Guest post by Scarlet Zion
You may have watched or read how a startup is now worth multimillion, if not multibillion dollars. While this may seem surreal, you can also make it as long as you have a good foundation when starting your business. That’s why instead of jumping on every opportunity that you think is a good idea, it’s best to know how to launch your startup.
Below are some of the steps you must consider to have a good foundation:
1. Choose The Right Legal Structure
After having a business plan, you have to decide your business entity or legal structure. This is vital before registering your company as your personal liability and filing of taxes depend on it. The legal structure will also determine how you should conduct your daily operations.
With such, here are the legal structures you may want to consider:
- Limited Liability Company (LLC)
This is a typical structure for startups wherein you can enjoy the tax benefits like in a partnership. Here, you’re obliged to have employers liability insurance even if you only have one staff member. Without having this insurance, you may be fined for each day you’re uninsured. In addition, you also get the legal protection of a corporation.
- Corporation
This structure allows you to separate your business from your personal liability. This means you can’t use your personal assets to cover your company’s liabilities.
- Partnership
Here, two or more individuals are liable for the company since it’s a business partnership. As its name implies, you don’t have to become responsible on your own because you have partners to lean on.
- Sole Proprietorship
Unlike a partnership, this structure lets you bear responsibilities independently. You’re liable for all of such in a sole proprietorship, from taxes to debts. Moreover, it also means your personal assets or credits could be affected.
2. Abide By The Legal Steps
If you’ve decided on your legal structure, you should also take the legal steps for your business. You don’t simply enter the market and offer your products or services, but you still have to meet legal requirements. Without doing these legal steps, you may find yourself in trouble in the future. You may end up paying fines, or worse, being sued for failure to comply with a legal requirement.
With such, below are the legal steps you have to comply with:
- Acquire a business license
- Register your company
- File for a federal tax ID number
- Apply for a trademark
- Create contracts for people you plan to work with such as your partners and clients
- Understand the rules and regulations in your industry
- Have a separate business bank account
3. Build A Website
While it’s essential to have a physical address, you mustn’t forget to have a website for your business, too. Nowadays, people use the internet to scour the products or services they need. Thus, your startup could attract more clients if you’re searchable online.
This means you must have online visibility where potential clients can check what your business is all about. You can tell them about your company, your products, and why people should do business with you with a website. Here, you can also strategize your marketing efforts automatically.
For instance, you can devise a marketing funnel through the content on your web pages. Start by giving valuable information to your potential target. Then, use such content to guide them to become paying customers. All of which is possible when you have a website.
Conduct Market Research Regularly
After laying down all your products or services in the market, you still need to conduct market research regularly. You need to be updated on who wants to buy your services or products. Here, you also need to know about your competitors. You can better plan your value proposition and address your opportunity by knowing this information.
You can do market research by doing the following:
- Be updated about your industry trends by reading relevant magazines and news sites.
- Research about your clients and competitors through Google searches.
- Learn from experts and professionals from your industry.
- Attend seminars or forums related to your industry.
Conclusion
Building your startup the right way is one of the keys to making it successful. If you know the steps and do the procedures right, you can reduce the chances of facing difficulties by abiding and having informed decisions. Moreover, the things above may also help your business become more resilient and functional. Consider the ideas mentioned here as you plan and prepare for your endeavor.
