Starting your own business is definitely one of the most exciting things you can ever experience. From taking the first steps to being your own boss to finishing your first successful year of sales – being a business owner certainly comes with some incredible highs.

Although it can be an incredible experience for most, the most successful people are those that plan ahead way before they even start their business. Successful entrepreneurs considered absolutely every eventuality before they took the very first steps to get started, giving them a much better footing to stand on when things started to get tough.

With that in mind, here are 11 things you should consider before you start your own business:

• What Will Your Company Name Be?

Before you start to think about getting your business set up, there are a few things you need to figure out. One of the most important ones? Your company name.

Whilst it may seem as though it’s a simple task, coming up with a name that will be tied to your business is an incredibly hard thing to do. Yes, you can change it at a later date, but finding the right name to begin with, is the best way to ensure your brand starts to grow from day one.

• What Will Your Mission And Values Be?

Once you have figured out what your companies name will be, it’s time to start thinking about your mission and values. If starting a business is something you have been thinking about for a long time, these should just come naturally to you as a part of the business you have been dreaming of. If not, take some time to think about who your target audience is going to be, what their pain points are and how you’re going to help them. Once you have this, you should be able to pinpoint your missions and values.

• What Are Your Short Term And Long Term Goals?

Once you’ve set up the fundamentals of your business, setting yourself some short term and long term goals should be your next step. It’s important to remember to realistic when setting these goals, but definitely don’t hold back from what you want to achieve. Remember, when setting goals they should be considered SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time Based.

If you’re having trouble setting your goals, consider breaking them up into weekly, monthly and yearly goals. That way you’ll be able to work out exactly what it is you need to do to be able to achieve them.

• Will You Be Hiring A Designer To Do Your Branding?

From the very first day of your business, your branding should be clear. Branding is a great way to show what your business is all about, without actually having to say it. Whether that be through your logo, your colour scheme or by the images you put out on social media – people should be able to recognise something and instantly say it’s yours. As this can be a tricky thing to master, hiring a designer may be the best way to ensure you’re getting it right the first time.

• Will You Have A Company Website?

Although you don’t need a website to be a successful business, it’s a great way to get your name out there and be seen by customers you may not have reached otherwise. If you’re going to have a website, planning this out beforehand is a great way to estimate the amount of work you need to do in order to get your business up and running. You will need to think about design, imagery, set-up and content before you even start to build your site. Again, this is something you can outsource to web developers, photographers and content writers.

• What Will Your Social Media Strategy Be?

If you want to attract customers to your business, a great place to start is social media. Whilst it is free to set up your account and send out posts, it does take a lot of time and effort to build a loyal following and community. We believe having a social media strategy is definitely worth it if you want a successful business, so working out the kinks of your social media plan before you get started is a great idea.

If you’re completely new to social media and think you’ll find it overwhelming, try sticking to just one platform, to begin with. Depending on your business, Facebook and Instagram are both great places to start. Once you’ve got the hang of one platform you can consider branching out into a couple of others. We promise it will get easier as you go along!

• Do You Need To Hire Any Team Members?

When it comes to starting a business it can be difficult to cope with all of the workloads on your own. It may not be an immediate thing, but when if you’re starting to struggle it may be best to consider hiring your own team. Whether you employ them on a part-time basis or outsource work to them, it will give you much more time to focus on developing the business rather than carrying out day to day admin.

• Do You Need Office Space Or A Warehouse?

Depending on what your business does, you may find that after a couple of months you need to start renting office space or a warehouse. This is a great step to be taking in your business as it means you’re growing in size, but there are lots of precautions you need to take if you were to start renting a premises.

• Consider the minimum size building or space you need in order to operate
• Think about who will carry out repairs including broken machinery, AC repair or general maintenance for your space
• Consider how long you need to rent for – will it be a short term lease?
• Think about whether or not your staff need somewhere to work from too
• Work out what your budget is and whether or not this is a necessary cost

Once you have worked out all of the above, you can get to work finding the perfect space for you.

• What Contractors Do You Need To Hire?

If you’re going to be working in your business alone, consider whether or not you’re going to need to hire contractors. Whether it’s a designer for all of your design work, an IT support technician for any technical issues you may have or a content writer and social media manager for all your marketing needs – thinking about this in advance will help you manage your business’ budget and costs.

• How Will You Manage Your Work-Life Balance?

As starting your own business comes with a lot of time constraints, you need to make sure that you’re getting a good work-life balance. Whilst it’s tempting to spend all of your free time working on the business, it’s important you save some time for yourself too. Spend time practicing self-care and looking after yourself to help ensure your business is well looked after too.

• Will It Bring You Joy?

Finally, you need to think about whether ot not starting a business will bring you joy. Starting your own business and becoming an entrepreneur can be an incredibly stressful experience, so making sure it’s something that is going to make you happy is so so important.

Are you thinking about starting your own business? What have you had to consider in the process? Let us know in the comment section below.