There are all kinds of business models in the world because there are all sorts of companies. Assuming yours is a for-profit enterprise, you might make a physical product or a digital one. You might make your cash through services rather than products with your business.
However you make your money, there are a few different things that it is more than likely your company will need. We will look at some of those 4 crucial factors right now, so there won’t be any surprises if you have a startup business idea that you hope to get off the ground.
Insurance
You could argue that insurance is the most critical thing that a company can have. If you don’t have it, and one of your products harms someone, for instance, that can turn into an unmitigated disaster. Some of the insurance types that you will probably need include:
• Work vehicle accident insurance
• Worker’s comp insurance
• Product liability insurance
Let’s look at work vehicle accident insurance for a moment. In the state of Texas, most drivers have just the minimum, which is $30,000. However, companies generally need to carry much more. They sometimes need insurance policies worth up to $1,000,000.
The reason is that work vehicles, such as trucks, are typically much larger and can do a lot more damage. That’s just one example, though. You’ll need worker’s comp to cover your employees if they hurt themselves on the job and product liability insurance just in case a product harms a customer.
You might also need professional liability insurance, home-based business insurance, and business interruption insurance, to name a few. Before you officially launch a business, you should meet with a broker and talk to them about what you do and don’t need.
The Right Employees
Unless you plan on your business being a one-person show, you’ll need some employees too. If you have a brick-and-mortar store, or more than one, you’ll need to determine what your employee structure is going to be. In other words, you might need a manager for each store location, assistant managers, and then whatever other lower-level employees your business model requires.
You might look for these employees:
• On Indeed
• On Monster
• On LinkedIn
• On Career Builder
These are sites where people look for work, but they are also places where company owners and operators look to hire. You can look for people in your geographic area if you have brick-and-mortar stores, and you can either set up an online interview via Zoom or a similar service, or else you can speak to them in-person.
If you have got a strictly online business, then you may never meet your employees face-to-face. That would never have happened decades ago, but now, with more online companies than ever before, it is not all that uncommon.
You should seek out the employees that have the experience for which you are looking, but also the ones that have the right attitude. You might find a qualified prospect, but you don’t feel like you would get along with them on a personal level.
This is your decision, but if you have to deal with that person every day, you want to know that you will be able to work with them. If you feel like there is a less experienced candidate, but you love their outlook and enthusiasm, you may elect to go in that direction.
Your Company Website
Nearly all companies need an online presence at this point, and that means having your own website. If you have brick-and-mortar stores, your website is still critical because that is the online face you show to the world. If you have only an online presence and no physical locations, your website constitutes your entire business or at least the part the public can see.
You can create your website yourself using WordPress or Wix, but that is only if you know what you are doing. WordPress, in particular, is easy enough to use that virtually anyone can set up a simple website, picking a theme, graphics, font, etc. However, if you need a more complex site with more features, you will probably need to hire a web designer.
You will need someone to write your product pages, and you will also need to figure out what other sections you need. The typical business website has an “About” section that discusses your company and mission. You will need an FAQ section, a contact page, a testimonials page, etc for your company site.
A Freelancer Network
You might also need freelancer access, especially if you have a strictly online business model. Having freelancer relationships is a little different than having regular employees. You’ll probably need some of those too, but you can locate freelancers and strike up relationships with them for certain chores you don’t want to assign to your regular employees.
For example, maybe you will hire a freelancer to write your website blogs or your product pages. If you have a former client email marketing list and need someone to compose a weekly email telling them about your latest services and products, a freelancer can do that.
You can locate them on sites like Upwork or ProBlogger. You can use them off and on, and the best part about not having them as full-time staff is that you won’t need to give them healthcare, a 401K package, or other benefits of that nature.
You will also probably need funding unless you have virtually unlimited money at your disposal. You can look into venture capital firms who might want to fund your company, or you might get angel investors. You could also get a more traditional bank or credit union loan. If you do that, though, you may need collateral. That might mean getting a second mortgage on your house to float your business.
Conclusion
If you are going to sink most of your own money into a business idea, you had better be sure it is sound. You can never be completely certain a business will work, but it is more of a risk if you have a more unconventional notion.
Whatever your idea, develop a detailed business plan and implement it systematically, and you should find success. If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail in business.
