The Ultimate Entrepreneur Checklist: How to Create a Startup in 10 Easy Steps

Every entrepreneur needs to know that 90 percent of startups fail. If you’re going to be successful, you’ve got to be prepared for the challenges ahead of you.

However, with an awesome business idea, passion for what you do and an outstanding work ethic, you could be onto a winner.

Learn more about how to create a startup in 8 easy steps below. Let’s go!

1. Do Your Homework

More than 60 percent of twenty-somethings think they’ve got an awesome business idea which they want to make happen.

You’re one of many!

And yet, that shouldn’t demotivate you. Instead, you should realize that you’ve got plenty of competition.

You need to start by doing your homework on your business idea. There could be another startup already doing what you want to do.

After you’ve completed research into what other companies relevant to your business idea are doing, you’ve got to do market research. You need to investigate whether consumers would be willing to pay for your product or service business idea.

Make sure you don’t depend exclusively on secondary research.

Of course, the internet is an excellent source for learning about your business niche. However, you should also get out there and interview people yourself.

2. Bounce Ideas off Other People

You may think your business idea is one-of-a-kind. But, you need to make sure you’re not living in a dream world.

Encourage other people to give you feedback on your business proposal. You’re only in the early stages of your startup. You can always alter your business idea to better target your audience or improve the efficiency of your service.

You could also develop brand advocates by listening and integrating the feedback of people who matter.

You need to continue to experiment and prototype your business idea. Don’t settle on the first version of your idea, try and try again.

3. Make it Real

Now that you’ve narrowed down your business idea and got a few others on-board for support, it’s time to make it official. Transform your dream into a reality through the legal processes which are essential to establish your startup.

These steps will also prevent you from having your business idea stolen by a jealous partner.

You need to take care of the below:

• Business structure: corporation, LLC or partnership?

• Business name: what is your brand name?

• Register as a business: apply for registration with the authorities.

• Tax Issues: register for federal and state tax ID.

• Patents and copyright protections.

You also probably need to hire a business lawyer before you go ahead with any of these legal procedures.

4. Create a Business Plan

You need to put your business plan on paper. It’s not enough to have a vague idea of your business objectives.

Consider your business name and choose wisely for your brand. Then, there’s your executive summary, which should put together the mission statement of your startup.

This is also where you design your marketing strategies, such as advertising efforts and your target audience. This should be followed by an analysis of your competitors in your niche.

Each section of your business plan should include a detailed analysis and description. This becomes the rule-book for your business.

There are many more components of a business plan which you need to include in your final draft.

5. Finance Your Startup

The majority of startups launch with nothing. While others have bags of cash to throw at the business.

If you’re struggling to finance your startup, you’re not alone. Over 65 percent of entrepreneurs admitted that they are not completely confident about having enough money for their business.

And yet, they can make a success of it anyway. But, it’s important to make the most of your resources to build your capital.

Roughly 77 percent of startups launch with personal finances. However, you can also take out a personal loan for your business.

From crowdfunding campaigns to venture capital investors, there are dozens of ways to get the money you need to get started.

6. Product or Service Development

You’ve got everything in place to launch your startup, you’ve got to develop your product or service.

You may need to hire specialists to develop your product or service. If you’re designing an app without the specialist skills, you’re not going to achieve your objectives. 

However, that doesn’t mean you need to give up control of your business. Always keep control of developing your product.

7. Put Together Your Startup Team

You don’t have to employ anyone unless you need to. There are over 35,000 one-person startups which are already reaching $1,000,000 in revenue.

If you want to hire either an employee to join your team. However, if you just need to hire a specialist, you can also get a freelancer in instead.

Now you’ve got other people in your team, you can’t just keep everything inside your head. You need to make sure your team members know your business goals and procedures.

You also want to make sure that you encourage a healthy company culture which keeps your employees motivated and empowered to work toward the goals of the startup.

8. Establish Yourself in a Location

Your location largely depends on the type of business. Do you need to set up an office? Or, do you want to open your first store?

There a bunch of considerations you’ve got to make. These include everything from the rental costs to footfall.

Steps to Create a Startup

Having an awesome business idea is an excellent way to begin. But, it doesn’t end there! You’ve got to have more than a bunch of awesome ideas to make it as a startup.

There are so many steps along the way before you can establish yourself as a successful entrepreneur.Follow our tips above for a step-by-step guide to create a startup.

Do you want to learn more about what it takes to become an entrepreneur? Check out this blog post here!