Checklist for Starting A New BusinessChecklist for Starting A New Business

Entrepreneurs: Checklist for Starting A New Business

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Updated: 03/08/2023

 

Before going ahead with the entrepreneur journey, you should have the checklist for starting a new business, which contains all the important steps in the business plan.

In addition, you also have a clear vision of how to build a sustainable business in both short and long-term plans. This could be done by gathering a winnable team, where team members have the same mindset, common goal, and enthusiasm to work well with each other.

However, the lists above are not near enough to guarantee you build a successful business. It’s because entrepreneurs need to have a comprehensive business startup checklist as a starting point to go ahead with their business plans.

It’s correct, a profitable venture must include a clear vision, ambition, and proper plan, but efficiency and well preparation are also equally considered as one the most important steps for entrepreneurial success. For this reason, without any proper plan and organization, the business plan seems to be worthless because you don’t have a clear roadmap to reach your destination.

Here’s the business startup checklist, which contains the five main phases to set up and effectively run the business. Each phase will have a smaller key point that provides step by step for starting a new business.

Phase 1: Business Identity and Startup Registration- Startup checklist

Phase 2:Bank and Tax Registration-Startup checklist

Phase 3: Accounting Software and Marketing Strategy in Place-Business Plan

Phase 4: List of Suppliers and Business Location-Business Plan

Phase 5: Legal Document Templates: Employment Contract Agreement- Business Plan

Start-up Cost- Startup Checklist

Related reading: SWOT Analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, And External Factors

Phase 1: Business Identity and Startup Registration

The first starting point is phase one, which includes the following lists below for starting a new business in terms of legal and business identity.

You need to determine what type of business license will be suited best to your startup or small business. After determining the particular license, then plan for ways in which you would acquire it. 

Most businesses from small to large entities will need to have some source of licenses to allow businesses to legally operate based on the country’s laws and regulations. 

For example, a Real estate agent will need a real estate broker license as it allows them to legally act on behalf of the clients to make a deal.

 

As your preference, there are several types of business entities to allow a company to conduct business activities, which you should consider to get familiar with them.

  • Sole proprietorship: this is the simplest one of all, if choose this, you are the only owner of the firm or maybe a couple to run a company. This type of business is very common for freelancers, and couples, who just want to work for themselves as a way to escape a 9-5 corporate job.
  • General partnership: the name of this type of business entity reflects its meaning. To form this entry, you need at least two or more co-founders to establish the company.
  • A limited partnership is different from a general partnership. With this limited partnership, general partners are the ones who own, operate, and take responsibility for the business in terms of legal and financial matters. And, for those limited partners who only act as an investor, they don’t have any power to influence the business Day to day operation and take on a few liabilities.
  • Limited liability company: this type of business entity seems to work best for small businesses because owners have limited liability for business debts or other liabilities.

Other forms of business entities are S corporations and C corporations, as those entities are used for large and medium-sized companies.

  • Business name: it is a must to have a name for your business together with the company slogan. This is because a good business name might have a big impression on the general public.
  • Logo helps to increase brand awareness and business image. The business startup can get help with professional Logo design by using affordable freelancing services such as Fiverr and Freelancer.com.
  • Company seal: it is important to obtain a company seal to stamp on important and legal documents such as employment contracts, invoices, and other legal documents.

Phase 2:Bank and Tax Registration

Corporate Bank Account: As part of the business startup checklist, entrepreneurs are required to obtain a company bank account, which allows them to use a corporate bank account to receive money from sales (income) and expenses.

In other words, the corporate bank account is separated from the personal bank account because all financial activities of the business are only used company bank account as it is legally binding under the law and regulation.

Tax registration: as a part of starting a new business, entrepreneurs must register tax identification numbers with the local government. It is a legal requirement to have a company tax registered because your company is required to pay corporate income tax.

Phase 3: Accounting Software and Marketing Strategy in Place

The next phase is to employ accounting software as it is an equally important ingredient to managing the business’s day-to-day finance in good shape.

In addition, it creates a much more easy job for the employee as the software will do most of the calculations automatically. Hence, employee productivity will be improved because they have more free time to work on other important tasks.

Alternatively, as part of starting a new business, you may seek to hire a local accountant to do all the calculations.

Marketing Strategy:  it is the tool to bring new customers and potential clients and partners to your business if you are committed to following the marketing plan that your business created.

Networking: as a part of the business plan, you need to establish a relationship with all the involved stakeholders and key people in the industry.

By attending the conferences and industry events, you will have a chance to get connected with other key people in the industry, and they might be your potential partners or clients in the future.

Read next: 8+ Online Business Ideas You Can Start with Little Money

Phase 4: List of Suppliers and Business Location

List of suppliers: This is one of the most important tasks from the business checklist for entrepreneurs.

This is because the value chain of the firm will depend on how good the suppliers are. Good suppliers can help to increase the higher level of competitiveness of the firm based on the quality of products, materials, and prices.

A company with multiple solid suppliers will also have a competitive advantage edge in the market because you can select another one to supply similar raw materials at a similar price in case of logistic disruption.

Importantly, always ask for a sample product when you first meet your potential suppliers. For this reason, it is determined if you want to establish a business contract with suppliers based on product quality.

I still remember one of the principles in the business book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Dr. Stephen R Covey. In part three of Habit 4, we must always seek a “ Win-Win” situation for both parties. This is a must-read book for anyone who just starting a new business and wants to understand how to motivate employees.

Related reading: Best Business Books to Read for Every Entrepreneur 2023

It is the only way to build a strong and long-term relationship with suppliers, which supports the growth of your business. This is because “win-lose, lose-win” neither won’t work out as either party will stop making a new deal if they are not satisfied with the previous deal.

Business location: the need to develop the habit of reviewing and reflecting upon the exact location, where the customer meets the salesperson. Sometimes a change in place can lead to a rapid increase in sales. 

For this reason, entrepreneurs should consider choosing a business location in a busy commercial operation area. In particular, a business startup’s physical office will be set up in a busy commercial area, where it is easily accessible to clients.

Related: The 7 Best Web Hosting Companies in 2023

 

Phase 5: Legal Document Templates: Employment Contract Agreement

As part of a business startup, you would require different types of legal documents. Some documents would need time and effort to produce.

For example, the company privacy policy and disclaimer are the two essential legal procedures, if your company also has a website.

The internet has changed the way we live and it also has a huge impact on business startups. Entrepreneurs just need to search for different types of free templates on the internet to download. 

However, you must ensure to get familiar with the type of template and make amendments necessary to suit your business context.

In particular, an employment contract agreement is a must for every business startup because you will need to have all the employment legal documents ready before starting to hire new staff.

Reading next: Hostinger Shared Hosting: Guides to Select Shared Hosting To Start A New Site

Start-up Cost

This section covers a full summary of the business start-up cost. Depending on the type of business, you would need to adjust accordingly to cope with the business connection.

Use the checklist as your preference for starting a new business.

Category Item
Tax
  • Business license Tax
  • VAT : 
  • Company Income Tax
Business office space
Website+Domain

Consider Vultr or Cloudways.

Web design and web hosting cost
Website  Maintenance
License

Logo

Company seal

Office Equipment

Business Registration

 

 

Notes: The checklist is only used as an example. And, you might make correct amendments to suit your business start-up.

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By Jiro Nguyen.

The content is only based on the author’s personal opinion and experience. It is for informational purposes only and does not rely on as a comprehensive or substitute for professional advice.

 

By Jiro Nguyen

Jiro Nguyen is a highly driven and skilled business management professional with an MBA in economics and management. He is also the founder of Jns-millennial.com. Moreover, he has a passion for writing and over 4 years of copywriting experience.

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