- Startup Website Smarts-Steps for Digitally Launching Your Business
When you’re first starting out in business, the choices can be overwhelming. What kind of business cards do you get? Where should you host your website? What kind of marketing should you do? The list goes on and on. And, while you can waste your money going down a million wrong paths, you don’t have to. Here’s what to focus on first.
Your Website
One of the first things you need to think about is your website. Every business that does business online needs one. And, many of them turn to a good Perth web design company because they don’t have the skills to make a professional website themselves.
This is one area where you do want to spend money, because your company’s site is the first impression people will get about your brand.
The site should load quickly, display information about who you are, and how you can help your ideal client. You should also focus on making the contact information easy to find. And, don’t forget to include a call to action that’s easy to understand and tells visitors exactly what they should expect when they do contact you.
Defining Your Target Market
Target markets aren’t always easy to define. You have to know what problem you solve, and what problem you can solve for a specific market. When you don’t know this, marketing can become very painful.
A few guides that can help you flesh out your value proposition include:
How To Stand Out Online: 43 Experts Share Their Top Tips
A Step-By-Step Guide To Defining Your Target Market
How To Stand Out In A Crowded Niche
What is Your Value Proposition
Once you’ve figured out your value proposition and your target market it’s time to work on…
Your Company’s Culture
Company culture refers to how your company behaves both internally and toward its market. When you think of a company culture, you usually think about how that company’s values and ethics impact how it does business.
It’s something that connects you to your ideal customers. If you don’t cultivate it, you won’t have very loyal customers. Think about how Apple cultivates a particular kind of internal culture, and how that attracts certain kinds of buyers.
Do this in your company.
A Plan For Growth
Without a plan for growth, you’re going to starve and eventually go out of business. Planning for growth means setting one year, five year, and ten year expectations, with the realization that you might not hit those goals.
At the same time, having goals is important. Goals keep you focused and moving forward. If you’re not used to setting challenging goals, try using goal-setting software and apps like Goals On Track and LifeTick.
Think about your long-term goals, like where you ultimately want your business to go. For some business owners, the end game is an exit strategy that lets them sell the business at a profit so they can retire rich somewhere on the beach, sipping fancy-coloured tropical drinks.
For other business owners, the dream is to never sell the company – to work in it until they die.
Decide how you want to run your company, where you want it to go, and how you will get it there. Big, overarching goals, are purposes (sometimes, businesses have a single purpose, sometimes, there are multiple purposes).
Then, from those major goals and purposes there are smaller goals – goals that help the business get from where they are now to where they need to be. Sometimes, these are called “milestones.”
Micro-goals, or tasks, are the individual actions that need to be done on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis to hit milestones .
Your Co-Founder or Partner
Many small businesses never think about their business ending, but it’s a reality for many – especially when there’s a partner involved. Sometimes, the two of you end up going off in different directions.
Sometimes, you end up figuring out that you don’t make great business partners after all.
But, sometimes, the partner dies unexpectedly. Yeah, that’s a shock.
That’s why business owners need to invest in life insurance, or some other financial contract that can buy out the other half’s business interest. Many business owners don’t realize that, if the partner dies, the partner’s family inherits the partner’s share in the company.
And, unless that family has good business acumen, or is on the “same page” with you, you probably don’t want to be in that position. A buy-sell agreement, funded with life insurance, gives you a quick “out” if the unthinkable happens.
And, while it’s a little morbid, it’s better than not planning at all.
Andew SkenderAustraliaCEO: IHub Software Solutions PTY IndonesiaCEO: PT IHub Solutions International I am a qualified Software Engineer from Australia. I have a passion with mobile technology and mobile field service software; however, most of my time now is spent running two companies one in Australia and the sister company in Indonesia. We now have 9 staff and growing quickly.
