I was talking to a friend who wants to start her own business so we got right to the points about starting a business: the basics of what you need.
She was super excited and came to me asking for advice.
Within the first 5 minutes I felt like the biggest Debbie-downer in the world.
My friend wants to start a handmade children’s clothing company and assumed she could open a Facebook page and start selling her wares.
If you want to know more about starting a business, you can find relevant information at companyincorporationdubai.com.
She had seen many WAHMs (work-at-home-moms) do that with varying degrees of success.
Starting your own business is not difficult (if you do it right).
Table of Contents
Starting a Business: The Basics of What You Need
- Insurance (very important especially if you are dealing with children’s items) – Cost varies.
- Business Registration (not needed but recommended as you can claim your business expenses) – In Ontario HST registration is $60.00.
- Starting Inventory – The cost varies greatly.
- Research – Is there a need for you product, what is your demographic etc.
- Rainy Day Fund – Put aside at least 10% of your original investment for any unexpected costs.
The should-have:
- Website – $100 to $1000’s of dollars depending on budget (includes hosting, domain and design if needed)
- Logo – I paid $5 for my logo through Fiverr with hundreds of vendor and branding options..
- E-commerce system – Again the price varied to you needs. I used WooCommerce which is a WordPress Plugin and find them to be reasonably priced.
- Name – Make sure you become familiar with trademark laws and the benefits of registering a trademark in Canada.
- Social Media Presence – Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest pages are very influential in consumer purchases. Plus the cost is FREE!
- Good Internet Package – You do not want you internet to go down and miss out on client emails.
The nice-to-have:
- Inventory System – A system that will track your orders and current inventory including profits.
- Bookkeeper/Accountant – This can get pricey but very good to have.
- Support/Mentor – Someone you can go to when you have questions. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have on our Facebook page or via email.
- Advertising – Very important. Advertising could be in many forms going to a mom 2 mom sale, advertise on a search network and promoting posts on Facebook are just some of the ways you can advertise.
- Education – Want to learn how to be a better businessman and make your business in? Investing in your own education, like joining an Online MBA program or other online business programs, will never be a bad thing.
- Dedicated business phone line.
The number one thing you need to start your own business is TIME.
Between interacting on social media, blogging, communicating with clients/colleagues and everything else I do for the business I spend on average 7-12 hours a day.
Do you think I missed anything on these lists?
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