5 Overlooked Things To Do When Starting A Business

5 things to do when starting a business

When starting a business there are a ton of things you need to do. Most of these things are straightforward, like registering the business with a state, getting an EIN number, or creating a bank account for instance. You can easily figure a lot of these things out on your own, but if it is your first time, often business founders need the guidance of a lawyer or accountant.

Most of this information can easily be found on the web or from friends and family or your own experience. Things like creating business cards or a website are common knowledge. It’s sometimes the little things you don’t remember or never knew were important.

  1. Email Address
    A lot of people think about getting a website in place, along with all the other things they do, but many overlook setting up an email address. While we all seem to have Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, Outlook and other types of public emails, having your own company email address tells people you are a real business and not a hobby. So, whether or not you have a website built, it is important up front to investigate getting an email address. You can get it right where you get your domain name.
  2. Business License
    If you are creating a restaurant, a business license, sometimes referred to a business receipt is an absolute necessity. However, for a lot of home based businesses or 1099/LLC consultants you would think why do I need a business license if I am working out of my house or you are a software company? Well, turns out that you may miss out on public funding opportunities with the local government and other options that come up time to time. We all learned this the hard way during the pandemic.
  3. Social Media
    You would be surprised how many business owners down create a Twitter or Instagram page when creating a business. Turns out that these pages are “free”, and that means that creating them online, in fact creating any public relations avenue online is always worth it. Now, not all of these are really that important for every industry. But for instance if you are a tech company you absolutely need a Twitter address. If you are an artist, you need to have an Instagram page.
  4. Mentor
    Turns out the best thing you can do is get a mentor. You could overlook this. There are people who have done what you are doing and are willing to guide you or help you along the way. Some of these people may already be around you in your neighborhood, you network with or are in your circle of friends or neighborhood. It can keep you knowledgable and have a person to turn to, to help with answers to difficult challenges. You can start by asking people if they are willing to be your mentor?
  5. Write A Simple Business Plan or Deck
    While writing a business may seem a waste of time when starting a business, there is a reason to write down the basics of an executive summary or a pitch deck. Writing these documents, for any size business, forces you to really through things like market size, what you really need to get started or how the business will work, called the business model. You can look up tons of docs online and review what others have written.

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