In this article we talk about the first step: how you, new entrepreneurs, can start your own business. Let’s dive straight into it.
The steps
The process is not complicated at all. First you need to choose a company type, register your company with the tax authorities, and get started.
To succeed as a self-employed worker and entrepreneur, however, there are more steps you need to take and more work to put in. These steps include:
Designing a business plan
Finance your start-up
Attract customers
Find your way of working by creating a functioning everyday life.
Mindset
Running your own business is about so much more than simply providing services/products. Running your own business is a skill in itself and it is often built in several stages. Some of them you will have a penchant for and maybe get used to, while others will feel new, challenging and daunting.
As a self-employed person and entrepreneur, you take responsibility for designing your everyday life, your work environment, and your safety systems. You arrange the influx of customers yourself through marketing and you set up your own systems for how you deliver your services/products.
Freedom doesn’t come for free
There is great freedom to be found in a self-employed’s and entrepreneurship life. You can work where you want, how you want, and when you want.
However, you need to keep the customers in mind when making all these choices. Furthermore, to take advantage of the entrepreneurship freedom, you need to know what is important to you. You probably have a lot of thoughts and ideas about how you want your self-employed life to look like. Now is the time to gather them all and create an actual plan.
Business plan
The difference between an idea and a business idea is that the business idea focuses on who is going to buy and why, where does the money that pays for what you want to do come from.
There is an important difference to remember: your business plan is not just about you, what you want to do, and how. It is also about who you do it for, how they should find out about it, and why they should choose to invest their money in you. This is important to keep in mind for all entrepreneurs, self-employed people, and freelancers.
Writing a business plan
You need to write the business plan mainly for your own sake, as it will become your action plan, and the basis for what you do.
In your business plan, you answer 3 basic questions:
What
For whom
How
The process of developing a business plan involves understanding the context in which your company will enter by examining the market and the environment, specifying your personal and your service's ability to meet its needs and calculate the costs and revenues.
Free templates to use as a starting point are available for freelancers and entrepreneurs at many governmental agencies or private institutions dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs and startups. Examples of such agencies in Sweden include: Nyföretagarcentrum, Almi and Verksamt.se. At Nyföretagarcentrum, you can free of charge get advice from an experienced advisor who can help you develop your plan.
Investments and set-up costs
For some self-employed workers, freelancers, and entrepreneurs, the investment to start their own business is affordable and can be managed with their own funds. For example, starting a consulting company without employees does not require much start-up capital. In that case, the greatest value in the company is often you and your knowledge.
However, for those entrepreneurs who need financing, the business plan will be the document you bring to the bank or to investment companies such as (in Sweden) Almi to show who you are and what you want to fund by taking a loan/attracting an investment. Noone will hand over money without believing in both the entrepreneur and the business idea. If your business plan is also made to convince financers you need to make sure you are fully describing both.
Closing thoughts
Let your business plan be a living document that you then work towards in your everyday life. Follow the marketing plans you have made, capture opportunities when they come, but also check regularly so that you are in phase with your original plan so you do not lose your footing in your new entrepreneurship or freelance life. Reconcile income and expenses to your budget during the year, so you can act early if something deviates and risks creating difficult situations.
In our next episode we talk about “How to use your skills and drive.”