11 Steps to Start Your Own Business (Part 2)

by Rahimah Sultan

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In the last article 11 Steps to Start Your Own Business Part 1, we covered the first five steps of starting your own business. We’ll now cover the remaining six steps.


Now that the business is set up, what’s next?


6. Get Your Finances in Order

Open a business bank account and keep your business and personal finances separate. Your business account can be used for business transactions such as invoicing customers or paying suppliers. Usually, a bank will insist you have a separate business bank account in case you want a business loan or line of credit. You’ll have to provide your business name and business tax identification number (EIN) when opening a business bank account.

You’ll need to hire a bookkeeper or get accounting software. There are some software programs that double as bookkeeping tools and often include features such as check writing and managing receivables and payables. The software can also be used to generate invoices, track your income and expenses, run reports and calculate taxes. These services can be accessed online from any computer or mobile device.

You must get an idea of your startup costs before funding your business. To do this list all physical supplies you need, estimate the cost of any professional services you’ll need, add the cost of any licenses or permits required to operate, and calculate office space cost or other real estate. If applicable, add payroll and benefits costs.

Since businesses can take years to make a profit, it’s better to overestimate startup costs and have too much cash on hand rather than too little. Some experts recommend having enough cash to cover six months of operating expenses. You should also know your break-even point; the point at which your business makes money.


7. Fund Your Business

There are many ways to fund your business. Some require more effort than others. There are two categories of funding: internal and external.

Internal funding includes credit cards, personal savings, and family and friends. This option has the inherent risks of lost wealth due to not paying debts or hard feelings because of strained relationships if the company goes under.

External funding includes:

Small business loans and grants
Angel investors
Venture capital
Crowdfunding

Whatever the source plan for profit. It’s much better to take home all your money rather than lose part of it.

To choose the right funding source consider the amount of money you need, the time frame for repayment, and risk tolerance.


8. Apply for Business Insurance

Even if you don’t have employees or you have a home-based business, you need to have insurance. The type depends on your business model and your risks. You might need more than one kind of policy and, as your business grows, you might need additional coverage. In most states, if you have employees, workers’ compensation insurance is required by law.

The basic types of business insurance coverage are:

Liability insurance which protects your business against third-party claims of bodily injury, property damage, and personal injury such as defamation or false advertising.

Property insurance for covering the physical assets of your business, including your office space, equipment, and inventory.

Business interruption insurance to pay for the loss of income if your business is forced to close temporarily due to a covered event such as a natural disaster.

Product liability insurance for protection against claims that your products caused bodily injury or property damage.

Employee practices liability insurance that covers claims from employees alleging discrimination, sexual harassment, or other wrongful termination.

Workers’ compensation insurance for medical expenses and income replacement for employees who are injured on the job.


9. Have the Right Business Tools

The right business tools can help make your life easier and your business run a lot smoother. They can also help save time, automate tasks, and aid you in making better decisions.

Following are some tools to consider:

Accounting software
Customer relationship management software (CRM)
Project management software
Credit card processor
Point of sale (POS)
Virtual private network (VPN)
Merchant services
Email Hosting


10. Market Your Business

Don’t spend so much time creating the products that you have no marketing budget by launch time.

A web presence is essential even if you’re a brick-and-mortar business. Here are tips for establishing a web presence. You can have a standard informational site or an e-commerce site where you sell products online.

After getting a website or e-commerce site you need to optimize it for search engines so that when a potential customer searches for specific keywords for your products, search engines can direct them to your site.

As SEO is a long-term strategy, don’t expect a lot of traffic from search engines initially—even when you’re using all the correct keywords.

Provide quality, relevant digital content on your site. Content marketing should be one of the most critical tasks on your daily to-do list and should be used in conjunction with social media.

Get listed in online directories like Yelp, Google My Business, and Facebook to find local businesses. Include your business in as many relevant directories as possible and create listings for your business in specific directories that focus on your subject matter.

Develop a social media strategy and use social media to drive traffic back to your website where customers can learn more about what you do and buy your products or services.

You don’t have to use all the social media platforms. But you should have a presence on Facebook and Instagram as they offer e-commerce features that allow you to sell directly from your social media accounts. Both platforms have free ad training to help you market your business.


11. Scale Your Business

In order to scale your business, you’ll need to grow your customer base and revenue. You can do this by increasing your marketing efforts, collaborating with other creators, improving your product or service, or adding new products or services that complement what you already offer.

Consider ways you can automate or outsource particular tasks so that you can focus on scaling your business. For example, if social media marketing is occupying too much of your time, you can use a platform such as Hootsuite to help you manage your accounts more efficiently. You can also completely outsource the time-consumer.

You can use technology to automate certain business processes including accounting, lead generation, and email marketing. By doing this you will have more time to focus on other parts of your business.

It’s important to watch your finances and make sure you’re still profitable when scaling your business. Make sure you have enough money to cover your costs. You may need to either reduce your expenses or find ways to increase your revenue.

As your business grows, you will eventually need a team of people who can help you run the day-to-day operations. This might include hiring additional staff, contractors, or freelancers.

Now, with these 11 steps to start your own business, you can get started today.


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