June 21, 2019
Dreaming of starting a business? Follow these 5 action steps
Are you dreaming of quitting the corporate world and starting your own business? Yes, girl, yes! Here at Azalea we support other ambitious go-getters and are here cheering you on!
However, we know how overwhelming it can be building a business startup. There are soooo many things to do and you don’t want a client to book one of your services to find that you have forgotten a very important step! Luckily for you, I am an organisation nerd and have listed these 5 actionable steps and left a few helpful links to help you turn your business dreams into a reality!
1) Planning & Research
The most important first step and my BIGGEST tip is simply visiting gov.uk and reading everything you can about business startups and self employment. Know exactly what you are looking to get into before you dive in head first! Before you become a business owner learn about the different types of businesses and which is best for you. Find out how to register, how to pay taxes, your responsibilities and VAT. Brush up on your knowledge about the legalities of owning a business to see if this is the right path for you.
Once you are up to scratch, write a business plan. If you are needing a loan to be able to set up your business, this is a mandatory requirement. I recommend doing some further research into this. However, if you don’t need a loan, I still suggest writing a business plan – it doesn’t need to be or look professional. This is just for you!
One of the best things I did for my business was to take the time and answer the following questions:
- What is the main purpose of my business?
- Who am I trying to help?
- How do I help them?
- How is this different from other business in the industry?
We have a free workbook that’s perfect for planning your business & answering these questions. Click below to download.
2) Admin & Finance
Now it’s time to set up an email address for your business. I recommend getting a G Suite account and getting an email address like name@mybiz.com. Alternatively, you can set up a simple hotmail or gmail account.
Decide how you will set up your finances. Will you open a business bank account or PayPal or Stripe account? Figure out how you will get paid and read through all of the small print.
Find the best way you will keep all your finances together. Will you make your own spreadsheets or maybe use a software for all of your invoicing and expenses keeping. I recommend this free software which you can do all of the things – WaveApps
Now is also a good time to set up your social media accounts, even if you won’t use them now it’s good to hold the name.
3) Design
This is where things get a bit more exciting and your business vision finally starts to become a reality!
The first part of the design process is deciding if you are ready to invest in a graphic designer to help you with this. Obviously, being a designer myself, I would highly recommend this to any startup business.
BRANDING
I personally believe that branding is one of the most important design aspects of your entire business. It is so important to get it right and for it to be a true representation of your mission & values. These are the elements you should have:
- Main Logo
- 1 circular logo, 1 alternative logo & 1 favicon (image in web browser)
- Colour palette
- Font combination
- Imagery
- Patterns / textures
- Brand board guideline (document with all of these elements)
WEBSITE
Then next, is the website. The most crucial step of this is choosing your website platform carefully. There are so many out there and it simply depends on your requirements and price range. Maybe talk with a web designer if you are unsure.
Write your website content and plan your pages before you start designing your website.
Collect non-copyright images or take high quality images yourself for a professional looking website. It will make the whole site look amazing!
Don’t forget the SEO! This is essential for your ideal clients to be able to find you online.
Sign up for Google Analytics and add it to your site. This will help you keep track of how many people are visiting your website and how you can improve the user experience.
Before your site goes live, I know you’ll be very excited to launch it as soon as you can, proof read everything & test all of the buttons and forms work. Maybe ask a friend or family member to also check for you, it helps having a fresh pair of eyes.
COLLATERAL
Will you be needing any marketing materials designed for your new business startup? Seeing as you’re in the designing process, it’s handy to get all of this done at once – especially if you are hiring a designer. Marketing Collateral is:
- Business Cards
- Letterheads
- Complimentary Slips
- Email Signature
- Leaflet
- Social media ads
- Social media graphics
4) Social Media & Marketing
Now that your business is almost set up, it’s time to start planning your marketing strategy. How will you get in front of your ideal client and book them? The online world is a huge space, there are a lot of people who want to book your services, it’s just about them finding you.
Which social media platforms will you use? Remember, you don’t have to use all the platforms. Think which ones you enjoy using and which is best suited for your business & where your ideal clients spend their time.
A great free tool which I feel most businesses aren’t using is Google My Business. I have written a post about how to optimise your Google listing here.
An effective way of converting your audience into paying customers is through email marketing. So of course, you should choose which email marketing software you want to set up. At Azalea we use MailChimp, but there is also CovertKit and many more.
I would suggest joining Facebook groups as this is a great way of joining a community of other business startup and also a way of getting in front of those potential clients.
The last thing to do is to start creating content and posting in on your platforms to try and gain a following.
5) Running your business
Through the daily running of your business, it can be helpful to use the following tools & software:
- Calendar like Google Calendar
- Project Management like Asana or Trello
- A planner like Azalea’s productivity planner
- Meeting Scheduler like Calendly
- Video & Phone Calls like Zoom or Skype
- Instagram planning app like Planoly
I have also covered this in more detail in this blog post: How to stay organised & boost productivity as a business owner
I hope after reading this, you now feel ready to take on the business world and make your mark! I’d love it if you left a comment or messaged me telling me all about your new business journey!
But before you go, I have a free business startup checklist to help you build your business. Click below or visit our Freebie Library to grab yours!
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