direct mailers to local residents can be beneficial for some industries, you’ll probably need to build a significant online presence to market your business successfully. Concentrate on the following

A User-Friendly Website

Create a cutting-edge, user-friendly website first. Ensure that it displays properly on both desktop computers and mobile devices.

Your website should include the fundamental details about your company, like its address and the services and goods it offers. While some e-commerce companies will use their website to increase sales, others may include contact forms to get in touch with potential customers.

You can connect with more individuals by setting up a profile or page on Facebook, Instagram, or another social network.

You can invest money and turn a certain post into an advertisement if you want it to get more attention, such as a grand opening announcement. You might assign these duties to a staff member who can handle your social media accounts as your company expands.

Email Marketing

Create an email database of your regular consumers. To increase their loyalty and advertise your company, you can send them more details, vouchers, and other exclusive incentives.

Bottom Line: Find Your Passions

It is true that this requires a lot of labor. However, there are few things more fulfilling than making a financial commitment to a cause you sincerely believe in. Therefore, your company enterprise provides you with benefits beyond just a wage. It provides you with the chance to impact the world in which you live.