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Business Steps 9 & 10
Business steps 9 & 10: This page addresses steps nine and ten of the ten steps needed to start your own business: 9. What is my transition and launch plan for the business?
Business steps STEP 9 Getting into your own business is generally not something you can do overnight or with a week’s notice. It usually takes at least a month or two to transition from your current job or school into your business. The safest way to transition is to make the transition over a six month period.
What do you DO during those six months? Creating a transition and launch plan guides you through those very critical months. A good plan will make sure you’re ready to open your business at the end of six months. Without a plan it’s likely to take you a year or maybe longer to open your business.
What’s should be included in your launch plan? A launch plan is a major milestone plan that keeps you on track for your opening. Generally it’s a spreadsheet that lists major business steps that MUST be done before you can begin producing revenue. Below is a brief plan that should help you put a plan together for your business. Let’s assume your starting a Computer Repair and Consulting Business called Security Squad and you like to serve your first customer six months from now: Business steps
Launch plan for Security Squad
Opening in six months
You’ve completed the business steps you can begin serving first customer!!
If you follow these business steps you should be open for business in six months. Also, if there something in your plan that you can’t get done in the allotted time frame, then you know what your obstacles are and you must begin to overcome them. Also, the plan shows how you could miss the six month window for opening. There is a lot to do to launch this business many business steps and if you don’t get going quickly your not likely to open any time soon. Now let’s say you decide that you can’t secure financing in such a short period of time. Then you need to update your business plan so that you don’t NEED financing to open. One way to update would be to launch your business on the internet rather than at a retail location. That would limit your investment significantly and you could start slowly working toward a retail location once you’ve generated some revenue. A launch plan should help you make all of those decisions so that you can launch your business relatively quickly.
Tip 8: If you’re short on cash try to start your business in such a way that you don’t need cash to start it. (Don’t assume banks will give you any before you’ve started) The internet offers FABULOUS opportunities to start small and build your business with your own cash generated by your business.
Business steps STEP 10 To quote a famous playwright: ‘What’s in a name…a rose by any other name would smell as sweet’. What’s in a name, PLENTY. If you choose a good name it will communicate what you want communicated instantly. A bad name will be hard to say and confusing. Let’s take an example close to my heart. When my husband and I launched our magazine it was called Indy Car Racing. You couldn’t tell if it was a newspaper, the sport in general or the name of a race track. We decided to change the name to Indy Car Racing Magazine. Wow much clearer, people actually knew what it was. Now move forward five years. The people who owned the Indy 500 decided they wanted to control the sport, so they created the Indy Racing League. The long established team owners’ organization, Championship Auto Racing Teams, resisted this move, asserting they didn’t need the Indy 500 to be successful. Because the Indianapolis Motor Speedway owned the name “Indy Car,” the owners renamed themselves “Champ Car.” The brand identity of the product changed. We were still trying to publish a magazine about both types of races, so we decided to change our name to Indy Car & Championship Racing Magazine. This name change destroyed our business. Both sides of the fight hated us and no one knew what we were. So PLEASE choose your name very carefully. Make sure it’s legal (no one else has copyright to it). Does it communicate what you want communicated? Above I choose the name Security Squad for the computer repair and consulting business. What does that communicate? It sounds like a business where someone comes to your home or business and fixes your computer…kind of like GEEK Squad. If you’re not planning on going your customer’s house don’t use Squad in the name. I know this sounds obvious, but many companies are VERY poorly named. What business structure should I use?
- Sole proprietorship Each is slightly different from the other and over time, as you grow, you can change your business structure. My preference is always to incorporate because it protects your personal assets (for the most part) and you’re not responsible for any debt assumed unless you sign for it personally. The difference between a ‘C’ corporation and an ‘S’ corporation is related to taxation. Usually smaller business are an ‘S’ corp and as you grow you’ll transition to a ‘C’ corp. I recommend that you work with your accountant to decide which structure is right for you as you’re starting. If the business has a lot of liability risk like the Security Squad does (going to people’s homes has very high liability risks) then you should incorporate immediately and get a good insurance agent.
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