Disha Bheda is our coordinator for the San Francisco breakfast, she has pulled together a checklist of questions for entrepreneurs to think about before starting their business.
Once a business idea is in place, the entrepreneur should address the following issues:
- How will my product/service help potential customers.
- Who will be my target market?
- Have I researched my competition and the characteristics of my target market?
- What will be the business model? How will I generate revenue.
- Do I already have customers? How will I get customers?
- What is my strategy?
- When to start the business?
Adequate thought must be put into the resources that will be needed and funding that will be required to conceive the business idea and make it a reality.
- What resources will be required initially?
- Will I work out of home, buy or rent an office space?
- Will I need to hire people to help out
- What equipment or office furniture/supplies will I require?
- What will be my marketing costs?
- Will I quit my job? Work part-time? Set up the business part-time?
- Will I be able to commit time, as initially, the business will require a lot of work.
- Will I be able to afford or am I willing to sacrifice my current lifestyle?
- How will I fund my business? Can I fund it out of my pocket/borrow from friends,relatives/bank/VC
- What will be the recurring cost? Will the initial funds be able to cover them or will the business be able to pay for them?
Legal formalities to be completed.
- Register your business name with the local government
- Business structure – will you business be a sole proprietorship/partnership/LLc or corporation
- Will you require any licenses to operate the business
- How and when should you file your taxes?
- Will I hire a lawyer and accountant or will I carry out legalities on my own?