Just starting out - what next?

[planetm]

Hi everyone! So happy to have found this forum. My business partner and I are looking to start a new business. We have the product we intend to sell and although there are other items out there which are similar, ours are far superior quality and we feel, much more attractive then what is currently being offered.

Here is what we have done thus far:

1. We have contracted a website designer who is going to create a logo, website, packaging for our product, business cards
2. We have our domain name
3. We have a unique product

Now what? I know we need to set up an LLC but do we also need to trademark our name/logo? We are going to have unusual names for our products so do e have to go as far as trademarking this? This can get expensive and we are exhausting our budget on website.

We intend to sell unique, handmade items for girls. What is the best way to market ourselves cheaply? We received many orders on Facebook and I know of Etsy, but are there any other ideas for marketing?

We are in the very early stages and have a lot to do but we just want to make sure we do it correctly so 1) no one steals our idea 2) takes our name 3)we set ourselves apart and create a superior brand. Any ideas are welcome! I am here to learn!

Thanks so much!

[Pack-Secure]

1) Make sure to get the proper licenses from city/town.
2) Make sure to get the proper accounting software/CPA.
3) Depending on what the product is, you might contact some girl groups like the Girl Scouts etc and perhaps market to them.
4) Pinterest is a great place to showcase pictures and prices, you should consider making an account there.

Just a few ideas since I am not sure what the product is.

Good Luck ! Hello and Welcome to the Forums.

[heart1234]

I would like to comment on the previous post regarding accounting software/CPA.

Having worked in the industry, I have seen far too many small business owners try to cut corners in this way. Keep your records up-to-date on a monthly basis. This will allow you to have a snap shot of how your business is doing and if you are going in the right direction.

I've seen too many business owners not do this and they have no idea if they are making money or not. They often try to handle it themselves and it usually becomes a nightmare if it falls behind.

Just a few thoughts to help you out.

[nealrm]

Start by writing out a business plan. You need to cover the basics: budget, market analysis, competition analysis, product, marketing. The budget needs to be very in-depth. Over estimate cost and under estimate income. For the market analysis you will need to determine who you are marketing your products to. You will need to be more specific than just girls. Why - because when you do your marketing plan, you will need to know who to aim your marketing at. You will need to identify your competition.

Once, that is all done. You can start working on everything else.

[Wozcreative]

One reason businesses fail is that they don't figure out how or who to market for, even more so, they don't set aside some money for marketing. You don't have a product if you don't know how to market it.

With that said, you can try:

1. Trade shows
2. Sponsoring local children's events
3. Partner up with accompany that might bundle your product
4. Try something fun, maybe a youtubevideo around your product

[GreaterVisibility]

I'll be honest. If it was me, I'd just get my product made, a website up, and start going where my customers were and putting my product in front of them. You can work on business plans and trademarking and everything else as you go. Until you effectively market, and until you can prove that you can sell that product and build a customer base, you don't have a business, you have an idea. Could someone steal your idea? Of course, but the reality is that you can give great ideas to people and most are too lazy to steal them, or ambitious enough to have their own things going and no time to work on your idea. Companies find creative ways to rip off ideas anyway, so I would just get me widget made and go market it to the target audience that I have as quickly as possible. All of the planning and everything else is just a waste of time if you can't figure out how to bring customers in, how to serve them effectively, and how to turn one customer into a dozen with fantastic follow up and tracking.

Marketing makes the world go 'round. Without it, you just have an idea, however great, that is costing you time and money. The faster you figure out how to do that, the faster you make money. Some people put out pre-launches and beta versions of things to see how the market reacts and if they can reach that market. You can sometimes pre-order something that is being made as you market it. There are so many options out there, but that is often a problem. People get weighed down considering all of the possibilities, and then delay and delay and delay, never really turning that possibility into reality because they lack something internally (often confidence because they don't really know that anyone wants what they have).

Another thing to consider. Don't skimp on marketing. Recognize that marketing is not an expense, it is an investment, if done correctly. It should bring you more money than you put in. That's a good investment. I know that everyone wants to go on the cheap, and certainly social media and made ads online that are strategically formulated can be great, along with sites like Craigslist, but sometimes a little money spent can boost you much quicker. It is hard to know what advice to give to a greater extent, as I have no idea what you're really doing.

Best wishes on the new venture! Startups are exciting.

[nealrm]

Do the plan, it can literally mean increasing your chance of success by 2 or 3 times and dramatically lowering your chance of a catastrophic failure. It should only take a few days and the local extension service or SBA will have resources to help. I liken a business plan to planing a trip from New York to a large town in CA with a warm climate. You could just start walking to the South West and someday you might make it to CA. But since you don't have a goal, even the sign posts pointing to LA will not help you. You can end up wondering around CA for years and just be a few miles from your goal. With a business plan in place you know your goal - LA. You know how much you can spend to get there (you budget). So you can start looking at options. Can you afford a plane ticket and get there in 6 hours, or can you only afford to drive. Your plan may even tell you take a trip to LA is not what you want, you want to go to Miami instead.

Everyone agrees you need to market your product. The key to successful marketing is to know who you are marketing to, how they can be reached and what is to be expected from the advertising (sounds very much like a plan doesn't it). It is very easy to spend a great deal of money of advertising with little return. Many people make this mistake and then talk about how marketing doesn't work. In some case, business will spend a huge amount more than it is possible for them to get in return. For a small business this can be a fatal mistake.