How to Get Your Business Ready for a Successful Launch

by Marielle Reussink

If you’re anything like most entrepreneurs I’ve worked with, chances are, dealing with all the nitty gritty administrative details is not exactly your favourite part of the job. :)

Well, today I’m going to try to convince you to get into the business of sweating the small stuff - at least for a little while….

Before you go down the rabbit hole, plotting out your ten-year international expansion plan, you need to sort out all the details that will allow you to make your first sale, deliver the goods to your first customer, and - above all - how to do it well and all above board.

Imagine your business launches and suddenly you have lots of orders, no system to keep track of your inventory and no process for fulfilment. It sounds like a good problem to have, but if it turns out you weren’t legally compliant in the first place, you could end up in enough trouble to set you back or sink your business.

Some things, like tax compliance, accounting, domain registration and licensing, resourcing and IT solutions, are necessary for every business. Keep in mind, depending on your product or service, there may be other considerations, like protecting your IP, inventory management and supply chain transparency, international shipping regulations and tariffs etc. etc.

Whether you’re at the stage where you feel you’ve more or less got things figured out, or you’re not sure how or why you should register your domain, there are steps you can take to make sure you’re in the clear before launch.

The first step: acknowledge that you don’t know what you don’t know.

Next, go out and find someone who has already started a business and ask them what they wish they knew in the beginning about setting up their company. In fact, ask as many people as you can!

This is one of the easiest ways to save yourself time and money… just think, if one person lets you in on some technology that can automate things you thought you had to do manually, that could save you hours of time!

Once you’ve spoken to people who have been there, make a list of the tasks you will need to check off your list, break it down into milestones or projects and give yourself a deadline to get each one accomplished.

We have created a free worksheet that you can find below, to help you set up a plan to get from where you are today to where you need to be on launch day. Take some time to fill it in and put it up somewhere to keep an eye on. Every time you complete a task, tick it off and give yourself a tap on the back!

It’s important to celebrate every milestone - no matter how big or small.

If you’ve filled out the worksheet below and you’re left wondering if entrepreneurship is really for you and what you can do to get there, contact us to help you understand if entrepreneurship right for you?