How to Start a Business in 10 Days

 

You are ready to start a business now. Then don’t wait for months to start your business, you need to get started immediately so that you can start making money.

Luckily, it doesn’t take extremely long to start a business today. With the power of the internet, you can design a business concept and potentially be in front of a thousand customers within days of your business idea’s conception.

Of course, this will take a lot of hard work to achieve – having an operating business that is servicing customers within a week and a half is no easy feat.

To develop a business this quickly, you will need a well-defined plan that is supported by swift and effective actions. Every step you take has to be strategic in order for your business to succeed in such a short amount of time. Any misstep can make 10 days drag out to a couple of weeks. You don’t want this to occur if your objective is to make money asap.

Therefore, you must outline your plan of action that will make your 10 day process achievable.

The following information will provide you with a comprehensive guideline on how to start your business in 10 days.

Related Article : What I wish to know before starting my own business

Day 1: Create a Business Plan

Your business plan is your detailed piece of documentation that guides the actions of your business. Without your business plan, you will be wasting more time and money, than actually accomplishing real business progress. With 10 days from conception to operating business, you have no time to waste.

One key thing to know is that your business plan is supposed to be written to focus on your long-term business vision. Of-course you want to start making money immediately, but you will need to ensure that you develop a system that produces money consistently, and not just quick money that doesn’t last. Therefore, you must focus on satisfying your customers’ needs rather than your needs.

When creating your business plan, focus primarily on your marketing, sales, and financial projections. You will need to know how you will communicate to your target market, how you will convert them into customers and what are the numbers needed to make a profit. These 3 things will be the core of your business operations, helping you generate money quickly.

You should refer to your business plan everyday to ensure that you are working towards your defined goals. This will help you keep your short-term actions in line with your long-term goals, which is how consistent progress and growth are produced.

Day 2: Analyze the Marketplace

When analyzing the marketplace, determine who your competitors are, the products or services they provide, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. This provides you with the information that helps you differentiate your business from the competition. As your business is differentiated, it will stand out to consumers, increasing their interest in learning about what you have to offer.

Knowing exactly who defines your target market is a must for your business’s success. You must know what your customer’s problems are so that you can provide them with the perfect solutions. Many businesses supply answers to problems, which are nothing but band-aids that eventually lose their strength. Your goal is to provide solutions that produce real results.

It is best to gather this valuable information directly from your target market. Here are some of the best ways to do this:

Participate in online forums

People use online forums to gather information about whatever the particular subject matter they are interested in. People who respond on forums usually have deep knowledge about the particular subject being discussed – establishing themselves as experts. Therefore you must utilize forums to establish your expertise, working to develop people’s interest in what your business will offer.

Engage on social media

Social media is a breeding ground for learning the needs and wants of your target market in real time. People are always praising or criticizing a product or service they have used via social media. You will need to insert yourself in these conversations and explain why your business provides a better solution. Now you are doing two things at one time – developing your social media presence and following and creating warm leads that can be converted into customers.

Talk to your competition’s customers

Find out who uses your competition’s products or services and ask them questions about the experience they are having. Use this valuable information to develop a business that is very attractive to your target market due to your ability to accurately communicate their pain points, and by effectively communicating the relief your business provides for their pain.

Day 3: Define Your Brand

You can’t have a successful business if people don’t know it exist. Your business’s branding process is about communicating the value or experience it provides, and establishing your presence in the marketplace. People’s interest are stimulated by visual images and hearing audio messages. Therefore, your business will have to communicate its message in multiple ways in order for your brand to resonate in the marketplace.

Since you will be working primarily online to build a business quickly, you will have various online marketing tools at your disposal to use for effective communication. The key when doing this is to have multiple branding messages operating at the same time, on many different platforms, so that your business is reaching as many people as possible. Just focusing on one platform for communication severely limits your reach, which will negatively affect your ability to create sales opportunities.

Here are a few platforms you can utilize for your branding campaign:

YouTube

YouTube is the second most used site in the world. People are always on YouTube looking at videos related to their particular interest at the moment. Your business will need to produce interesting videos that showcase the ins and outs of its operations. Show people the behind the scenes process of your business, show your business in action, and show people the fun times in your business. You want to showcase the many facets of your business so that people will feel like they are a part of your business – forming a closer connection which helps to build your business’s community of loyal supporters.

Facebook

It is almost mandatory for a business to have a presence on Facebook if it plans to succeed online. When using Facebook, your business needs to appeal to people’s emotions, which means you have to be effective with your words and provide appealing images. Facebook is community-based, so you want to involve people as much as possible. Instead of just broadcasting your business, ask people about their opinions about your product or service, create polls for people to participate within, create contest and giveaways – your goal is to be as interactive as possible on Facebook. And definitely utilize Facebook advertising to attract people who fit your business’s target market.

LinkendIn

If you want to build your network of professional connections or have a business that is B2B focused, LinkendIn is a definite platform for your business to develop its brand on. LinkedIn Pulse is a tool that business owners use to showcase their expertise by writing about various business issues. The goal is to effectively demonstrate your knowledge, having people follow your post because they believe your information is beneficial to their own business.

Twitter

Smart businesses use Twitter to direct people to other platforms, such as their website, Facebook, landing pages. Your business should also use Twitter to start is on conversations, using it is own #hashtag to build its community of followers.

Day 4: Incorporation of Business

Incorporating your business validates that you operate a legitimate business. The incorporation of your business also establishes the tax guidelines you will follow and the legal liability you will face as a business owner in case you face a lawsuit.

Luckily the incorporation of a business in Singapore is a very simple and quick process. Once you reserve your business name, and no objections are brought up about your chosen name, you can file for your business incorporation. The incorporation process in Singapore can take 2 days or less.

The legal entities that you can choose for your business include:

Limited Liability Company

A Limited Liability Company (LLC) is a company limited by shares, which means its liabilities are limited to the amount of share capital. LLC is a business entity registered under the Singapore Companies Act and a separate legal entity from its members. In a LLC, the liabilities of the owners are limited to the assets in the company and their personal assets are protected from business liabilities.

Private Limited Company

A private limited company is a LLC in which the shares are held by less than 50 persons and are not available to general public. A private limited company is the most advanced, flexible, and scalable type of business incorporation in Singapore. It’s also the most preferred type of Singapore business entity for serious entrepreneurs.

See also: Private Limited Company Registration

Sole Proprietorship

A sole proprietorship is the simplest but the riskiest type of business form in Singapore. From a legal perspective, sole proprietorship is not a separately incorporated entity and therefore the owner and the business are one and the same. The owner personally owns all assets and liabilities of the business. There is no protection of personal assets from business risks and liabilities. As the sole proprietor of a business, you have unlimited liability, meaning that if your business can’t pay all its liabilities, the creditors to whom your business owes money can come after your personal assets.

Partnership

The partnership type of business structure attempts to address the limited-expansion constraint faced by a sole proprietorship by allowing two or more people to establish and co-own a business. A partnership firm has no legal existence separate from its partners. It comes to an end with death, insolvency, incapacity or the retirement of a partner. Further, any unsatisfied or discontent partner can also give notice at any time for the dissolution of the partnership.

Day 5: Operate Lean

Don’t try to operate a big business when first starting out. Your goal is to start quickly, keep your overheads low, and make money. You can’t make money if you have expenses that keep your finances in the red rather than the black. Unless you are developing a product that will be used by millions of people and backed by venture capital and public investments, you won’t be able to lose money and still remain in business.

You don’t need an expensive office space and a team of employees to get your business started. All you need is a computer, a distraction-free location to work, and the ability to conduct sales transaction. That’s all you need. There is no need to make the process complicated, detracting from the basic purpose of a business – the exchange of goods and services for money.

The are many people operating 6 figure businesses that were ran by themselves (besides back-end support) within their homes, their local coffee shop or co-working space, or from anywhere in the world. The development of the online business world has made the ability to reach customers all over the world very easy. Once again, keep your operating expenses low and your sales high and your business will produce profit rather than revenue.

Day 6: Sell Immediately

People won’t just find your business and start buying. You will need to get out and hustle up customers. Even if your business isn’t officially open for business, you will still need to focus all your efforts on selling. Without sales taking place, your business makes no money and you don’t eat. You didn’t create a business for such a circumstance to occur.

Look for any networking events that are taking place near you, create online advertising, go door-to-door to businesses or homes – do whatever it takes to place yourself in front of actual people. Sales is a numbers game. You will receive more no’s than yes’s, but a yes could turn into a big sales transaction. Therefore you never give up when turned down, because there is always an opportunity to turn the next person into a customer.

The key to selling is knowing your customer’s pain points and effectively communicating your business’s solutions. This develops the perceived value related to your products or services, which can either be beneficial or a deterrent in regards to the prices you can set. High value means you can charge high prices. Low values means you have to charge low prices.

Another important factor to have in mind when selling is having tiered pricing. Tiered pricing allows your business to capture many people within that marketplace, at various price points. This allows you to make more money because your customer base is not too narrow, and it also provides you with the opportunity to upsell to lower tiered priced customers.

Read More » 10 Proven Ways to Make Money Online

Day 7: Communicate with Media

If you want your business to become known to the public quickly, you will need to make media connections. The media is always looking for new stories to report on, and if your company is interesting enough, it can gain favorable media coverage.

Reach out to your local news stations, local newspapers, and even national media outlets. It doesn’t matter if it is a big media outlet or a small media outlet, any type of coverage will help boost your business’s profile.The key to doing this is explaining the value of your business – the problem you are solving and in what manner. If your story is compelling it can potentially be broadcast to millions of people.

Such an opportunity would produce a surge in your website traffic, get your phones ringing all day long, and increase your ability to convert hot leads into customers. So you must be prepared for the surge of interest. If you can’t meet the demand brought on from the exposure, then your business could be faced with serious consequences – possibly failure.

Day 8: Look Big

Just because you are a small business, it doesn’t mean that you have to appear like a small business. This doesn’t mean rent a big office to appear like you are making a lot of money. It means that your presence communicates that you operate a professional business.

You can invest in a 1-800 number, which indicates that you have an international presence. Also, instead of using @gmail.com for your emails, your business should use company email accounts. Company email accounts legitimize your business to a customer, establishing your professionalism and ability to conduct good business.

A great website also impacts your business tremendously, so it is essential that you invest in the design and performance of your business’s website. Outdated websites or those that are confusing get bypassed by people, never to be returned to again. Your website should be filled with nothing but easy to read information, it should be simple to navigate, and it should be easy for people to make a purchase. This helps turn your website into a cash generating machine for your business.

Day 9: Build and Grow Your Business

When you are first starting your business, you will have to work both in and on your business. This means you have to handle various business processes, while still working to bring in more customers. It can be a grueling process but it is a necessary if you want to develop a successful business.

Operating an online business might seem like an easy endeavor but it involves a lot of activities to make your business function properly. You will need to develop your products or services, write effective content, sell your products or services, market your products or services, handle customer support and much, much more. Unless you have a nice budget starting out so that you can outsource some of these duties, you will have to handle all these responsibilities on your own.

As your business grows and cash flow is consistent, you can hire in-house help to run your daily activities while you focus on growth activities. At least try to generate a 6 figure business on your own before seeking to hire employees or independent contractors.

Related Article : Signs it’s time for you to become an entrepreneur

Day 10: Celebrate Your Opening

After a lot of hard work, lack of sleep and bouts of anxiety, it is time to celebrate the opening of your business to the public. But even when you are celebrating, your focus is on achieving a business initiative – generating awareness about your business.

When celebrating your incorporated business invite your network of contacts, vendors, friends, family, customers and prospects. This will help you generate buzz and goodwill within your local community. This act enhances your image, communicating to people that you’re open for business.

Creating a business in such a short amount of time can be an exhausting process but well worth the effort when the money starts coming in. During your 10 day marathon, you are developing your foundation, creating your systems of operation, and establishing your business’s presence within the marketplace.

If you do everything right, you will learn that making money isn’t the hard part – keeping up with the demand for your products and services is what’s hard to handle. Develop a business that operates lean and is quick to deliver, attractive to your consumers, and stays ahead of the competition. If you do these things well, your business receives the benefit of having loyal customers and it will experience consistent growth.

So what is stopping you from getting your business started within the next 10 days? If you really want to be a business owner, then you will have no problem stepping up to the 10-day business start challenge. There are entrepreneurs who build products within 10 days and make 5 figure sums as soon as their product is launched. This is because they understand the process of marketing and selling prior to product release. Your business should follow the same format – making money as soon as it opens for business.

Related Reading » Setting up a Retailing Business in Singapore

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34 Success Tips for New Business Owners

 

As a new business owner, you can become overwhelmed with the process of developing and operating a business. This is not like being an employee when you are told what to do and when to accomplish your tasks. You are the one who is in charge of yourself and the success or failure of your business. You are accountable for your actions, so you have no one else to blame for your shortcomings but yourself.

When starting a new business, you will need to make sure that you are focused on your core business goals, implement the correct systems, and operate with strategically effective actions. All three of these components are needed because operating a business demands so much from you. The only way you will succeed is by detailed and thorough preparations.

Provided are 34 tips for new business owners. Follow these tips if you want to ensure you develop a business that is successful.

1) Create a business plan with a specific goal

It is not a good idea to create a business plan that is filled with generic information. You need to create a business plan that specifically states your goals and how they will be achieved. For example, instead of vaguely planning to make a profit in your first year, set definite and specific targets. For example, you could aim for $500,000 in revenue and $150,000 in profit within the first year of operations. This specific target will be something concrete to work towards. You can measure success or failure according to how close you are to achieving it and make the necessary changes of direction when things do not seem to be going well.

2) Keep your day job until your business gains traction

Do not follow your emotions and give up a stable, paying job to operate a business that has no paying customers full-time. While you are building your business, keep your job so that you have money coming in to support not only your business costs, but also your personal life. You should only quit your job when your business can cover your monthly expenses for the foreseeable future,or you have saved up enough money to cover your expenses for at least a year.

3) Think BIG

It makes no sense to start a business that only gets you by. A business should be started to provide you with a lifestyle full of abundance and wealth. The only way this is accomplished is by pursuing big goals that produce big results. You have to challenge yourself to be the best in your industry, so that you attract big opportunities and high-paying clients.

4) Have a backup plan

As much as you would like to control the entirety of your business, the reality is that you cannot. There will be times when you lose a client, are faced with unexpected circumstances, and do not make the sale. This is why you never should only have one option that you are dependent on. You need to always have backup options in place so that you can continue moving forward without losing a step.

Related Article: 22 qualities of great business leaders

5) Plan for capital

You need to know how much money will be needed to develop and operate your business. It can be a very frustrating experience when you run out of money – halting your business’s progression. Therefore, you need to have your capital in place and know how you will get it in order for your business to sustain and grow.

6) Plan for success

Success will not just be served to you on a silver platter., You will have to work for it. In order to be successful though, you will need to develop a plan that outlines how your strategy will work to accomplish your goals. You will need to identify the people who are needed, the activities you must do, and the financial milestones you must reach. When your plan covers all sectors of your business, you increase your chances of succeeding.

7) Form an advisory board

You will not know everything as a business owner and should not be expected to know everything. This is why you need to have an advisory board of people whom you can consult before making a decision. Your advisory board needs to be filled with experienced business people who can guide you towards making your business successful.

8) Find a mentor

Mentors are people who are very successful business owners who are willing to share their knowledge and experiences with you. These are individuals who have earned success but have made some mistakes along the way. The knowledge that they impart to you will cut your learning curve in half and help you create successful habits that lead to sound business practices. Find mentors for every stage of your growth. You never become too successful to learn from others who have preceded you.

9) Create a powerful support system

Entrepreneurship can be a very challenging and demanding venture. There will be times when you will feel overcome with frustrations trying to turn your business into a success. During these times, you will need people whom you can turn to for advice and support. These individuals can be family and friends, but it would be beneficial if your support group was made up of other entrepreneurs too. They understand your challenges and know how to provide sound advice that can help your business overcome its challenges.

10) Invest in hiring the right people

The employees that work for you are a representation of your business. Any mistakes they make will cast a negative perception upon your business. Therefore, you need to only hire individuals who possess the same business values you possess. Also, hire people who possess the skillsets you need to operate a successful business. You do not have the ability to do everything yourself and should not be trying to do so.  Find the right people to delegate tasks to.

11) Do not engage with naysayers

People will try to discount your dreams because they are afraid to take risks themselves. They will tell you how you are making the wrong decision. They will say you need to take the safe route and get a job. They may even say you are stupid and will never succeed. Keep away from these people. They will be the same people asking you for a favor when your business turns into a success.

12) Do not skip over strategy

You need to know what your objective is before you start doing anything. Many entrepreneurs mess up by doing what they feel is best, without actually knowing what is the best move to make. You need to understand your marketplace, the competition, and your customers so that your actions are developed from strategic insight and not assumptions.

13) Be flexible

You cannot be so rigid that you are unwilling to change direction when your original plan does not work. Sometimes your improvised course of action will provide you better results than your initial plan would have. Therefore, you have to be willing to make changes when it is necessary

14) Meetings should be no longer than 45 minutes

Your time is very important. You should be focusing on actions, not spending time discussing vague ideas. Quickly go over the points that need to be discussed and then move towards taking action. The more time you waste in meetings, the less work you are able to get done.

15) Keep moving forward

It does not matter if you face setbacks or your business is not growing at the rate you would like. You must continue working because consistent progression eventually leads to results being produced. Analyze the actions you are taking and switch things up to see if you get different results.

16) Do not overthink

You cannot allow fear to hold you back from meeting your goals. There will be many obstacles and challenges that can discourage you from pursuing your goals. Use these challenges as motivation, instead of validation as to why you should give up. The most successful entrepreneurs all faced challenges on their way to the top.

17) Technology is your friend

Use technology to grow your business. Instead of trying to do everything yourself, technology now allows for you to automate your processes. This allows for you to get more done and reach more people while focusing on your core competencies and other important tasks that require your time. Technology is an asset that can make your small business operate on a large scale.

18) Go mobile

78% of mobile users made a purchase as a result of an online local search. Therefore, you need to have a website that is optimized for mobile users. You do not want to miss online sales due to bad mobile user experience of your website.

19) Build your personal brand

In today’s world, customers want to do business with people they know beyond surface level biodata on business websites. This is why a lot of influencers are using social media to show people the personal side of their lives, and how they work to be successful. YouTube and Instagram are two of the best social media platforms for you to build your personal brand. Use these social media platforms to engage with your customers and build a stronger brand with a wider reach.

Related Reading » Social Media Strategies For Your Company

20) Consistently market and brand your business

Marketing is something that should not be done off and on. Your marketing needs to be an ongoing effort so that you are keeping your sales pipeline full with leads that can be converted into customers. If your pipeline is empty, then you are not marketing enough. Sporadic marketing will lead to you being anxious because you are wondering where your next customer will come from. You never want to have this type of feeling, which is why you need to invest in your marketing.

21) Your branding needs to be cohesive

What you do online needs to be done offline. Your branding needs to be consistent so that people associate it with your business’s identity and values no matter what format it is being presented in. Therefore, your logos need to remain the same along with the colors you use. Do not use one tag line on your website and a different one on your printed marketing materials. Keep everything consistent so that no confusion is created.

22) Never skip a conversation

In business, the more contacts you have means the more opportunities you are presented with. You should engage others when they engage with you because you never know who they know, or the opportunities they possess themselves. Therefore, you need to be open to communicating with everyone you meet — they could lead to your next big opportunity.

23) Network to develop your net worth

As an entrepreneur, your network needs to be full of other ambitious entrepreneurs who are focused on success. They are out meeting just as many people as you are. You all can share contacts with each other that help each individual’s business prosper. This is why you need to work on building your network every single day. An opportunity always exists – you just need the right bridge to lead you to that opportunity.

24) Send handwritten notes

Handwritten notes go long way when sent to clients, prospects, and employees. They show that you took the time to express your gratitude for their business or work. These warm expressions are more effective than an email because unlike an email which is deleted and forgotten, they may be remembered and cherished for a long time.

25) Encourage your team to grow

You need to let your team pursue challenges and make mistakes if you want them to grow and become successful. Never get mad when mistakes are made. You need to allow your team to discover how to succeed on their own so they will become more self-sufficient – not needing your guidance every step of the way.

26) Use rejection as motivation

You are going to be told ‘No’ quite often so you need to learn how to use this rejection as motivation. People rejecting your proposal is basically rejecting your business. This should be used as motivation to improve your business so that people cannot find any reason to tell you ‘No’ in future meetings. Take the time to eliminate your weaknesses and reinforce your strengths.

27) Trust your instincts

When you feel as if the person you are dealing with is untrustworthy, or the proposed deal is not right for you, ditch them. You do not want to neglect your instincts and then regret having to deal with an issue you should never have gotten yourself into.

28) Stop selling and start serving

When trying to make a sale, do not try to force your business on people. You come across as pushy and unaware of the buyer’s needs. Instead, you need to focus on the value that your product or service provides. When you effectively communicate how your offer solves the customer’s problem, they will be pushing you to make the sale.

29) Understand your customer’s needs

When you understand your customer’s need, you create products and services that will be demanded. You need to know exactly what problems your customers are having and create the best solutions to eradicate those problems. Understand the lifestyle or business success they want to achieve and provide them with the tools to accomplish their goals.

30) Stay in contact with your customers

Your customers’ needs will change over time and you need to be aware of these changes. Ask them probing questions that will get them to open up about what they want in a provider. This allows you to provide the tailored services they need, instead of losing your customers to more innovative competitors who take the time to keep in touch with and sincerely listen to their customers.

31) Stay committed to education

Even though you may be an expert in what you do, it does not mean that you cannot be open to learning more. Your industry will always be changing, and you need to stay on top of these changes so you can continue to provide the best value to your customers. You also need to learn about different aspects of your business you lack knowledge in. You do not necessarily want to be an expert in everything, but you do want to have a working knowledge about each aspect of your business.

32) Be willing to fight

You will be facing an uphill battle when building your new business. Your competition will already be established in the marketplace, and customers will overlook your business because it has no presence in the marketplace. You will need to block out all of these challenges and focus on creating the best business possible. When you are focused on providing value to your customers, the hard work that you do will lead you towards developing a successful business that is recognized by your customers and competition.

33) Be your biggest critic

You need to be the one who points out all of your weaknesses before your customers get a chance to. You want to be very honest with yourself so that you know where you need to make changes in order to improve the performance of your business. This allows you to be a great seller because you thoroughly know the ins and outs of your business and are prepared for all the difficult questions that may come your way.

34) Follow through on your promises

Your word means everything in business. If you tell somebody that you will do something, make sure that you get it done. When you do not keep your promises, you are seen as a person who is unreliable and cannot be trusted. You do not want this kind of reputation because it will make it hard for you to keep contacts and further grow your business.

Read More » How to Sell Effectively and Become a Leader

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Focus on achieving success. Leave the rest to us.

Singapore Company Incorporation is the leading force in company registration in Singapore. With a gamut of services including Work Visas & Relocation, Accounting & Taxation, Business Licenses, Company Secretary and Trademark Registration, we are well-positioned to support your business.

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