So you've taken the leap, you have started your business, cultivating your dream career, and you have taken the time to create your personal and professional brand, and you're ready to hit the ground running.
So what else do you need to do?
Logo
While it isn't essential to have a company logo, when you are building a brand, it is an important part of clients being able to identify your company and now that when they see this logo, they are dealing with you. Think of how many companies you can identify just from looking at their logo?
Choosing a logo for your company should incorporate elements of your brand name and company ethos. Be clever with your logo to allow you to use as few elements as possible. Your logo should be impactful and clear, so you need to avoid using too many words or over complicated designs and graphics.
Make sure it works across different mediums such as the website logo, social media banner, and other marketing items. Don't forget signs and in-person displays, such as those in this style, as logos have to look very different when not in a digital format.
Online Presence
In this digital age, starting a business without a website can put you at a disadvantage with your competitors before you even start. Worldwide, over 81% of people will do online research for a product or service before purchasing, and if you aren't showing up in those results, you can guarantee people will be looking elsewhere.
Even if you purchase a domain name and set up a landing page with need-to-know information to help you get started. A visible presence online will help you build brand awareness that you can cultivate to help you grow your business.
Once you have your domain name and company name solidified – a good thing or bear in mind is to buy different variations of your domain name so other people can't use it. Think .com, .UK, .net, .org. Use this to create social media accounts associated with your company, even if it is just updated with a trading commencement date and bare information of what you will be offering.
Contact Details
How exactly can people get a hold of you to find out more? Many people can overlook having the right, dedicated details when opening up a business and assume people will know how to contact them, when in reality, maybe they won't. Use this time to set up phone numbers, fax if needed, email addresses, chat support on websites and monitor inboxes.
Marketing
Once you have your contact details organized, you can add them to your website, social media accounts, and marketing products you might be using. It's important to go all-in with your social media marketing now too. Be sure to be consistent, create great content, and use a hashtag generator Instagram to help you get seen.
Your marketing efforts need to be reinforced by having easily accessible methods of contacting you, preferably via more than one medium. Therefore, include as many as you can in an inventive way on your products.
For example, look at the most inventive ways to design business cards before choosing a company such as Aura Print to bring your creative ideas to life on your physical marketing products or branded items; employees uniforms, store signage, window displays, packaging, and so on.
Time
A common factor people do not budget for is overshooting pans and timelines. Time is money, and if things aren't going to plan, you can expect your costs to spiral. This is something you don't want to think about happening, but failing to take into account any delays or issues can be costly, as can leaving things too late leading you to rush and make mistakes or miss vital aspects you need to focus on.
Cleaning
Does your business need a cleaner? Or will you need cleaning supplies to help you maintain high levels of health and safety compliance? Cleaning materials or hiring a cleaner can be an added expense you didn't factor into your original budget. Just because you didn't originally factor for it doesn't mean it's not important. Beyond meeting the healthy and safety guidelines, utilising cleaning services such as those found at greenfacilities.co.uk is vital in reducing the spread of germs and bacteria that can make your employees unwell. Unclean office spaces can increase the risk of your workers falling ill and being unable to work, harming your output and ultimately your bottom line. Beyond this, ensuring that cleaning is regularly done will make the office a more appealing place to be, incentivising workers to use the office space more than simply working at home, if you've got a hybrid working system in place.
Additional Costs
You may believe you have everything figured out in terms of costs, but something always sneaks up on you. It would be best if you were prepared for any additional costs, whether due to maintenance issues, unforeseen obstacles that cause building construction to be delayed, or entirely.
Consider how long it could take you to hire and train any employees you might need and any onboarding process they have to take. The unexpected cost of employees includes staff absences, tools for them to do their job, supplies such as office materials, cleaning and hygiene items etc.
In conclusion, plan for everything you can think of to help you allocate your budget and remove any unwanted or unexpected expenses when starting your business.
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