There are many facets to being business ready and the right approach for you and your business probably does not fit any 'cookie cutter' model out there. Here are a few generic tips to get you started:

1. Make sure that you have your financial systems in pace so that you can receive payments and support accounting.
2. Have the correct legal documents for commercial agreements and protect yourself further with insurances.
3. Plan and research yourself, your product, your market, your competitors and your customers.
4. Tool up! Get your business tools and infrastructure lined up ready to serve customers.

Business tools you may need can fall into two main categories:

• External – what your customers see:
  • Business cards – we design ours internally and get them printed professionally. We advise to avoid using cheaper quality card but otherwise everything is personal taste.
  • Brochures/flyers – something you can leave after meeting your leads.
  • Social media presence – LinkedIn, Facebook etc.
  • Certifications – both professional and business level. Have you registered as a minority owned business if applicable? (https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/articles/Small%20Business%20Certifications.pdf)
  • Insurances – General and/or Professional Liability and indemnity.
  • Legal forms – agreements/contracts.
• Internal – good practice and helps you achieve your goals:
  • Business plan – writing this should help you understand your strengths and weaknesses.
  • Marketing plan – work out who you are selling to and what you are selling. It is better to specialize to have clarity and focus, it helps your target customers understand you.
  • Sales plan – having a clear price model and specific goals will help you focus.
  • CRM – customer relationship management software, where you can record your leads and contacts details and activities.
  • Financial system – invoicing, taking payments and accountancy.

Contact us to learn more or visit our business product packages to get started.