Phase III – Set Up

Objective

The objective of Phase III is to finalize most of your strategic or “behind the scenes” decisions. These include:

• business name, logo or branding & Web site;
• marketing, advertising and sales plans;
• staffing needs; IT, legal, accounting & financial.

Action

We have divided Phase III into 7 steps. These are:

• Branding
• Web site development
• Marketing, advertising & sales plans
• Staffing
• IT (information technology/computer set up)
• Legal, accounting, bookkeeping & banking
• Government (Business name registration, GST, PST, Payroll)

Our Vendors would be happy to assist you with questions you may have in any of these areas.

Branding

At Phase III, you need to be making the following decisions:

• Selection of a business name (or brand name)
• Selection of a logo (also known as a trade-mark)

Each ofthese factors should be consistent in their “look and feel” so there is a uniform style to the business. Useful tips to consider:

• Make sure the brand, look and feel are consistent with the product/service you are offering. (This is very subjective, so you might consider consulting a marketing/branding company whose creative work resonates with you).
  
  
• Check that your business name is not currently being used. You do not want to build your business around a brand name that you ultimately cannot use.

Please see our list of Vendors for getting some help in this area.

Web site development

The development of a Web site is often a lot more complicated than people anticipate (having been through this on the set up of this site, we speak from experience!)

There are a number of components to building a Web site:

• The web creative, which refers to art work, how the site could actually look with respect to colour, layout & design.
  
  
• Coding, the background programming of the site.
  
  
• Site map, exactly what pages will be on the site
  
  
• Copy, the exact wording that will be on the site.

Web sites take time to build; be sure to factor that into your plans.

Marketing, advertising and sales plans

Your marketing plan is extremely important; it drives your adverting and sales strategy.

No doubt, at Phase III, you have already been thinking about this.

Here are some specific items to address:

• How are you going to reach your target customer?
  
  
• What about advertising, are you going to use print, radio, TV ?
  
  
• What about publicity?
  
  
• Do we need to hire salespeople, and if so, what is their precise job description, how will they get paid and where will we find them?

(Consider using the services of a sales training company to help you select and manage your sales team. See our Vendor links for a company that can help you with this service).

Staffing

You need to decide on your key roles and who will fill them.

Hiring the right people is critical. In order to help you make these decisions, consider:

• Writing a job description. This will help you be clear on exactly the type of skill set you are looking for as well as education and experience levels.
  
  
• Consulting business associates and employment agencies to get a good sense as to current compensation plans.
  
  
• Examining soft skills like work ethic, loyalty, diligence, inter-personal skills
  
  
• Checking references as you will learn a lot about your prospective candidate!!

Depending on the nature of your business, you may want to consider using part-time or outsourced services for some of your functions. These options are also effective if the volume of work is not at a point where the business needs a full time employee.

IT (information technology/computer set up)

This is a function where using an outsourced IT person can be very effective. Please see our list of Vendors for an IT professional that you can use in your team.

Here are some IT issues to consider:

• Use of a desktop or laptop
  
  
• Purchase or lease of equipment
  
  
• What about printers and scanners
  
  
• What about internet access
  
  
• Web hosting and email configuration
  
  
• Back up’s and computer security

A good IT professional will be able to provide you with input on a number of these questions.

Legal, accounting, bookkeeping & banking

These issues really can make or break your business and must be getting due consideration. Here is a checklist of facts to confirm:

1. Complete your selection of a bookkeeper, accountant, lawyer and accounting software package.
   
   
2. Decide on the legal form of business i.e.: corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship
   
   
3. Create shareholder or partnership agreements
   
   
4. Make applications for Patents, Business name registrations, trademark etc.
   
   
5. Select a CFO or business advisor (even if part time)
   
   
6. Put IT support in place (even if part time)
   
   
7. Open a bank account (what about merchant services: VISA, MasterCard, debit etc) as some of these accounts take time to set up.
   
   
8. Set up your financing (your money, the banks or an outside investor)

Government (Business name/BIN registration, GST, PST, Payroll)

Almost all businesses need to register with Canada Revenue Agencies (formerly Revenue Canada) to obtain a Business Number, known as a BIN. They will also assign you account numbers for items such as payroll, GST & corporate tax.

You may also need to register your business with the Ontario Ministry of Finance for items such as corporate tax, retail sales tax (PST) and perhaps Employee Health Tax (EHT).

You may also be required to register for WSIB.

It is a good idea to consult your accountant on these issues.

We have also included links to these sites.

Update of Financial Projections

Consider updating your preliminary financial projections, Cash Flows and Start up costs schedule which you complied in Phase II for the costs you have identified in this Phase.

Conclusion

At the end of Phase III, you should have finalized the following:

• business name, logo, brand & web.
  
  
• marketing, advertising & sales plan.
  
  
• key hires or have a fairly good sense of the key skills you require for this position
  
  
• your IT, legal, accounting & financial people.
  
  
• your financial projection, cash flows and stat up budget so you can get a clearer sense of both ongoing operating costs as well as startup costs.

Congratulations! Let's proceed to Phase IV