Do you feel ready to begin your journey as a business owner, but are uncertain about how to begin?
If you want to move your business from a plan to a money-making endeavour, you need to start by breaking down your business idea into individual steps to make each task small and manageable. Starting a business is a big task, and one that requires financial expertise that not every entrepreneur has, so that’s why a Alberta credit union is a great resource for expertise and insights all along the way!
You can find a credit union near you here and read on for tips on how to make your business dreams a reality:
1. Start with a business plan.
By creating a business plan, you can effectively organize your purpose, target audience, end goals, and costs into a single document. This document is also where you can collect proof of the demand for your business and outline the milestones you need to achieve to be successful.
The main goal of this plan is to focus your idea and create a guide for how your business will grow in the future. Not only does a business plan outline your idea in an easy to understand way, but it’s also a document that you can use when you meet with your credit union to help secure funding like a business loan.
2. Become an expert on your market.
To attract future customers, it’s important to really know and understand your ideal demographic and audience. If you work to become an expert on your market, you can better identify gaps, issues or pain points that your business can address and cater to.
Additionally, research into your target market and competitors can reveal tactics used by existing companies that you can adopt and improve upon. Figuring out where your business fits in the landscape is a crucial step in determining what approach to take when attracting customers.
3. Determine how you will grow.
Starting a business requires funding to get it off the ground but also to sustain growth. Many business owners face difficulties in their second or third years as their savings deplete during growth before they can turn a profit, build up inventory or deal with high up-front costs like hiring and set-up.
As a start-up, it’s crucial to assess your profitability and calculate the revenue required to cover all of the initial and ongoing expenses, and to work with your credit union to determine current and future needs to match potential growth patterns.
4. Try a credit union.
Credit unions offer the same products and services for businesses as a bank, but often have different eligibility criteria and offer lower interest rates and service fees. So speak with your credit union first when you start looking to open a business account or to acquire business products like loans or credit cards.
We get it — trying to get financial assistance can be a daunting task, given the numerous options available and the eligibility criteria that may need to be met. But the lending and business experts at a credit union prioritize understanding you and your business and customizing their financial solutions to meet your needs.
More often than not, credit union employees work and live in the communities they serve and will have a better sense of the local economy, which means they are more likely to look beyond your credit score and savings and aim to understand your business idea, who it will serve and how it will grow long-term.
5. Make it legit.
To run your business legally, it’s essential to obtain a business license and to register your business with the government; having a solid business plan is crucial for this process. You will also need to determine what type of business you will have and if you will operate in one province or across Canada, as this impacts the type of business license you need to get.
At a high level, the types of businesses include:
- Corporation (federal or provincial/territorial)
- Sole proprietorship or partnership
- Cooperative
Depending on the type of business and the location of your operations, you might need to apply for business permits and licenses from all three levels of government (federal, provincial and municipal), especially if you will have a physical storefront or warehouse space.
And certain businesses – for example, food services, transportation or childcare businesses – may require additional paperwork, or have specific regulatory conditions to be met. Do your research to ensure you have all the paperwork you need before you open your doors using the government resources found here.
6. Think about brand.
Before you open your doors, it is a good idea to develop a detailed branding and marketing strategy. In today’s world, a company’s visual and online presence can greatly impact its success in capturing the attention of potential customers.
That means a website, app or presence on some kind of online platform (such as social media or ecommerce websites) are of vital importance to showcase your products or services along with your mission or backstory. This not only verifies your presence as a legitimate business in the market, but also highlights your competitive advantage. And, it is difficult for potential customers to find you and communicate with you without some kind of presence online!
When it comes to marketing, it is important to consider who your customers are and where they spend time. Social media channels may seem like an obvious choice, and are a good place to develop a brand presence and identity, but if you customers are seniors in need of a dog walker or busy farmers who require tractor maintenance, then other marketing options like posters, newspaper ads or even word-of-mouth referral programs might make more sense.
Ready to go?
Once you have completed all of these steps, it is time to speak to your local credit union about how to make your business a reality.
A credit union can help with everything from business accounts to credit products to loans and will offer friendly advice all along the way. Find a credit union near you here.