The turn by turn “roadmap” of business construction. Again, with so much information available it’s really helpful to have a consolidated outline of the business building process. The “7 Phases Of Building A Business” gives an accurate and thorough overview in an easy to follow format. (See Terms and Definitions.)
Phase 1 (Before the startup)
- Have they been in business for themselves before
- If so, how many times?
- If no, how many businesses have they worked at before.
- Lifestyle or for profit business?
- What is the business idea?
- Check for business alignment. (Make sure someone allergic to dogs isn’t starting a dog grooming co.)
- Exit Strategy (Always run business ready for exit)
- Other benefits of business
- Personal development aspects of business
- Giving back
Phase 2 (Building your foundation)
- Business Flowchart & Business Plan
- Product identification
- What’s/who’s the target market
- Identify end user
- Buyer can be different than end user
- Identify distributor
- Figure out the market size: TAM/SAM (Total available/served available market)
- Competitive analysis
- Who’s the competition
How are they marketing to YOUR market
Check for other businesses not in your industry that are targeting the same demographic
- Where do we find data about that demographic
Phase 3 (The Product)
- Develop the product specifically for your target market/demographic
- How is the product going to be used
- Where is the product going to be used
- Why is the product going to be used
- Why would they use your product versus a competitor’s?
- Figure out the value proposition to the end user
- Sourcing of product
- Manufacturing
- Component sourcing
- Using existing technology to build your own product.
- Dealer/distributor network
- Shipping & 3PL Shipping (Third Party Logistics)
- Packaging
- Identify distribution channels
Phase 4 (marketing)
- Create value proposition to end user and different VP to different users & or buyers *Gift factor
- Create marketing campaigns for each market segment.
- Create materials/Marketing platforms
- Website
- Brochures
- Newsletter
- Social Media – Facebook/Linkedin/pintrist/twitter/instagram
Phase 5 (sales)
- Sales platforms
- Brick & mortar store
- Wholesale
- Retail
- Online
- Direct Sales
- Affiliate Sales
- B2B/B2C
- Factoring
- Terms – to/from
Phase 6 (Management)
- Staffing
- Leadership
- Company Culture
- Cashflow Management/Spreadsheet
- Employee Handbook
- HR (Human Resources)
- Training
- Internal Growth (Promotions from within)
Phase 7 (Investment)
- Fundraising
- Growth Strategy
- Structuring for outside investment
- Receiving outside investment (SEC)
- Business valuation
- Exit Strategy*
- Business Flowchart*
- Business plan*
*Intentional duplicate item