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Things Required For Company
Things Required For Company
1. Do a self-inventory.
Not everyone has what it takes to start a company. That’s not to say that
your idea is not brilliant. It just means that you may not have the personality
traits to handle launching a company of your own.
Before investing any time or resources, evaluate yourself and see if you
have some the typical traits of an entrepreneur. Are you motivated, able to
adapt and confident? Are you resilient?
2. Develop an idea.
Don’t just start a business because something is in vogue and you think
commercializing it will make money. Develop a business concept that
you're passionate about related to something that you have experience
with. From there, come up with a product or service that you believe can
enhance the people’s lives.
9. Listen to investors.
Whether you like it, investors do have a say in your company. And you
need to listen to their advice or suggestion. But that doesn’t mean you have
to do what they tell you.
22. Be flexible.
Chances are that your original idea will have to be modified. Being able to
pivot and adapt to create what customers want will determine if your
business will fail or succeed.
In other words, what is the underlying reason a customer would do business with
your company?
Defining your vision is important. It will become the driving force of your business. Here are
questions that will help you clarify your vision:
Create a list of goals with a brief description of action items. If your business is a start up, you
will want to put more effort into your short-term goals. Often a new business concept must go
through a period of research and development before the outcome can be accurately predicted for
longer time frames.
Explain, as specifically as possible, what you want to achieve. Start with your personal goals.
Then list your business goals. Answer these questions:
It is not realistic to expect you can meet the needs of everyone, no business can. Choose your
target market carefully. Overlook this area, and I guarantee you will be disappointed with the
performance of your business. Get this right and you will be more than pleased with the results.
Needs: what unmet needs do your prospective customers have? How does your business meet
those needs? It is usually something the customer does not have or a need that is not currently
being met. Identify those unmet needs.
Wants: think of this as your customer’s desire or wish. It can also be a deficiency.
Problems: remember people buy things to solve a specific problem. What problems does your
product or service solve?
Perceptions: what are the negative and positive perceptions that customers have about you,
your profession and its products or services? Identify both the negative and positive
consequences. You will be able to use what you learn when you start marketing and promoting
your business.
You can learn a lot about your business and customers by looking at how your competitors do
business. Here are some questions to help you learn from your competition and focus on your
customer:
5) FINANCIAL MATTERS
How will you make money? What is your break-even point? How much profit potential does
your business have? Take the time to invest in preparing financial projections.
These projections should take into account the collection period for your accounts receivables
(outstanding customer accounts) as well as the payment terms for your suppliers. For example,
you may pay your bills in 30 days, but have to wait 45-60 days to get paid from your customers.
A cash flow projection will show you how much working capital you will need during those
“gaps” in your cash position.
1. Start up Investment
2. Assumptions
3. Running Monthly Overhead
4. Streamlined Sales Forecast
5. Cumulative Cash
6. Break-even
There are four steps to creating a marketing strategy for your business:
1. Identify All Target Markets: define WHO is your ideal customer or target market. Most
companies experience 80% of their business from 20% of their customers. It makes sense then
to direct your time and energy toward those customers who are most important.
2. Qualify the Best Target Markets: the purpose of this step is to further qualify and determine
which customer profile meets the best odds of success. The strategy is to position your business
at the same level as the majority of the buyers you are targeting. It is critical to figure out who
your best customers are and how to best position your company in the marketplace.
3. Identify Tools, Strategies and Methods: a market you cannot access is a market you cannot
serve. Marketing is the process of finding, communicating and educating your primary market
about your products and services. Choose a combination of tools and strategies, that when
combined, increase your odds of success.
4. Test Marketing Strategy and Tools: the assumptions we do not verify are typically the ones that
have the potential to create business problems. Take the time to test all business assumptions,
especially when you are making major expenditures.