If you’re thinking of starting your own business, you’ve got a lot of work ahead of you. That being said, getting to set your own hours, determine your vision for your business and work for yourself can be major benefits that come with starting your own company. However, before you head to the Small Business Association’s website to apply for an SBA loan, you’ll want to make sure that you have a business plan together.
Your business plan isn’t just a road map for your first few months launching your company. It’s also a document that can appeal to potential investors and help you open your business with the peace of mind you need to launch. Here are three crucial things to figure out before you start your business.
1. How will you keep your business secure?
If you’re buying a property to run your business out of, you might want to think about how to keep your company secure. Recent protests have rightfully raised business owners’ concerns regarding property damage and looting. As such, it’s vital that you have a security system in place to protect your company’s interests, and advances in video security make a surveillance system particularly worthwhile.
At the same time, depending on the nature of your business, tracking who’s coming and going from your building is another powerful reason to use video surveillance. Access control tools are also likely to become more popular as contact-tracing and limits to how many employees you can have in your office at the time become more common due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thankfully, Verkada, a renowned technology company specializing in surveillance, has created video surveillance systems perfectly-suited for access control, complete with end-to-end encryption and motion detection to make it easier than ever to protect and secure your business. Make sure to look into their offerings in order to keep your startup safe.
2. Who will you trust to build your software?
If you’re planning on developing software as part of your product offerings or just need an app or website developed, you’ll want to have a trustworthy company to partner with, especially if you don’t have coding experience yourself. As Endertech, a top ranking software development company, explains on their website, “Too often, software development companies want clients to adjust their business to fit into pre-built templates and frameworks.” Endertech is different—they’re interested in finding custom solutions and using innovation to figure out your specific needs, whether they have to do with mobile development or other digital solutions. It’s crucial to find a team of developers who are capable of helping you build the software that truly fits the needs of your company’s goals. Remember that you don’t need coding experience in order to launch a company that offers a high-quality app or web tool. All that matters is that you have the vision behind the software and the passion and grit to make your business a reality. A truly excellent custom software development service will work with you on application development and eCommerce, so be sure to go with the best software company out there.
3. How will you differentiate yourself from competitors?
Depending on your sector, you may face a lot of competition, which can be tough to overcome as a new company. One way that you can differentiate yourself from other businesses is by coming up with a clear brand that sets you apart from the demographic of customers your competition is trying to attract. Especially once you’ve identified your target demographic, you can run ads that target these specific customers and try to get them to choose your company’s services or products.
For example, if you’re starting a coffee shop, ask yourself how you can make yourself different from the other coffee shops or cafes nearby. Perhaps you’re going to do this by creating a unique atmosphere inside your coffee shop, such as a steampunk vibe. Or, maybe you plan on coming up with ostentatious, decadent drink concoctions worthy of Instagram. Regardless of how you try and set yourself apart, it’s vital that you lean into these differences in your marketing and branding, broadcasting your uniqueness to potential customers.
4. How Will You Promote Your Business?
Promoting your business is a must if you want to stand apart from your competitors and out to your customers. Fortunately, there are many ways to promote your business online that won’t cost you a dime (i.e. creating a YouTube channel for your business). As the second largest search engine, YouTube is a must for business owners looking to promote and increase their audience reach. However, using YouTube to promote your business can present challenges: if you’re just starting out as a complete beginner, it can be challenging to get the traction you need. Therefore, you’ll want to partner up with an experienced YouTube expert to build and grow a successful YouTube channel that consistently gets views, subscribers & leads for your business.
