Next you need certain tools to conduct your business. You will need a form of communication with your clients or prospects. That may include business cards, letterhead, or stationary, e-mails, phone, and or faxing capability, website and sales copy. You determine your communication methods but all the methods should be professional.
You also need to tag or file your possible prospects, your committed clients, your vendors, and any correspondence and to whom. It is a good idea to keep track of what you are selling, the prices that you have established and any discounts that you offered. Also keep track of whether it is your product of someone else’s. You might consider investing in a good tracking software.
Another thing to set up is any policies that you will implement. Knowing your return policy upfront for an example will help you deal with a future return. Your shipping policy is another area that could get you in a bind. Will you ship locally, nationally or internationally? Who will take care of shipping the product? What will you do if the item is damaged?
If you are in a service industry who will provide the service in your absence or do you just cancel with your client for that day? These are things that you should establish up front. So that when it happens everything will go smoothly.
Setting up also includes getting any licenses, or permits to conduct your business, choosing your business name, and determining the type of business entity such as non profit or sole proprietor that your business will fall under. Setting up a website from the beginning requires choosing the domain name and choosing a web host provider and web designer unless you are going to design and build it yourself.
Remember also your strategic plan of how to get you clients. What steps are you going to take to bring in your first clients and continue to bring in new ones. What tools will you need to work that plan? What actions are you committed to doing on an on going basis to bring in new prospect and clients?
Last consider having an opening event to launch your new endeavor. Consider also offering something for free. Free class, free evaluation, free report, free consultation, or discounted services for possibly the first fifty people who sign up. Remember to invite the press. Write a press release and get it out at least five to seven days or more in advance, and then a follow up days before the launch and the day of if you can. So all those want to be’s, newbies business owners start your engines!