The Barebones Guide to Starting a Business

Starting a new business takes drive, ambition, focus, determination, and a detailed plan. You land clients through marketing and forging mutually beneficial agreements with other businesses. Before you can create a collaborative agreement with another business though, you must set yours up. That requires a few essentials.

1. Table of Contents

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   Name Your Business Memorably

Coming up with a catchy name for your new business or your re-brand can seem tough. You need ideas but you probably don’t have any because if you did, you would not be reading this for ideas on how to come up with a catchy business name.

Many people create businesses that say they help you create a catchy name, but some of those businesses may fall well outside of your price range. If only business name ideas grew on trees, you could pluck off the one you need and brand or re-brand your business. Try using a business name generator to come up with ideas, then play off of those ideas.

2. Research Your Competition and Market

You might think that you came up with an original idea, but upon researching the market, you learn that numerous competitors exist. It happens often, even in the burgeoning blockchain technology field.

Delving into the market and its competitors means you deep-dive into what’s out there and write up the research as if writing a how-to article. That how-to becomes a major section in your marketing plan, one that includes a list of all of your competitors, big corporations, and sole proprietors.

3. Write your business plan.

When you create a business plan, you map out in detail how you will operate your company. This includes writing all of the procedures you will follow, even though when you begin the business, you may be the only employee.

A business plan shows banks and other financial institutions that you take your business operations seriously. It maps out your future and set goals, tasks, and milestones. You follow this plan exactly. Your business plan consists of the following sections:

• Executive summary,
• Company description,
• Products and/or services,
• Market analysis,
• Strategy and implementation,
• Organization and management team,
• Financial plan and projections.

4. Obtain funding for startup

You might bootstrap your business, putting it on your credit card or drawing from your savings account. For larger undertakings, you might need to apply for business loans or look for investment partners. Some businesses take on a silent partner who funds the operation without being involved at all. These individuals simply want to make money and feel that the person with the business idea has a good idea and a firm foundation for the business.

5. Getting to Work

Once you’ve made it to the point of step four, you can buy your equipment and get to work if you already have customers lined up. Otherwise, you need to create some marketing collateral with your business name and brand on it and start the process of landing clients and building formal business partnerships.