Have you got a startup idea in mind? Are you looking to get into the entrepreneurial lifestyle but aren’t sure where to start?
We’ve got a breakdown of the initial things you should give more thought to when you come up with your idea. You might have given them a passing thought, or decided it can wait until you’ve got a plan in place, but with this quick guide, we’ll make sure you start off on the right track. Take a look at our guide to the things you need to think about early in the business stages.
Networking
There’s no use in having your business if no one knows who you are, and how do people get to know who you are? You tell them. And thus, the concept of networking was created.
Networking looks very different today than the cigar-smoking mad men in the private back room of a 5-star restaurant. There are elements of networking in social media, where accounts are being used as portfolios of work for the sake of employers or investors, but there are also a lot of chances to mingle in the real world, and sometimes that’s better. There is just something forgettable about people online.
Keep an eye out for industry events and conferences. You will get to meet your peers, siphon advice from them and the talks and workshops, and make yourself known.
You can make an even better impression by hosting your own industrial event. If your business is based in the UK you can create your own conference or event with the help of RX and really make an impression.
Name
Choosing the right brand name could arguably be more important than your own name. Naming a child Angelo is fine since it’s no one else’s business if the child is actually angelic, but a business needs to live up to the connotations of its name.
And you need to be aware of connotations more than anything. There might be hidden meanings to the words you are using, and these can be big ones like out of date or cultural slurs or small ones like calling your car business Green Cars and having nothing environmentally friendly about them.
Keep in mind, for example, that there are a lot of American and British words that sound the same but have vastly different meanings. What kind of chip shop have you got?
Logo
Your logo is considered the visual aspect of your name, which means it will be everywhere. Business cards, store fronts, letterheads, websites, apps, billboards: everything.
This, in turn means it has to be adaptable. It needs to be simple enough that it’s clear on a billboard or in the corner of a webpage.
When thinking of concepts, think about your name and the purpose of your business and try to exude that in your logo. Adidas is a good example of a simple logo. Initially they were putting three stripes on everything and so just used it as a logo, but by tilting the three stripes on their sides it looked like a mountain, giving connotations of challenges to overcome. This is apt for a sports brand.
