I've been hunting everywhere for a
clear guide to help me set up my own business, but I haven’t been able to find
one – well, not one that wasn’t full of jargon and really hard to follow!
So I figured I might as well have a
go at writing one myself... and I’ll use my own fledgling business idea as an
example throughout. Here goes...
Step 1
Decide on the product or service
you’re going to sell. It has to be something you’re good at, or something you’re
sure will make a good profit. I’m assuming here that you’ve already done your
market research and picked something valuable that you can provide that other
people will be willing to spend money on.
If you haven’t done your market
research, do it now! Ask family, friends and anyone you meet in the street
about what’s missing in their lives that you might be able to provide. Think
about what your hobbies are, or what you enjoyed doing in school... or anything
you can think of really, the sky’s the limit.
My example is copywriting. I’ve
always enjoyed writing, and I’m pretty good at putting a sentence together.
Well, I’m more than happy to pick other people’s sentences to bits, anyway!
Plus, I know there’s a big demand for copywriters out there, and I know there’s
money to be made if I do it well.
Step 2
Hone your product or skill. Take
classes in the subject, contact people who are already doing it professionally,
and listen to what they say. You can never know too much about your chosen
field, but the same time, don’t spend too long on this step. If you wait for
the “right time”, when you feel completely ready to start your business, you’ll
probably never do it.
Even the experts still have things
to learn and improve. But chances are, if it’s something you enjoy, and you’re
good at it, then you probably already know enough to be able to do it well
enough to help other people.
In terms of copywriting, I’ve
completed the AWAI six-figure course, and I’m constantly reading books and
blogs about copywriting, sales and direct marketing. I know there’s a massive
learning curve still ahead of me, but I’m sure I know enough of the techniques
to do a good job already.
Step 3
Choose your business name. There’s a
lot of advice out there about how important this is, but in my opinion it
doesn’t have to be a big deal. Plenty of businesses change their name and
rebrand themselves later down the line. Just look at Snickers and Starburst!
For now, just pick a name that’s
easy to remember, says a bit about what you do, and doesn’t already belong to a
multinational conglomerate.
I chose Brilliant Writer as a name
because it had a nice ring to it, and because a teacher at school once told me
I was a brilliant writer. No doubt in a couple of years, I’ll want to create a
more general overarching company, for all my spin-off ideas.
Again, don’t spend ages on this
step. The right name will probably leap out at you, and if it doesn’t, just try
sticking a pin in a dictionary and picking a word at random. Or use an online
random word generator. http://randomwordgenerator.net/
You might be surprised at the
results... “Yiddish Cupcakes” anyone?!
Step 4
Buy your domain name. Every business
needs a website nowadays, even if it just contains the basic details.
There’s plenty of places out there
selling domain names, and some of them offer web hosting packages too (we’ll
come to that in a minute). GoDaddy.com, 123-reg and one.com are a few that seem
to get good reviews, but I’ll leave it up to you to check out a couple of
sites and choose the one that best fits with your business.
I personally went with GoDaddy for
my site www.BrilliantWriter.co.uk because it was the first one I looked at, and so far it’s been fine for
me, but I’m sure they’re all much of a muchness.
In terms of the actual domain name,
you should choose a .com or a .co.uk if you can afford it, and if you want to
do better in the search engine rankings. Your domain name should be easy to say
(without having to spell out each letter), and as short as possible.
If you’re worried about people
misspelling your domain name, or if you’ve got money to spare, you could always
buy a couple of different names and have them both pointing to the same site.
Also, think about where the majority
of your customers will be based. If you want to be an international brand, it’s
probably worth having a .com site, as people searching on Google.com (or other
search engines based in the US) will be more likely to find you than a .co.uk
site. If you’re setting up a more local business, then choose a local domain
for your site.
Step 5
Choose web hosting. Now you’ve got a
domain name, it’s time to find somewhere to host your new website (when you’ve
built it – that’s the next step!) For a basic website, you should be able to
easily find hosting for a couple of pounds a month.
I used http://thetop10bestwebhosting.org/uk
to check out the options, and I chose GoDaddy mainly for convenience as that’s
where my domain name was registered.
Some web hosts offer extras such as
email accounts, as well as other incentives including Google Adwords credits. I’m
personally a bit sceptical about these added “freebies” – you’ve got to end up
paying for them in the end, right?
If you’re not interested in spending
the time boosting your search engine rankings yourself, and you don’t know
anyone who can help you, then it could be worthwhile paying for some “SEO
assistance” from your web host.
Personally, SEO is one service which
I’m interested in learning more about, and offering to my clients in future, so
my website is as good a place as any to learn the ropes.
I'd better stop now before this blog post turns into an essay. Come back next week for the remaining five steps to success... and good
luck with your business, or businesses, whatever they may be.
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