• 1. Create an Idea 💡

• 1. Validate the idea. Ensure it solves a real-life problem, and you can monetize it.
• 2. Check the idea for viability. Ensure there is a solution to the problem and that you can solve it.
• 3. Evaluate market size. Get an idea of the potential target audience and competition.
• 4. Learn how to start a business. Expand your reading list, use online courses, network.
• 5. Prepare your family and friends. Explain your new commitment and get everyone on board.
• 6. Be sure you want this. Be honest with yourself about your motivation and goals before you move forward.

• 2. Find Your Product/Market Fit

• 1. Identify your target customer. Once you do, retain laser focus on the few archetypes or personas most likely to become your advocates.
• 2. Focus on one offer. Instead of trying to satisfy every need and desire, focus on your core offer and make it irresistible to the target audience.
• 3. Tighten the value proposition. Identify the benefits your customers cannot receive elsewhere and ignore the desire to dilute the core product with extra offers.
• 4. Rinse and repeat. Achieving the product/market fit once doesn't guarantee its long-term existence. Stay flexible and evaluate the target audience's needs and your core offers regularly using customer feedback and market trends.

• 3. Write a Business Plan

• 1. Executive summary. The first section should be the last one you write, as it's a condensed version of your business plan that explains your business and product in a handful of paragraphs.
• 2. Company description. Explain your business model and growth strategies, values, mission, and structure.
• 3. Offer description. Go into detail about what you're going to offer to the customers, including the unique value proposition you've determined when you found the product/market fit. A pricing model should also make an appearance.
• 4. Market analysis. That's where you can formalize all the research you've done into your target audience, competition, and niche as a whole. You may include user personas and segments.
• 5. Marketing and sales plans. Think of the most impactful way to launch the project, attract leads, and convert them into paying customers. This section should include your primary marketing channels and platforms, as well as customer relationship management (CRM) tools.
• 6. Team structure outline. With all your plans laid out, think about how many people you need and which roles they should take. You should also consider future scaling possibilities and how much more talent you might need to hire to accommodate explosive growth.
• 7. Financial requirements and plans. Now is the time to estimate how much money you need to build the product, hire the talent, and put in place every plan and strategy. This section will tell you how much funds you need to raise to implement the idea. However, you should also include your revenue streams and expected profit figures, as well as sales goals and financial variables that may affect your financial situation.

• 4. Line up the Team

• 1. Establish a founding team. Get one or more people to help you manage responsibilities and balance business decisions.
• 2. Nurture a business culture. Identify startup mission and values, keep them in mind during development, and use them in marketing.
• 3. Set up a communication framework. Decide on the preferred modes of communication, create meeting templates, start a wiki.
• 4. Select project management and issue tracking tools. Keep track of the development progress and identify bottlenecks.
• 5. Hire an outsourcing technical partner. Split the tasks between the in-house and offshore teams for increased efficiency and budget savings.

• 5. Develop a Marketing and Sales Strategy

• 1. Brand identity development. You need to decide what emotions you want to inspire, what values you want to transmit through the product, and keep the message consistent throughout all communication channels. Setting up your brand identity early on will promote brand recognition and loyalty.
• 2. Online presence building. With the target audience and brand identity settled, you can establish social media and advertising accounts to attract the first prospects. Email newsletter, blog, and website are equally important for both marketing and sales strategies. (How to build a successful website)
• 3. Sales funnel set up. Generating traffic won't help you break even, but turning leads into customers will. You need to decide on your conversion strategy and automate it to guarantee the maximum conversion rate 24/7.
• 4. Sales tools set up. CRM should be at the top of your priorities list, even if you start with a straightforward spreadsheet listing customer info and purchases. Whether you go the DIY, ready-made, or custom CRM route, it will become a crucial part of your sales infrastructure.
• 5. Sales goals. If you've written the business plan already, you know exactly how many sales you need to make to break even and let your business grow. Prime your team to meet these goals, analyze why they can't be met, and quickly respond to occurring problems. (💰10 marketing tricks 'billion-dollar' companies use)

• 6. Register Your Business and the Name

• 1. Decide on a business structure. Startups usually start as sole proprietorships, partnerships, or limited liability companies (LLCs), and only the most successful ones grow into corporations. Each of the options comes with pros and cons when it comes to liability, daily operations, and tax reporting. LLCs are the best for getting initial funding and limiting the owners' personal liability, which makes this structure especially popular among new businesses.
• 2. Choose and register your brand name. Brainstorm, research, and survey potential customers. Once you have a shortlist of names, learn which ones are available in your state or country, and which are trademarked. After registering your business according to the chosen structure, you can file for a trademark to protect your intellectual property.
• Depending on the country your business is registered in and your line of work, you might need to acquire a business license, a seller's permit, and other paperwork necessary to make your business legal. Use advice from the following section to stay out of legal trouble

• 7. Avoid Legal Issues

• 1. Find a lawyer. Set them to take care of incorporation, licenses, permits, contracts, and intellectual property ownership.
• 2. Allocate equity. Split equity among the founding team members that are interested in the long-term success to avoid future misunderstandings.
• 3. Get employer ID numbers. Remember both federal and state requirements.
• 4. Research and set up business insurance policies. Get property and general liability insurance, as well as a business owner's policy.

• 8. Take Care of Finances

• 1. Hire an accountant. Set up an accounting system to streamline and automate financial and tax reports.
• 2. Get a business bank account and credit card. Keep your personal and business finances separate for easy reporting.
• 3. Create a pitch set. Craft your fundraising elevator pitch, executive summary, and pitch deck.
• 4. Update your founding team's online profiles. Make your Facebook and LinkedIn professional and investor-ready.
• 5. Raise money. Choose among bootstrapping, loans, equity financing, crowdfunding, or their combination.
• 6. Keep exit options open. Be ready to sell your company, go public, or keep running the business in perpetuity.

• 9. Get Product and Business Opportunities

• 1. Develop a minimum viable product. Use a prototype, design mockups, or an MVP for fundraising and getting first adopters' feedback. (List of places to launch your MVP)
• 2. Work on branding. Establish a company image and keep to it when communicating with customers.
• 3. Prioritize user-centric UX/UI design. Work on personas and user stories to make the product intuitive and user-friendly, go through usability testing. (Landing Page Design Checklist)
• 4. Choose marketing channels. Consider SEO, SMM, PR, word of mouth, and their combinations for maximum awareness.
• 5. Develop a business launch strategy. Harness this opportunity to carve out a market share and gain the target audience's attention. (Product Hunt Launch Checklist)
• 6. Set up distribution channels. Select online and offline sales platforms or establish an automated sales system.
• 7. Harness the data. Collect and analyze product performance data, including acquisition, activation, retention, referral, and revenue.
• 8. Scale up your offer. Consider adding new features or expanding to new markets once MVP development pays for itself and starts generating profit.
• Original article