(This week I take a break from writing and welcome back Guest Blogger, Lance Cody-Valdez.)
Starting a business isn’t easy. There are many aspects that you need to consider, like getting funding and setting up your payroll. In this guide, we want to cover the most difficult aspects of starting a business so that you can get them out of the way early (where applicable) and focus on the more enjoyable aspects of business ownership.
Getting Your EIN
One aspect that you may not be considering, though, is the importance of being assigned an EIN (also known as your Tax ID Number). Your EIN is essential in helping you identify your business. It’s also how the IRS tracks your company’s payroll taxes.
You need an EIN if you want to simplify your state and federal tax filings, as well as many other essential business dealings. But even if you get that out of the way, there are still a lot of other things you need to accomplish that most entrepreneurs don’t look forward to.
Getting Funding
Starting a business is hard. When you get funding, you have the opportunity to grow your business and do more for your customers and employees. There are many ways to get funding for your business, like venture capital, loans from banks, or crowdfunding.
The first step to getting funding is making sure that you have a sound plan in place for how the funds will be used. You should have clear goals on what the funds will be used for and create an accounting plan to make sure the cash flow works well in order to repay any loans or debt incurred with the loan.
Setting Up Sound Accounting Practices
One of the most important aspects of starting your own business is getting your accounting practices in order. You’ll want to set up a system for tracking inventory, managing cash flow, and keeping track of other financial information. Also, make sure you keep track of all the invoices for your business. Use an invoice generator to quickly put together invoices using premade templates, which you can customize with your own graphics and fonts.
Developing a Marketing Plan for your Startup
Many small business owners think that they are not able to afford marketing. The truth is that you can’t afford not to invest in your marketing, as it will impact your profits now and in the future.
You need to have a strong digital marketing strategy if you want to compete against other businesses online. If you’re unsure of what digital marketing is, it’s any type of advertising done on the internet.
This includes social media, email marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) ads, and more.
Developing a Budget
The first challenge is developing a budget. Your business plan should include the financial data you need to create a budget – including how much cash you’ll need at launch, where those funds are coming from, and what your estimated monthly expenses will be.
If you don’t have any experience with finances, creating this budget can be challenging. Some people turn to their friends or family for help, but this may lead to disagreements about the best way to go about things. Other people try to do it themselves and end up making mistakes that could cause them a lot of time and money in the long run.
Instead of taking this risk, ask an expert for help. They can help you develop a budget that will work for your company even if you have limited experience with finance.
If you need help balancing all of the responsibilities you have as a business owner, work with business strategist and virtual assistant Karen Repoli. With over 15 years of experience, Karen can assist with everything from day-to-day tasks to giant projects. Get in touch today.
About the Author: A few years ago, burned out and miserable from his job in corporate marketing, Lance Cody-Valdez decided it was time to invest in himself. He quit his job the following day and used his meager savings to stay afloat as he built a career as a freelance writer and content marketer. He created Free Lance Now to help others use freelancing to escape the 9 to 5 daily grind.
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