If you’re thinking about a business startup, here are tips for laying the startup groundwork.
1. It all starts with ideas – Are any of your good?
You need to be able to easily explain your idea (product or service) in one or two sentences because that’s all you’ll get to “sell” it to customers, investors and the media, including bloggers who you seek out for reviews. If you can’t explain it well in two sentences, either work on a simpler way to describe it or come up with new ideas for a low start up business.
2. Determine if any of your ideas for a low start up business have been done before.
There are generally three possibilities in startup business ideas: It has been done but there’s still demand; it has been done and the market is saturated; or it has never been done. You can be successful in any of these scenarios, if you know where your idea falls and strategize appropriately. Search keyword phrases to see if what you have in mind already exists. If you come up empty, there’s either no demand or it’s never been done before. If it’s been done, search for competitors and see how many they are, what they’re doing, and how you might innovate to provide something even better.
3. Create a list of all the things you need to plan for in your business startup.
The list might be a series of questions whose answers will be the basis for your business plan for startup business ideas. They might include – but by no means are limited to: What are you going to sell and for how much in your startup business ideas? Will you make or buy the product? How will you package and ship it? Will you ship internationally? How will you communicate with customers? What will be your business colors? Will you hire a bookkeeper or explore software to do that yourself? The list may seem daunting, but take time to make each decision one at a time and soon, you’ll see your business taking shape.
4. Name your company after yourself or give it an easy-to-remember one-word name.
Naming the company after your product or service seriously limits future expansion. Naming a startup after yourself or giving it a one-word, made-up name allows you to expand into other products, services, and even industries. It also provides a startup common denominator that ties everything together. If you think you may eventually sell the low start up business, go with a made-up name. Doublecheck the U.S. Patent and Trademark website to ensure the business startup name – even if it’s your own! — is not already trademarked.
