It’s a significant process to start your own business, and preparation is critical. When using your business checklist, there are several steps you’ll want to be across before you start. Not only will these steps set you up for success in the early days of your operation, but you’ll also gain insights that will allow you to determine whether it’s viable and feasible.

Before launching your business, take the time to run through the following steps of your business checklist:

Research

First and foremost of your business checklist, dive into your proposed product or service and find out who is operating in this area successfully. While detailed market research will be an ongoing process throughout your business growth, this is your time to discover what potential there is in your business idea before you start and whether there are any glaring pitfalls.

Start your Business Plan

Even if you’re only in the conceptual stages of planning a new venture, a well-considered business plan will assist you in navigating all areas of a business. Completing this document requires you to confront the challenging questions that future investors will also want to be answered. The process of writing it up may also shed some light on the business as a whole before you move forward with anything concrete.

We’ve put together a complete guide to writing your business plan. Click here to begin reading this blog series.

Register your business & select a structure

With initial research and your business plan complete, it’s now time to register your business name and confirm or create the ABN you’ll be operating with. While some businesses opt for a business name registration only, you may also be inclined to trademark this if the wording and logo permit.

Along with this step, consider your business structure. Will you be a sole trader (many businesses start here), a company, a partnership or a trust? All of these structures have different benefits and usages, as well as varying levels of control. Your business structure can also determine how much tax you’ll pay, your liability, ongoing administration and business paperwork, as well as any special licenses that will be required for you to operate.

Establish your pre-start funding

Launching a business will always require some level of funding, but this can vary significantly depending on the type of business you have in mind. An all-virtual operation or online store will dramatically have leaner requirements than a physical store will, and it’s essential to have a clear understanding of where these funds will come from before you start.

For many founders, a business loan may be a logical first step, others may be investing some of their savings, and some may have a plan to gain funding from an investor in advance. Your business plan can be a valuable tool to determine the costs involved in the day-to-day running of the business, and be sure to plan for any initial up-front spending integral to a successful launch.

You may find that you need to hold off a few additional months to secure the funds required or restructure your business vision to cut down on costs. All of this is undoubtedly better done before you begin and not when you’re well into the process!

Confirm your commitment & support structure

After completing steps 1-4, you’re likely to have a much better idea of what your own business will look like, and now is an excellent opportunity to re-evaluate if it’s the right move for you.

You may be ready to jump feet first into your business, with your research and preparation all suggesting you’re on the right track. Or, you may find that there are some holes in your business plan or numbers, and you need to reassess whether it’s still a logical business for you to launch.

Starting your own business takes a significant amount of effort, time and money, and you want to know (and so will your future investors!) that you’re 100% committed to following through with everything required to make it a success.

Your success also relies on your network and support system – pull together a list of experts you feel you can call on for advice, be they a business mentor or friend who also runs their own business. Utilise their experience, as this kind of connection is invaluable for a new business owner.

In our next post in this series, we will guide you through the steps for beginning your business once you’ve launched and what’s involved in those early days of operating.