Starting up a new business is an equally exciting and terrifying time. On the one hand, you will be excited to finally branch out on your own and get up and running. But becoming your own boss brings with it the worries of being successful and earning an income in lieu of wages from regular employment.

But will it be worth it? Honestly, only you can answer that. And if you have been asking yourself that exact question, then chances are you aren't quite ready or you need some help to prepare you for the next step in your career.

So let's get to it and look at some small details you will need to consider when starting up a new business regardless of the sector you are going into.

Business Plan

Do you have a business plan? There are some things in life you can totally wing it at. Travelling, fashion sense, general knowledge quizzes, but not starting your own business.

If you don't know what your plan is before setting up your business, how can you expect to grow and build on your success going forward? Regardless of how and where you start you need to develop a plan that is tailored to your company and details a wide range of topics such as the following;

• What are you offering?
• Do you need physical premises?
• What equipment do you need?
• Do you require staff?
• What laws and regulations apply to your company - including HR for any employees
• What funding do you require if any?
• How are acquiring funding?
• When do you expect to make a profit?
• How do you plan to reinvest?
• Where do you see the business going in 1, 3, 5 or even 10 years time?
• What type of market is there for your company?
• Who is your ideal client?
• Can you develop your product/services?
• Do you have a USP? (unique selling point)
• How do you fit into the market and who are your competitors?
• What is your marketing plan?

Still with us? Then use these questions to build and create a unique and detailed business plan. Once you have this in place you can start to figure out what your next steps should be and where to go from here. It may be that you need more time or expertise before starting out. But now you have this plan in place you can work towards where you need to be.

Finance.

You have probably heard that you can start a small business on a shoestring budget or even better, with no budget. Whilst that is true for certain startups, it doesn't apply to all new businesses, unfortunately.

If you are funding your startup yourself, then you will know exactly what your financial limitations are. Being savvy and knowing where and how to invest your funds will pay you dividends as you go public. Maximising your investment by utilising funds in the right place can allow you to start off on the right foot and in turn, reinvest in the company.

For others, you may be looking at acquiring financing from other sources. In the main part, most people turn toward banks and financial institutions to help them find the money they need to get set up. Alternatively family and friends may help out financially too.

That isn't your only option though, many startups have found successes in crowdfunding campaigns to help them manufacture new products. Not only does this way get you the funds you need, but it also gets you a ready-made audience for your product and creates an effective marketing campaign. Win-Win, don't you agree.

However, you choose to fund your new company bear in mind the implications of owing others money;

• How much do you need to borrow?
• What are the repayment terms?
• When can you realistically expect to turn a profit?
• Can you afford all your expenses along with repayments or do you need to borrow more to cover yourself? It is advised most companies have at least 6 months worth of finance to cover them to remove the pressure of making money from day one.
• Will you be making enough to reinvest for future developments in your sector?

Don't forget, you need to allocate yourself a wage from day one. Even if you aren't making much money. You still need to pay your rent/mortgage and household bills and living expenses.

Hidden Expenses.

Remove the shock factor by being thorough when it comes to finding out exactly what you need to pay for when running your own business. Of course, knowing people who run their own businesses will give you a good idea of what to expect in terms of what you will need to pay for. But just in case you were wondering, this is the kind of hidden expenses you may overlook initially.

• Permits, licenses etc
• Local, State, National taxes and costs
• Interest payments on finance options or mortgages taken out.
• Insurances - for the company, for employees, for equipment etc
• Marketing costs
• Shrinkage
• Payment delays
• Services and third parties contracted for additional work you don't/can't do yourself
• Employees benefits/pensions and so on
• Fees for bank accounts, accepting credit card payments, rental equipment
• Stationery.

Are you confident you have factored this into your financial plans?

Equipment and Technology

This is where having enough capital to start off with benefits you. In the same way that a fireman wouldn't run into a burning building without protective equipment on, you shouldn't start your business without the correct equipment or technology in place.

You want the most cutting edge tools and technology available to you to allow you to work as well and as efficiently as possible. For instance, if you're starting a flight school or private jet chartering company, you'll want to ensure that you have all the correct aviation and avionics equipment, from high-quality aeroshell fluid to minimize wear and tear on engine components to top-notch ground support equipment to ensure your operations from take-off to landing are as streamlined as possible. Having industry-leading tools is even more important if you are hiring a team to work alongside you. They need to know you are giving them the correct tools for the job they are being employed to do.

The same goes for tools and equipment you may need to manufacture products on site. This could be something as small as buying the best laptops you can afford for office workers, to top of the range printers for branded merchandise or even a vaccine fridge if you are in the pharmaceutical sector.

Marketing

The most effective marketing campaigns take place before you even open your doors to customers. And as we mentioned earlier, you need a healthy budget to run an effective marketing campaign.

You want to be getting work out about you and your company before you are open for business to create a buzz and let people who you are, what you are about and what you can do for them.

Think about it this way. You are opening up a new restaurant. you have put months of hard work in behind the scenes creating the recipes, hiring the right chef, kitchen staff and front of house team. You invested in the best dinnerware out there and all of a sudden it is opening day. But you didn't tell anyone and when you open your doors, there is no one there to sample your dishes and experience all you have to offer.

How do you feel? Disappointed? Everyone would.

This is why you need a marketing campaign before your company is even a functional company. Whether you choose to do this in-house or delegate this to a third party company, a marketing campaign is essential to reach the right people.

There is no 'one right way' to market your company. In fact, it is often thought that the best marketing campaigns are the ones that utilise tried and tested methods of old along with new and emerging ways of reaching people.

For this, as a minimum, you need a good social media presence and a strong brand message and identity along with a well designed fully optimised website. These days, the majority of people search online for what they need. You need to grab a piece of that pie and make yourself heard above the noise.

So what are the best marketing methods to use in 2020?

• Content is King - informative content on a mobile optimised website.
• SEO - get that content optimised for search engines. Good SEO practises will help you climb to the top of the search engine results.
• Social Media Content - create content to push via your social media channels that are relevant to your industry and that promotes the right brand image for your company.
• Google Ads - get your ad seen by people who are looking for similar things online.
• Business Cards - you can't beat the power of well thought out and quirky business cards. Be remembered in the right way and think outside of the box!
• Branding - on business cards, on employees uniforms, on stationery, your car, store signage, packaging and so on. 
• Word of Mouth - the hardest but most effective marketing campaign to achieve. You want existing customers to rave about you and your company to others who need what you are selling. Then you need to deliver on this!
• Sponsorship - little league teams, soccer teams, local neighbourhood fundraisers, charity events and so on. If you can allow for this in your budget, then gaining a good reputation in your local area will boost your visibility and give you good standing in your local area.

So what do you think? Are you ready to start up your own business now?