10 steps for a start-up business, each step is required to get a business loan. Plus your business plan is a living document much like a blue print if you are building a house.
Step 1: Define your personal and company goals. You have to know what you want from life before you can decide on what you want from your business.
Step 2: Research the market for a niche for your product or service. It is imperative to define an unfilled need and to establish that there is a demand for it before rushing to develop the product or service.
Step 3: Create your marketing plan.
The marketing plan will become an integrated part of your overall business plan, so it must be completed first. The purpose of the plan is to identify the following:
- Who are your customers?
- How are you going to sell your product?
- What do you consider a successful sales campaign?
- How much will you sell annually for the next five years?
Step 4: Create your draft business plan.
The draft is a framework from which your final business plan will evolve. It should list the strength and weaknesses of the business, its personnel, and the financing it needs. You to attract top talent to accomplish this step. It should also help you to build a strong board of directors, if one is needed.
Step 5: Formalize a first draft of your financial needs.
Your draft business plan created, it is now time to define your financial needs. From your marketing analysis, you establish the staffing level required from the sales forecasts.
This in turn establishes your operating budget, which in turn formalizes your financial forecasts and determines your projected cash flow.
Step 6: Establish your key teams, founders, directors, management, and employees.
You must put together your management and employee teams. Weaknesses in your teams must be identified and corrected. The draft business plan developed in
Step7: Finalize your financial needs and create your formal business plan.
Formalize a full-fledged business plan using the information gained from Steps 4 to 6 above. You will need this document to secure the financing you require to start up your business. It also will serve as a manual for your business once it is funded.
Step 8: Develop a marketing strategy to obtain financing for your company.
At this point you are not preparing a market strategy to sell your product or service, but a strategy to sell yourself and your company to financiers in order to raise capital to float your company.
Step 9: Market your plan to secure capital on your terms.
You will use the negotiating tools from the above strategy to give you an inside edge on the competition and enable you to attract capital on your terms rather than on your financiers’.
Step 10: Sell your product or service and manage your business to achieve your goals.
The last step involves the ongoing management and marketing of your business. Starting a business is only half the battle. Now that you are in business, you will need strong management tools and marketing skills in order to ensure you stay in business. 10 Steps for a Start-Up Business, will help you to get started.
If this feels like too much information to create a plan on your own, come join the Start-Up CEO Advisory group. Starting on Thursday, August 10, 2020 in Sacremento, CA. We will work with you to create your business plan, taught by two experienced business coaches and mentors at Score.org and you will have ongoing support with your group members.
Check it out, see if it will be a fit for you. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/661456292577 or you can drop me a line as well.
This article is from the Build Your Own Business a book that was written by myself and my business partner at the time. 6 ways to grow your business with relationships. For success do these 10 Steps for a Start-Up Businesses success.
Mari-Lyn
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