How to Start a Company!
1. Think of several ideas and list them on a piece of paper. Identify which ideas are the most affordable to start by ranking them one through ten. Once you find out which ideas are going to be the most affordable analyze the top three. See if these top three can scale one day, if you don’t feel confident in one of the answers then cross them off. Between the last two ideas see if you have the most knowledge on that particular product or service. Choose the idea you feel you have experience in or are passionate about. As Steve Jobs once said, “If you don’t have passion then you will quit when the times get tough, because what sane person will go through extreme stress unless they are passionate about the work?”
2. Check if your idea is taken by going on United States Trade Mark Search and Godaddy Domain Search to see if your website domain name is available. If your website name is taken with the popular extension dot com then try going for dot io. Dot io is getting very popular with startups in Silicon Valley because there are many more options available.
3. Do market research and see if there is a need for your product or service.
4. Make a website with little to no code with Wordpress.org, Squarespace.com, or Wix.com.
5. Purchase a domain on Godaddy then point it to your website.
6. Create a LLC with LegalZoom in just a few minutes in order to protect your business.
7. Create Social Media Pages for your company on the major platforms: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Youtube, Twitter, and Pinterest.
8. Use a service like VistaPrint to create business cards for networking events.
9. Create digital Ads in order to reach people with Google Adwords, Facebook Ads, Bing Ads, and LinkedIn Ads.
10. Check out Hubspot CRM which is free to document the sales process.
11. Remember some of the most powerful companies in the world started from a garage like Amazon and Apple. Don’t feel bad if you don’t have office space because it really doesn’t matter once you start.
