Launching Your Startup

Launching a business is an exciting time in your career and it’s easy to get ahead of yourself and overlook some important things in the rush to open the doors to customers.

You may have an amazing idea, but without proper planning and foresight it may not live up to your expectations.

Before starting to advertise the launch of your business, make sure you have a solid business plan in place.

Ask yourself whether you have taken the results of your market research into account and whether you have made all the right changes and tweaks to your products or services to ensure that they will be at their best and most efficient when they first become available. 

You may find it useful to revisit your business plan and make sure it still provides a realistic account of your enterprise’s prospects of success.

Has the general demand for your product changed in any way since the initial research was conducted?

Did the price of any materials used in production change, and if yes, how does it affect your profit margin?

A number of checks at this stage in your business’ development could save you a lot of pain later on when you are already trading and don’t have much room for alterations.

Once the structural aspects are out of the way, it’s important to spend plenty of time thinking about marketing your business.

This should amount to more than a few emails and press releases.

Refer back to your market research to ensure you promote your product by basing your campaign on solid evidence of the wants and needs of your potential customers.

After you are happy with the marketing strategy, it’s time to look back once more to the image of your company.

If there’s anything you think could be improved about your website design, logo, or business cards, now it’s the time to do it.

Everything should be in perfect condition when your business goes live and customers get the chance to explore your website. 

Going through a short period of testing, especially if your enterprise relies heavily on its online aspects, could make the difference between a successful launch and a disaster - nobody wants to deal with technical difficulties during their first few days. 

Inspect the graphic design elements on your promotional materials and business cards too.

You need a memorable logo and a name you fully support right from the start. If something needs changing, now it’s the time to do it.

Re-branding an established business could prove to be difficult in the future.

When everything has been thoroughly revised, it’s time to focus all your attention to promoting your impending launch.

Rushing through this process could mean less attention for your brand and may lead to a not very glowing start, so it’s important you reserve plenty of time for creating a buzz around your business before the big day.

If this seems like a daunting task, you may want to consider hiring a PR team. You only get one shot at a launch after all. 

Further information

For more tips and advice on starting a business and entrepreneurship, please see: