With all the talk about startups and how profitable they can be in the business columns, as well as on blogs and social media, you would be forgiven for thinking that anyone and everyone can make a go of them. But while they might be a lot easier and cheaper to set up than a regular business, it is still a bit commitment. That is why you will need to consider these essential things before you begin your startup journey.
Great internet
OK, so this sounds like a basic thing but is absolutely essential to running a successful startup business. This is because most of your orders, communication, and interaction with the customer will happen over the world wide web in some way. So if your broadband goes down, you are left twiddling your thumbs with nothing to do.
So get that infrastructure in place, and make you have the best and fastest that the budget will allow for.
A plan
The next thing you need when you are at the beginning of your start-up journey is a plan. Not just a pretty mind map that you doodled on the back of a napkin when you were at the wine bar with your mates. But an honest-to-goodness, fully thought through plan. With threats opportunities addresses, as well as projections for at least the first three years.
In fact, it can be a very telling activity to do. As if you can’t get through to the end of the plan without coming into problems, then that is a major warning signal that you start up may not work out!
Great employees
Something else that you need to get in place at the beginning of your startup adventure is employees that you can trust. That means taking an active role in interviewing people. Which will benefit you. As is likely that you will likely be working closely with them, in the beginning, anyway.
Of course, as the business grows you may not always be able to take such a hands-on approach and can refer employment to the HR department. You may even want to consider benefits of HR software to help your company keep on top of this. As then you can track applications and training, keeping an eye on everyone progress.
Some capital
Lastly, no one is going to be able to begin their startup journey, unless they have some capital to get the things off the ground.
Traditionally this just means going to the bank and asking for a business loan. Or selling some shares of your company to investors. But there are others way of getting some finance in place now.
For example, you can choose to seek crowdfunding on a sites like Kickstarter for your company, and if you are skeptical of whether this works, just ask the makers of the Exploding Kittens game. (Don’t worry it’s not as horrid as it sounds!) Which has been funded in this way, reached production, and has become a raging success!
