Start Your Business Checklist

To build a short outline of your business, sign up at skysthelimit.org – it’s free of charge.

Write down all the people you know who could help you with this business. Share the plan you created on skysthelimit.org with them and get some feedback.

Write down all of the skills, experiences, and resources you have that can help you build this business.

Think about how you are going to pay your bills while you start this business.

Review your business outline with several trusted business advisors on skysthelimit.org to get feedback.

Join skysthelimit.org to get one-on-one access to our expert advisors & mentors!

Write down all of the people (potential customers) you think would be interested in buying your product/service and why you think they would want to buy it. 

Members of our skysthelimit.org community get free access to our Guide to Understanding Your Customers!

Create a list of all the other businesses where these potential customers could get a product or service like yours.

Go visit your competitors, online and in-person. Write down what you like and don’t like about their business. Write down why your business will be different and better.

Read about how to interview potential customers. Create a list of interview questions for these people to find out if they really need or want what you are making. Schedule interviews with at least 15 potential customers. 

Members of our skysthelimit.org community get free access to our Guide to Understanding Your Customers!

Now, go out and actually talk to at least 15 potential customers for your business. Listen to what they say they want, but don’t tell them yet about your business. You’re just trying to learn about their problems and desires – and how you can build a business to solve those problems and fill their desires.

Create a Pitch presentation and/or video for your business so that you know how to talk about it to other people. Now present your pitch to 10 people and get their feedback! These people could be potential customers, partners, friends, etc. 

Members of our skysthelimit.org community get free access to our Guide to Understanding Your Customers!

Now, go out and tell at least 10 potential customers about your business idea. Listen to their feedback (don’t worry if they don’t like it yet, you’re learning from your customers!) See if you can get some of them to commit to buying from you when you’re ready. 

Members of our skysthelimit.org community get free access to our Guide to Understanding Your Customers!

Go back to your Pitch presentation and incorporate the feedback you got from your potential customers.

With your revised Pitch, go back out and talk to 10 more customers! Listen closely to them and make any changes to your business that you feel you should make.

Create a name for your business. Check that no one is already using that name and has copyrighted it. 

Members of our skysthelimit.org community get free access to our Guide to Understanding Your Customers!

Create a tagline or slogan for your business.

If you’re ready, create your company’s logo and choose your colors!

Design your first product or service based on what your customers want & need – think back to your customer interviews!

Identify how this product/service solves an important problem for your customers.

Identify the three key benefits of your product/service that attract customers – what makes your product or service better than a competitor?

Figure out where you will get the equipment & materials you need for this product/service.

Figure out how you will get your product/service to your customers (for example: online; in local stores; at farmer’s markets; in their home).

Name your product/service.

Determine the Cost of providing your product/service.

Determine the Selling Price of your product/service (make sure you’re covering your costs and making money at that price!).

Create a description of “How your Business Works” to explain it to customers, and update your Pitch presentation.

Estimate how much it will cost you (time & money) and how much you will make from sales over the next 12 months.

Now, go back out and tell at least 10 potential customers about your business idea. Listen to their feedback (don’t worry if they don’t like it yet, you’re learning from your customers!) See if you can get some of them to commit to buying it when you’re ready. Based on what you’ve learned, make changes to the design of your product or service.

Create a sample product/service to test out with your customers, once you decide on the design of your product or service. Make sure to research cheap ways to make your product sample or deliver a sample of your service. Don’t worry about being perfect – you need to try things out with your customers to figure out what works!

Go out and get your first paying customer using your sample! 

Members of our skysthelimit.org community get free access to our Sales Strategy Guide – join today!

Research the websites and social media pages of your competitors. Notice what draws your attention and how you would like to build on their ideas for your own online presence.

If your business needs a website, use an easy, cheap (or even free), high-quality website builder to create it, like Wix.com, Squarespace, Shopify, etc.

If you don’t want to build a website yet, just build an easy profile for your service (on Thumbtack.com) or your product (on Etsy.com) to start making sales!

Members of our skysthelimit.org community get free access to our Guide To Thumbtack – join today!

Take great, consistent photos of your first products or services to put on your website.

Don’t forget to write the story of you and your business on your “About Us” page.

Create social media pages for your business using the sites you have the most experience with, such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube, etc.

Every entrepreneur should check out online platforms to sell your products or services, and decide whether to use them or not, like Thumbtack, Etsy or Upwork.

You need to be ready before you ask for funding. 

Members of our skysthelimit.org community get free access to our Guide To funding – join today!

Figure out whether you need money to get started with your business or not, and what kind of money (loan, crowdfund, donation, etc.) you want.

Create a Startup and Operating Budget for your business, listing all the materials, equipment, marketing, etc. needed. Write down each item needed, quantity, $ price, and totals.

Go out and try to get funding! This is usually hard to do, don’t get too discouraged.

Figure out which methods (16 ways to choose from) you will use to promote and sell your products or services. 

Members of our skysthelimit.org community get free access to our 18 Ways to Sell and get Customers Guide – join today!

Create what you need to promote your business and make sales (i.e. website, email marketing campaign, flyers, business cards, etc.).

Create a list of all the people you know (and their contact information) who might be interested in your business.

Go out and get your first 5 paying customers!

Get your 10th paying customer!

Get some testimonials from your early customers as you go (i.e. ask them for a sentence describing why they like your products or services or business).

Consider creating a video about your business and products/services to engage your customers.

A business owner should keep her/his personal money separate from the business’ money! Even if you haven’t officially started your business, consider going to a bank and opening a (free) personal checking account with its own debit card (and online banking). Put some money in that account. Then, every time you spend money on your business, use that debit card – and every time you get money from the sale of your products or services, put that money into your business account. At the end of each month, go on your online banking and see how much you spent and how much you made!

Sign up for a free credit card swiper with Square or Shopify so that your customers can pay you with a credit card.

Sign up for PayPal so that you can send your customers invoices and accept online payments.

Decide whether or not your business is big enough to need to sign up for an inexpensive (or free) bookkeeping service, like Xero or Quickbooks.

Use our budgeting & business financials to estimate how much money your business will make and how much your business will cost.

Check on the licenses (from the City or State or Federal gov’t) and permits you need for your business.

Explore getting insurance for your business.

Consider whether or not you want to invest the time and money in trademarks and copyrighting.

Explore whether or not you need to create liability forms for customers or partners.

Decide on whether or not you want to be a different kind of business than a sole proprietorship, weighing the pros and cons.

Think about who you need to grow your company, what their roles are, how (or if) you will pay your team, etc.

Create a plan to get the right people on your team.

Recruit and test out new teammates.

Manage your team!

Create a document for your “business flow” to look at everything you need to do in order to make your product or deliver your service – make it more efficient!

Think about what parts of your business you can “automate” (i.e. use technology to automatically send emails, book meetings, etc.).

Set your goals for the year.

Create a work plan to guide your day-to-day plans for your business.  Use the 40/40/20 Rule to guide you: spend 40% of your time on your product/service, 40% of your time on selling and marketing, and 20% of your time on internal operations and meeting with advisors/mentors.

Create a plan to continue improving the quality of your product/service.

Create a strategic plan to grow your business.

Do a SWOT analysis to help you understand your business’ priorities.