Phase IV – Start Up

Objective

To finalize the operational items; all of the practical items you need to actually operate the business.

Action

Real Estate

The importance of selecting the location of your business will primarily be driven by the type of business you are starting and of course, your budget.

Please contact our Vendors in the Office or Retail Space Vendor category for guidance in this section.

Given your company (or you personally) maybe be asked to sign a long term lease (which could be a significant financial commitment), you may want to consider the following factors before signing a lease:

• Speak to your lawyer
  
  
• Be clear as to what costs you are responsible for and what is the responsibility of the landlord.
  
  
• Consider working from your home office for the first period of time to ensure the viability of the business before locking into a long term lease.
  
  
• Subletting some space on a short term lease basis (six-months to one year)
  
  
• If you have a retail model, consider using the smaller mall kiosks or even flea market to get some sales and experience under your belt.
  
  
• Consider putting your inventory on consignment with an existing retailer to see how the product does for a certain period of time.

You also need to consider the costs associated with an office move as well as the costs to set up items such as phones, computers etc.

Operational stuff

Here is a list of operational items to consider.

• Insurance
  
  
• Marketing material such as brochures
  
  
• Office stationery: business cards, letterhead & envelopes
  
  
• Phones (land lines and cellular)
  
  
• Internet connections
  
  
• Design of invoices, credit notes (which may all be built into the software)
  
  
• Office furnishings
  
  
• Office design
  
  
• Office supplies
  
  
• Computers
  
  
• Employees (hiring and compensation)

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.

Launch Party!

So you are finally ready to open the doors! Depending on the nature of the business, you may consider throwing a Launch Party. Consider getting a PR company involved to determine what publicity/press coverage could be useful in getting out your brand/company name.

Conclusion

Congratulations!!

You have successfully taken your idea from thought to concept.

At the end of Phase IV, you should have a well thought out, planned and properly executed business, and possibly thrown a cool party!

It’s now sort of a “good news/bad news story”! It’s good news that you have managed to get your business off the ground! But now you have to run it!!

To guide you through this, we have added a section called “Going Forward” which we recommend you review to give you some valuable ideas and insight into some of the ongoing managerial and ownership issues you may face.

Good luck!