STARTING A BUSINESS

50 Steps Every Entrepreneur Must Take

to Build a Business

JAYSON DEMERS
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Founder and CEO, AudienceBloom

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NOVEMBER 23, 2015

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Starting a business is one of the most challenging and rewarding things youll
ever do. The process is simpler than you might imagine, but to try to boil it
down to ve or 10 steps is an underestimation and an injustice. The following50
steps to start a business are, for the most part, necessary -- thoughsome
businesses may be able to skip several steps, and others may be able to
accomplish them completely out of order.

Related:7 Myths About Starting a Business That I Used to Believe

Take these steps to start your business, however they suit you best:

1.Be inspired. Your rst step is to get inspired to be an entrepreneur.If youre

reading this article, youre probably already there.

2.Have a passion. Few business owners are successful without asucient

passion driving their eorts. Find something youre passionate about.

3.Educate yourself. You dont need a college degree, but you do need to be
aware of the risks and realities of business ownership.

4.Generate an idea. This is the hard part:coming up with an idea that has the
potential to launch a full-edged business.

5.Preliminarily research the idea. Poke around the web and see what you can
nd. Are there other businesses like this?

6.Talk to others. See what your friends and family think about your idea, and
be open to criticism.

7.Develop the idea. Brainstorm to work out the potential aws and key
advantages.

8.Research and start a business plan. Nows your chance to get more involved.
Find out what competitors there are and dig deep to create a full-edged
business plan (use the next steps to help you).

9.Determine your target market. Not everyone will be your target customer.

Find a niche.
10.Come up with a nancial model. How much are you going to charge? How
much will it cost to run the business? How protable can you be?

11.Come up with an operations model. Who and what do you need to maintain
production?

12.Come up with a stang plan. Determine the people you need to hire to get
things started.

13.Come up with a sales and marketing plan. This isnt superuous.Sales and
marketing are what will drive your business to grow.

14.Come up with a growth plan. How do you expect to scale in the rst year?
What about years two and three?

15.Decide on a legal structure for your business. Every legal construct has
advantages and disadvantages. Think carefully about what will work best.

16.Determine what you need to start. Think about the people, resourcesand
capital you need, and have both an ideal and minimum range.

17.Objectively analyze the risk. Determine how much you stand to lose if the
company goes under.

18.If you're ready, quit your current job. If everything looks good, pull the
trigger and invest yourself full-time in your enterprise.

19.Secure capital. Withdraw savings, borrow from friends, seek funding or set
up a lineof credit with a bank --or some combination of these.

20.Seek resources and aid. Join a small-business development center and nd

local resources to help you succeed.

21.Scout for potential clients. Keep your eyes peeled for individuals and
businesses that might buy from you, and the earlier the better. Try to get at

least one client before investing a dime.
Related:Need a Business Idea? Here are 55

22.Register your business name. Its a simple step, but a necessary one.

23.Get a tax ID. Dont forget about your tax responsibilities.

24.File for state and local taxes. Dont neglect this nancial step.

25.Obtain any necessary permits or licenses. Your business may require

additional legal registrations.

26.Recruit one or more mentors. Find experienced entrepreneurs who can help
you with the remaining steps, oering insight and guidance.

27.Find your key locations. Your oce location, operations HQand related
issues are important decisions to make.

28.Establish a unique brand. Find out what makes your business unique, and
develop a brand around it.

29.Start building a personal brand. While youre at it, build a personal brand
for yourself.

30.Create a test product or service. Call it a prototype if you want. Create a

sample if you havent already.

31.Establish key vendors and partners. Find contractors, vendorsand suppliers

to help your business succeed.

32.Learn and apply your employer responsibilities. Youll have to oer certain
benets, conditionsand withholdings.

33.Hire your rst employees. Hire the bare minimum you need to get started.

34.Create a human resource plan and company culture. Create some

guidelines, and hire people who will adhere to them.

35.Start selling. Go out and sell the heck out of your products.
36.Launch a website. As soon as you can, establish an online presence.

37.Outline and begin a digital marketing campaign. Digital marketing is

cheap, easy, and eective. SEO, content marketing, and social media are good
places to start.

38.Network everywhere you go. Make it a point to meet people. Younever

know who could be a new client or employee.

39.Find at least one dependable, long-term client. Prioritize getting at least

one surere long-term client.

40.Use promotions and discounts to attract new customers. Protability is

not as important as recognition in your early stages.

41.Learn from customer feedback and launch a second iteration of your

products or services. Make tweaks to your oerings.

42.Hire more employees if necessary. When youre ready, expand the team.

43.Tweak your operations to become more ecient. No operation plan is

perfect. Find ways to improve yours.

44.Ensure your cash ow remains positive, with proper safety measures.

Cash can kill an otherwise protable business. Dont neglect it.

45.Scale your sales strategy. Do more.

46.Scale your marketing strategy. Reach further.

47.Invest in infrastructural improvements. Improve whatever you can aord

to improve to make your customers happier.

48.Learn more about your industry. Reach out to competitors, and attend
industry conferences.

49.Become a thought leader. Establish yourself as an authority by speaking,
writing and hosting webinars.
50.Evaluate your progress thus far, and adjust your business plan. Determine
where you are in contrast to where you thought youd be, and think about what
expectations you had that were wrong. Revisit your business plan and adjust it
to reect your current situation and understandings.

Every business is unique, so yours may not perfectly adhere to the formula. Use
these steps as a loose guideline for the course of your businessdevelopment,
and thrust yourself into the process as much as you can.

Related:5 Books to Read Before Starting Your Business

JAYSON DEMERS |
Jayson DeMers is founder and CEO ofAudienceBloom, a Seattle-based SEO
agency. He's the author of theebook, The De nitive Guide to Marketing
Your Business Online. Read more

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