Celebrating #Canada150 With 100 Steps To Starting Your Small Business
Category: Business Planning
On July 1st 2017, Canada turns 150. WOW!
To celebrate the birth of Canada along with CanadaStartups.org, we invite you to take on the challenge of starting your small business with our 100 Steps To Starting Your Small Business.
With the country turning 150 why not do something special and make the next 150 years really be memorable for you, for your children and your children’s children. Build a legacy, and start with your very own small business.
150 Steps To Starting a Small Business in Canada
Please note that these 100 steps should be followed one at a time and preferably with expert guidance and assistance. Be sure to try out the Small Business Startup Portal to ensure that you complete these steps with ease. Our Startup Portal provides you the Startup Guide, Interactive Timeline, Business Plan Builder Tool, Investor PitchDeck, Funding Database and all of the assistance you may require to complete the 150 steps quickly, easily and at limited cost. For more details on our Startup Portal click here.
- Think about your small business idea.
- Is business ownership right for you?
- Do you have the time to make it work?
- What industry do are you most interested in?
- What is the problem that you want to solve with your business idea?
- How do you plan on solving that problem/What is unique about your idea?
- How will you do it?
- Why will you do it?
- Where will you do it?
- When will you do it?
- Who will buy what you’re offering?
- Who are your competitors?
- Research your competition in-depth.
- What are your needs to make it all happen?
- What are the requirements you must meet to make it happen?
- Consider creating and following a checklist. It’s a lot to do…
- Think about the money needed.
- Start thinking about creating a business plan. Rough notes
- Review your entire progress so far. It’s important to ensure you don’t miss something or that you don’t change your mind.
- Will you have the time to make it work for sure? Repeat step but important to judge your success.
- Take your rough business plan notes and review.
- Start your real business plan. Get some help if you need it.
- Review all components of a business plan and make more notes
- Write your company description
- Complete your market analysis
- Complete your competitive analysis
- Write your management and organization description
- Breakdown your products and/or services
- Write your marketing plan
- Complete your financial projections
- Write your executive summary
- Complete a “bottom line” needs/wants document
- Proofread your business plan
- Share your business plan with friends and family for edits/questioning
- Make the necessary changes and adjustments
- Ask for a professional business plan review
- Make the necessary changes and adjustments
- Summarize your Needs to make it all work
- Summarize your Requirements to make it all work
- Create a to-do list to ensure it all gets done.
- Start your research for a website
- Find designs of websites that you like and would like to have
- Register a domain name for your business
- Register for a hosting account
- Create a business/website logo
- Get your website up and running
- Populate your website with content/images and your products/service information
- Start tracking your website and visitors
- Plan your website marketing plan
- Start a social media marketing plan
- Register for Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn…etc. business account
- Go back to your Needs and Requirements
- Legitimize your business (register it)
- Ensure you meet all licensing and registration requirements
- Figure out your finances
- How much do you have?
- How much do you need?
- What do you need it for?
- Where will you get it?
- Start with personal savings, family and friends
- Visit the banks
- Look for private investments
- Look for government funding
- Get professional help in your financing search
- Prepare for “being denied financing”
- What is your startup plan?
- When will you be ready to launch?
- What do you still need to launch?
- Get it done!
- What is your contingency plan?
- Are you hiring help?
- Do you need wage subsidies to help you pay employees?
- Get help using existing tools.
- Create a business presentation for investors
- Practice presenting in front of family and friends
- Find private investors
- Find government programs (grants and loans)
- Make a list of applicable government grants
- Make a list of applicable government loans
- Make a list of applicable private investors
- Apply for government grants
- Apply for government loans
- Apply for private investors
- What do you do if you get denied funding form all sources?
- Review your plan before making any further moves. Any changes?
- Get on social media and start promoting
- Get on paid advertising and start promoting
- Your advertising should be turned on
- Share your business with your family and friends for a boost
- Review your idea one more time
- Review your business plan one more time
- Continue the search for funding and financing (should be on-going)
- Ask for advice before you fully launch
- Fix last minute changes
- Launch your small business
- Wait and see what happens and improve from there on.
- Continue working on your social media presence
- Continue working on your advertising campaigns
- Continue working on your website
- Continue improving your business plan and applying for funding.
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