In How to Start a Business in One Day – Part One, we covered ways to come up with a business idea and issues revolving around creating a business name. Those parts, while difficult, are exciting and even fun, but there is a lot more to starting and operating a business in one day than, well, fun.
A platform
These days, when you think of a business you think about a brick-and-mortar shop and/or a website. If you are starting a business in one day, neither of these things are what you should think about.
A platform is important because your customers need to be able to find you. So, keeping that in mind, here are a few platforms you can use for free and you can set them up in less than an hour:
- Facebook and Facebook Marketplace – these are free, great ways to find and interact with your target audience. If you have a Facebook page, you should create a business page that attaches to it. Also, join groups that have interests similar to that of your business. If you want to sell things, you can post them for free on Facebook Marketplace or even set up a Facebook store (they charge 5% plus fees for payment processing, but this is cheaper than other online selling platforms).
- eBay – eBay makes it very easy to sell things even for new people. You can create an account and start selling within a day (usually). One thing to keep in mind is that they currently charge around 12% in seller fees so that should be factored into your expected margin.
- Offer up – This is kind of like Craigslist, but much more refined. You can sell locally or ship, but, of course, there are fees.
You should at least create a business Facebook page. This creates a way for your potential customers to contact you and learn a little bit about what you can offer them.
Keeping track of things
You can keep track of inventory and incoming/outgoing money with pen and paper if you want, but that is not a long-term solution. You really should learn the basics of Microsoft Excel so you can create your own spreadsheets. If you do not have access to Microsoft Office products, for free, you can create a Google Drive account and use Google Sheets which will offer the functionality you need to keep track of:
- Products
- Vendors
- Projects
- Sales
- Notes
- Revenue
- Costs
- Much more
You may not need to track some of those things on day one, but you will definitely need to track them in the future and day one is all about developing a framework for your future business needs.
Starting a business can be complex and intimidating. The last thing you want to do is find out in six months that your business is not viable, or you are in tax trouble. If you are new to being a business owner and you have questions, contact Dsouza and Strachan Law Group today. They have the knowledge and experience you need to be confident about your business’s future.