It can seem daunting and difficult to come up with a business idea and start a company. There are so many things you need to consider coming up with an excellent idea to register a company, all the way to business planning, fundraising and much more. However, when you have your business idea, you are one step ahead and if you follow these basic steps, your business idea is more likely to become a successful business.

Conduct market research

Market research is the method of collecting information within an industry that you are going to set up a business. The research explores the complexities of the market and what makes future customers consider to buy the product or use the services. The questions that you need to get answers are:

Who are the potential customers?

The size of the market.

How much are the customers consider to pay?

Who are the competitors?

What are their strengths and weaknesses?

Create a business plan

The Business Plan is a written document explaining your key business objectives as well as how you going to reach them over a specified period of time. It’s built to help you and others consider how you expect to raise revenue and make your company sustainable. The Business Plan also provides information about the priorities, goals, marketing and sales plans and financial predictions. Here is a template for Business plan

Choose a business structure

Starting the journey of your new start-up brings a lot of enthusiasm and challenges. There will be a lot of question marks and issues you need to figure out the answer to. These are the types of different business structures in the UK:

Sole trader

Partnership

Limited liability partnership

Limited company

More information about the legal structure you can find on Gov.uk

Choose a name

you need to follow these two criteria:

-Like saying it – keep in mind that you will say dozens of times each day.

-Like hearing it – assure that it easy to be pronounced, if you choose a name with difficult pronunciation, saying it wrong by people might reflect on developing your brand.

Create a logo

this is the essential first step where your business will form its own branding design. The criteria that you need to follow:

-your logo needs to tell what your business does.

-your logo will show the business’s personality, so assure the personality you imagine reflects on the logo.

-the name of your business has to be on the logo, so it will be easy to recognize.

Create a website and social media pages

Thus, you will be able to actively promote your business. The standard for this step is creativity. Besides, you need to find out which social media channels are appropriate for your business and what to post. Here are some materials that can help you decide: Which social media platform should you use; What to post on each social media platform~

Setting up finances, accounting, and tax

The first steps are:

–        Opening a business bank account

–        Understanding your accounting, tax and filing responsibilities

–        Register for VAT (Value Added Tax)

–        Hire an accountant

Red tape checklist

When setting up in business, an understanding of the red tape involved is a must, or you will be asking for trouble.

           What you need to know:

–        Tax law

–        Intellectual property law

–        Employment regulations

–        Digital regulations

–        Insurance

Find funding for your new business

The funding is the main issue when setting up a business because it is common that brilliant ideas to appear, but at the same time the funding is an obstacle. Here are some ways of funding your business:

Self-funding or funding from friends and family

–        Business grants

–        Business competitions

–        Angel investors

–        Venture capital

–        Crowdfunding

–        Business Loans

Now when you know the main steps of setting up a business, it is the time to take the action. Beware that you will make mistakes, but try to make most of them and learn.  Be open-minded and creative, adapt, look for opportunities, and above all, have fun! Good luck!