OFFICE-BASED AGENCY
Start-up checklist

Getting started

☐	Conduct a personal evaluation to determine why you want to start a business.
☐	Create a business plan:
☐	What do we do?
☐	How do we do it?
☐	Who do we serve?
☐	Conduct a SWOT analysis to identify your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
☐	Assess how much capital you have available to invest.
☐	Discuss your plans with family members to ensure that they are behind you.
☐	Determine whether you want the business to be full-time or part-time.

Committing to your business

☐	Define the customer “problem” and how your business can provide a solution in a unique way.
☐	Determine viability: Is there a market for your service?
☐	Identify businesses that are being successful today.
☐	Will your business be relevant as time passes? How will you adapt?
☐	Define your market:
☐	Who is your ideal customer?
☐	What’s your market size?
☐	How easy is it to acquire the customer?
☐	Validate your idea by talking to potential customers about it.
☐	Evaluate how customers solve this problem today, as well as what the competition offers.
☐	Create a quick financial plan, identifying costs and forecasted sales, to see whether your capital gets you to a profit.

Setting up your business

☐	Select your business name. Perform a corporate name search to make sure that your name is still available.
☐	Register a domain name and secure social media profiles for the company.
☐	Apply for an Employer Reference Number with HMRC and local or regional business licences.
☐	Open a business bank account and apply for a business credit card.
☐	Find appropriate space to become your primary business location.
☐	Once location is secured, get services set up in the business name, including primary phone number and other necessary utilities.
☐	Decide on a legal structure or business structure and incorporate: Corporation, LLC or Sole Proprietorship.
☐	Get your website up and running.
☐	Set up an accounting and record keeping system:
☐	hire an accountant,
☐	select an accounting system and
☐	select a fiscal year
☐	Evaluate and select needed insurance policies for your business: liability, workers’ compensation, or health insurance.
☐	Prepare and begin networking with pre-marketing materials:
☐	business cards,
☐	letterhead,
☐	invoice,
☐	brochures, or
☐	public relations.
☐	Introduce your business to the surrounding businesses to your location.

Ensuring that sufficient funds are available

☐	Estimate how long it will take for your business to acquire paying customers.
☐	Itemise your business expenses for the first year, at least, and assess where these will come from.
☐	Itemise how much capital is required to launch the business and project how long it will take to become profitable.
☐	From this, determine how many months of savings or investment you would need to break even.
☐	If outside investment is required beyond the founders’ savings, complete a business plan.

Planning for Your Business’ Business Plan

☐	Complete a Company Overview that includes basic information and a summary of the management team.
☐	Write a Business Description section describing your services and what problems they can solve.
☐	Prepare a Market Analysis section that describes the total market and your target market, specific segment needs, competitive offerings available and any trends that will affect the analysis.
☐	Describe an Operating Plan for the business, such as operating hours, location, number of employees, key vendors, or seasonal adjustments your business might need to adjust to.
☐	Create a Marketing and Sales Plan that includes a “Go To Market” or launch plan, pricing, how your business will generate leads and close new business.
☐	Build a Financial Plan that shows a break-even analysis, projected profit and loss, and projected cash flows.
☐	Write an Executive Summary which gives a general overview of the above completed sections.

Setting up to operate

☐	Find a feasible location for you that can provide you with the ideal space needed to conduct business.
☐	Set up your office with appropriate working spaces, including comfy chairs, desks, shelves, filing cabinets, and etc.
☐	Identify any staffing needs.
☐	Recruit, interview, hire and train employees (if applicable).
☐	If hiring employees, get an employer ID from HMRC.
☐	Identify and set up any needed technology:
☐	computers/laptops for business operations,
☐	printer(s),
☐	business software and applications,
☐	POS,
☐	business email accounts,
☐	phones,
☐	CRM
☐	billing and
☐	payment systems.
☐	Ensure that your technology systems are secure with your information and customer information.
☐	Install a security system, if applicable.
☐	Depending on the business type, identify and partner with the right suppliers/vendors.

Marketing and Launching Your Business

☐	Develop and refine a brand for your company and its products or services.
☐	Create and fine tune a sales pitch through conversations.
☐	Community outreach and networking: as a business, you may or may not have the normal foot traffic. Therefore, other marketing strategies may be needed to offset the lack of a storefront. Attend various networking events to build relationships with community connectors.
☐	Begin distributing or displaying your marketing materials:
☐	web-based promotions,
☐	social media,
☐	direct mail,
☐	business cards,
☐	trade fairs or
☐	brochures.
☐	Establish an email marketing account and initiate digital marketing through blogs, emails or SEO strategies to drive traffic to your website.
☐	Let the local or regional press know you are opening and when.
☐	Utilise Guerrilla marketing tactics to generate traffic.
☐	Organise an opening event. Create a relationship that might allow cross-promotions.

Sustaining Your Business

☐	Keep track of strategies that worked and those that did not in order to fine-tune your marketing tactics.
☐	Ask for referrals and testimonials to build credibility.
☐	Maintain and nurture your repeat business. Remember, it costs 80% less to maintain a current relationship than to develop a new one.
☐	Recognise your top client base. They will be your best pied pipers. Ask for referrals.