Joe Abraham

7 Steps To Business Startup

// December 22nd, 2008 // business startup

Seven Steps?

You mean I just don’t come up with an idea, form a corporation, build a website and get rich? You ask.

Nope!

I’ve watched the statistic of business failure grow from 85% to 96.5% over the past 10 years. A lot of it has to do with how impatient first-time entrepreneurs are with the startup process. You’re not taking the time to make sure your business is starting on the right foundation.

Of the hundreds of companies I’ve been involved with, I’ve extracted out a 7-step process that every single successful enterprise went through.

If you’re an entrepreneur getting ready to embark on a new journey, take the time to study these 7 steps. I’ll be posting some short videos on each of the 7 steps so depending on when you read this blog post, you’ll either have to wait a few days or you may be able to find those videos on this site right away.

So here we go…the 6 steps that savvy entrepreneurs have used to build highly successful companies.

1. The Paper Napkin: This is where you answer questions like who, what, when, how for your business. Who is my customer? What is my product? What is my unique selling proposition? Who are my competitors? What can I learn from them? How will I find customers? etc etc.

2. The Vetting Process: Once you have your paper napkin step complete, its time to take your “idea” and make sure it is viable, profitable and scalable. This is the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT step in starting your business. This is where you build a strategic plan to achieve your vision. Then you need to have 3-5 very smart people look at your strategic plan so they can help you see past any blind spots.

3. The Business Plan: Now you’re actually ready to write your business plan. If you did the first two steps correctly, this is the easiest step of the process. You won’t have to go and buy a useless business plan template from some website. You’ll have 90% of the strategy in place. You’ll just need to organize it in the right sections.

4. Capital Sourcing: Here’s where you set aside (or raise) the working capital its going to take to get your business off the ground. But hear this from me…If you skipped step 1 and 2 and went right to step 3, you’re not going to raise a penny of startup capital.

5. Team and Infrastructure: With your startup capital in place, you can now build your core team and acquire the basic infrastructure to start operations.

6. Advisory Team: Who is going to be guiding your mission-critical decisions? Who are the people who are going to keep you accountable for the plans you made? This is where you recruit an advisory team who can help you become a better and more effective CEO in the months and years to come.

7. Pre-Launch: This is finally the stage where you start to create your brand, build logos and stationary, design your website and start production on your product/service offering and start pre-marketing your business.

If you take the time to complete each of these steps methodically, you’ll have a safe startup. More importantly, if you follow these steps, your chances of getting that loan or investment are increased exponentially.

I’ve seen a lot of entrepreneurs short-cut this system in the excitement of the moment. But then again, most if not all their companies either failed or are struggling to get off the ground.

Take the time to study these steps. Ask any questions below…