Gugu Motsoeneng

Starting a business involves planning, making key financial decisions, and completing a series of legal activities. Scroll down to learn about each step.

1. Conduct Market Research

Market research will tell you if there’s an opportunity to turn your idea into a successful business. It’s a way to gather information about potential customers and businesses already operating in your area. Use that information to find a competitive advantage for your business.

2. Write your business plan

Your business plan is the foundation of your business. It’s a roadmap for how to structure, run, and grow your new business. You’ll use it to convince people that working with you — or investing in your company — is a smart choice.

3. Fund your business

Your business plan will help you figure out how much money you’ll need to start your business. If you don’t have that amount on hand, you’ll need to either raise or borrow the capital. Fortunately, there are more ways than ever to find the capital you need.

4. Pick your business location

Your business location is one of the most important decisions you’ll make. Whether you’re setting up a brick-and-mortar business or launching an online store, the choices you make could affect your taxes, legal requirements, and revenue.

5. Choose a business structure

The legal structure you choose for your business will impact your business registration requirements, how much you pay in taxes, and your personal liability.

6. Your business name

It’s not easy to pick the perfect name. You’ll want one that reflects your brand and captures your spirit. You’ll also want to make sure your business name isn’t already being used by someone else.

7. Register your business

Once you’ve picked the perfect business name, it’s time to make it legal and protect your brand. If you’re doing business under a name different than your own, you’ll need to register with CIPC.

8. Get a Tax Number

You’ll use your tax number for important steps to start and grow your business, like opening a bank account and paying taxes.

9. Apply for licenses and permits

Keep your business running smoothly by staying legally compliant. The licenses and permits you need for your business will vary by industry, province, location, and other factors.

10. Open a business bank account

A small business checking account can help you handle legal, tax, and day-to-day issues. The good news is it’s easy to set one up if you have the right registrations and paperwork ready.

Open Shop

Congratulations ! It’s time to cut the big ribbon. Your business is officially open. Now, focus on managing and growing your business.

– Gugu Motsoeneng

Entrepreneur & Startup Mentor

I started my business with no capital.

You don’t always need a lot of capital to get a business started. Sometimes you can get started with little to no funding. Starting a business with no money might initially seem like an unlikely idea, however, it’s not impossible.

When I started Orange Memo Virtual Assistants, I only had my skills, qualifications, and experience. And I capitalized on those three things. Two questions came into mind:

1.“How can I monetize them and earn a living in this economy where there are no jobs and businesses are downsizing?”

2. “With the tools and skills I have, which gab can I close add value to the world?“

It’s easy to come up with a list of obstacles standing in the way of you and launching your business. It’s often harder to come up with a list of opportunities that are right in front of you. If the thought of starting a business with no money scares you, stop and reflect on what you can do without right now.

So, ask yourself what can you do and get for free?

What’s important to your business?

Do you need a fancy, custom-designed website when you’ve only perfected three items for your new store?

Could you do with creating a Facebook page to promote your business locally, instead?

Would it make more sense for you to design your marketing materials in Canva?

Could you barter and trade your skills/products/resources with someone else instead of payment?

There are a lot of free resources on the web. Make a list of what you need for your business and then research free alternatives on the web. It might take time, and perhaps even require you to pick up some extra digital skills, but you’ll save funds.

Setting goals with an end in mind is mandatory for the success of your business, as you need to know your current position to avoid running a business blindly. Successful people and businesses set goals to reach success. Goals help people and businesses achieve more, faster, with less.

The best goals are set with a clear vision of where you want to go. In fact, that’s the most basic definition of a goal: the intent to get somewhere. Goals without results don’t even really count as goals.

Unfortunately, the list of potential challenges that you might face is long. One of the biggest challenges I had to overcome was the wrong pricing strategy, my rates were expensive because I didn’t do the most important step every business owner or aspiring entrepreneur must do i.e. competition and audience analysis.

It’s not about what the product/service is worth, it’s what you can price it to remain competitive and reach the maximum profit. Once I established a strong presence and gained some authority, I then increased the rate.

You might succeed where all the others fail and then fail where no one else has failed before. Nonetheless, just because you can’t foresee every difficulty that your enterprise might encounter, this doesn’t mean that you can’t be prepared for some of the most likely startup challenges on your path.

How did you start your business?

And if you haven’t, WHY?

Are you looking into starting your own business and do not know where to “start”?

Are your limiting beliefs hindering you from achieving success?

Click here https://mailchi.mp/a40664a87917/orange-memo-virtual-assistants to apply for a FREE 8 Week Mentoring Program?

– Gugu Motsoeneng

Entrepreneur & Startup Mentor

Ten Steps To Start A Business

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How I started my business?