Setting up your own business is exciting but it's not just about working for yourself. It's important to consider whether you really understand what's involved and whether you're suited to running a business. With the expertise of bizHUMM and business.gov.au, here's a guide that takes you through 14 steps of starting a business and helps you understand what's ahead.

Step 1: Prepare Yourself for Business

Do your research thoroughly. Research is crucial. So much can be learned and extrapolated from just a few hours of Googling and surfing the Internet. This is a necessary first step to determine the viability of your business idea.

It's important to be honest with yourself. If it seems your idea has already been done, can you do it better or offer it cheaper than the competition? Ask yourself the hard questions and get feedback from associates and mentors.

Better yet, test your idea with a simple landing page that describes your product or service. See if people will give you their email address to be notified when your product or service launches. Then, let the facts and numbers speak for themselves and don't let emotions cloud the truth.

Step 2: Write a killer business plan

Some of us may cringe at the thought of it, but anyone who is serious about their startup must write a business plan. Here's the good news: You can do it and it can even be rewarding!

First thing's first. Get your ideas written out. Describe the product; how you're planning to market and sell it; what is your pricing model; who is your competition; and what is your expertise.

Your finalised business plan will include the operational, financial and marketing aspects of your business. This is important if you are looking for a loan, applying for a business grant or pitching to investors. Lenders and investors want to see the true potential of your business idea.

Step 3: Know your product or service

Knowing your product really means 2 things:

Firstly, what is it made of? What are the ingredients or components in detail. Even a service is made up of something. If you are starting a Plumbing service then you need to describe what parts you have for inventory; do you need a truck; what tools need to be purchased etc.
Secondly, what are the features and what are the benefits? If you are selling low-fat cookies the feature may be: 'we use an alternative sweetener' but the benefit is 'our cookies are healthier for you'.

Understand everything there is to know about your service as it relates to your target audience. How do you deliver it? Is your price competitive? How is it packaged? What makes your product unique?

Only after thoroughly going through this exercise can you properly price your product or service; understand who your customer is; and how you can communicate with your target audience.

Step 4: Write your marketing plan based on your research

In your research phase you should be able to determine how people in your niche seem to be doing their marketing. This will give you ideas for how you might like to do your own marketing. Is it going to be Google Adwords; Facebook marketing; will you rely on word-of-mouth referrals or something completely different?

List bullet points describing who your ideal clients would be and also a set of points explaining how you will let them know about your business. Next, explain how you'll create leads and ultimately sales from your target demographics. After you've done this, the marketing plan (which is actually a section in the business plan) should flow more easily.

If possible, it's even better to do some real testing of both Facebook and Google ads (or whichever marketing channel you see fit). You can send the traffic to a simple landing page and see if people enter their email in exchange for more information. Then you'll have a much more accurate idea of how much it will cost per lead.

Step 5: Do your financial projections

Can't I just start selling my product? Maybe. Do I really need Financial Projections? The short answer is yes. If you plan to raise funds they need to be more detailed. If you are bootstrapping the startup yourself or with a partner you might be able to get away with a simpler set of Projections.

Think about it: How can you know whether you're charging enough and when are you going to be profitable unless you put down some numbers?

Fear not, help is on its way!

Step 6: Come up with your business name and brand strategy

The name of your business is obviously very important. Also consider whether the .COM domain name is available. We recommend GoDaddy.

Some tips for choosing a name include:

Using your own name in the business name e.g. John's Delicatessen
Finding an attribute of the business to create a positive response in the audience - Precision Marketing or Green Logistics, for example.
Helping prospects remember the website address by choosing a short name that is recognisable, easy to remember and meaningful.

Once you've got your business name selected and your domain name secured, it's time to work on your branding strategy. Brand is all about building credibility with your target audience. It takes time and is important for you to be consistent across the board with your messaging. Your logo is the fun part of branding but don't spend too much time and money on it at first. You could use a local designer or a website to create a professional logo affordably.

Of course, be sure to attend to the basic needs of your customers and always put them first. Don't underestimate the power of word-of-mouth marketing which comes from an exceptional product or service and brand.

Step 7: Decide on which legal structure is right for you

Now that you have more of an understanding of your business, your product and your customers, you need to register your business and decide on your business structure.

Pick a business structure that best suits your needs. Your business structure refers to the way you will operate your business. You can also change your business structure as your business grows.

Types of business structures include:

Sole trader an individual trading on their own.
Partnership a group or association of people running a business together and distribute income or losses between themselves.
Company a legal entity run by its directors and owned by shareholders.
Trust an entity that holds property or income for the benefit of others.

Step 8: Start fundraising for your business

Fundraising starts with two simple questions: How much do you need? How much equity are you willing to sell? This takes us back to Steps 2 & 5: your Business Plan and Financial Projections.

If you project losses in the first year of $45,000 you may want to raise $60,000 - $75,000. How much of your business is that worth? Truth be told, there is no magic formula to determine this. The answer always lies somewhere in between what the investors feels is fair in return for their money and what percentage of your company you feel is fair to offer for their money?

Step 9: Set up your accounting system

It is vital that you manage your accounting properly. However, it is not necessary to spend a fortune doing it. You can combine an affordable payroll service with a part-time bookkeeper and you're set.

Now you're ready to spend your time where it needs to be - growing the business and caring for your customers.

Recommended Resources: Xero - This highly affordable financial software allows you to keep track of all your business finances, sync with your bank, pay employees and analyse the financial health of your business each month with just a few clicks.

Step 10: Make sure you've got business insurance

Insurance always seems like a waste of money - until you are faced with a theft, or fire, or lawsuit etc. Then you may wish you were covered.

For most businesses, insurance coverage is a must for survival. Take a reality check, ask yourself what would happen if:

An employee or visitor falls in your office.
A customer takes an action based on advice on your website and it all goes wrong.
There's a fire and your equipment is damaged.
A customer is injured as a result of a faulty product.

The list can go on, but it's clear, you will need general liability insurance and some other specialist policies. In some cases, insurance will be a legal requirement.

Step 11: Set up an office or work space

Do you really need an office to start out or can you save the money and work from home? When starting a business, it's always good to be practical but also save money wherever possible. If you do decide get an office space there are several things to consider:

Furniture - It's usually possible to find quality used furniture from your local charity shop but these days.
Communications - Getting a reliable phone and the highest speed Internet connection is a must. These days it's essential to have a good quality smartphone for Internet, email, apps and a great camera so that you can work from anywhere with just your phone.
Technology - Prior to investing in a new computer, decide how you'll use it. What type of printer will be required, will you require a roaming microphone for events, etc.

Step 12: Create a beautiful & professional website

A professional and aesthetically pleasing website lets everyone know you mean business. It is the virtual business card or storefront for all your products and services. It gives you the chance to reach millions of people all over the country or even world.

These days it's possible to create a top-notch website affordably without ever touching code. Vendors such as Shopify all offer great solutions that any new business should be satisfied with.

Remember, just creating your website won't drive customers to your door. You'll also need a good domain name, great content and corresponding marketing strategy to attract quality traffic and to then turn them into leads and buyers.

Step 13: Market your business and measure your results

Thanks to the Internet it's now possible to advertise your business affordably and measure the return on investment with every cent spent. The two most obvious places to start are with Google Adwords and Facebook advertising. Then there are countless other channels to explore such as:

Search Engine Optimisation
Social Media marketing
Content marketing
Email marketing
Mobile marketing
Local marketing

Google offers an amazing free tool called Google Analytics which tracks everything that happens on your website. If set up correctly you can know exactly how much each lead for your service or sale of your product costs per marketing channel. They say that "knowledge is power" and this couldn't be more true with marketing your business.

Step 14: Start selling like there's no tomorrow

Few can argue that without sales you don't have a business. It's the lifeblood of your business and it's importance can't be emphasized enough. Sales requires confidence and this is achieved by knowing your product or service like the back of your hand.

Another important part of successful sales is to focus on benefits rather than features. Apple is famous for this. For example, with their iPod launch they labeled it as "1,000 songs in your pocket" rather than, "It has a 5GB hard drive".

Step 15: Set up (free) business cloud services

The advantages of using the "cloud" for your startup business are amazing. It allows you to make use of highly sophisticated infrastructure, software and apps all for free or very affordable rates. What's more: it's accessible from anywhere with the Internet.

For startups, it means that we live in a time where you can outsource many time-consuming processes. For example, document collaboration, payroll, file sharing, data storage and CRM to name just a few. This makes it possible for you to stay focussed on what's most important - your customers.

Recommended resources:

Google Drive - Free Cloud-based Documents, Spreadsheets, Presentations, Forms and Drawings. Google Drive can become the backbone of your small business document needs and because it's cloud-based your team can access the docs anywhere anytime.
Xero - This highly affordable financial software allows you to keep track of all your business finances, sync with your bank, pay employees and analyse the financial health of your business each month with just a few clicks.
DropBox - Premium cloud storage and file synchronization software that allows you to access and share your important files with any-one anywhere.
Skype - It's an amazing, free way to have video meetings (and screen sharing) with employees, clients and partners anywhere in the world. It also has individual and group text chatting between members, which can be a great way to communicate amongst teams.

- sources: BizHUMM, business.gov.au.

Contact CHDC Business Facilitator Mary Ryan on mryan@chdc.com.au or (07) 4982 4386 or 0447 985 241.

This program is supported by the Local Buying Foundation