Copy of 25 point checklist - Amazon AWS

s ' e t t o l Char CHARLOTTE YOUNG BOWENS

ABOUT THE PLAYBOOK This is your Playbook for Business Startup. Use it as a guide for creating a foundation for your business. These 25 points are the most important items that need to be completed in the startup phase of your business. Let it serve as a guide and understand that some of these elements will change or evolve over time. And when you feel as if your grappling with procrastination, pull out your Playbook and let it inspire you to do what needs to be done.

BUSINESS BASICS BUSINESS NAME It's an obvious thing, to name your business but honestly coming up with a name for your business can be the hardest action you will take because it's like naming your baby. It's the name you will have to live with for a while or at least until your business takes off. But it's not lost on me that this can be a challenging task to get completed but once you've made the decision, you're ready to go. You can change it later if necessary.

BUSINESS TAGLINE A tagline is a short sentence or expression or phrase that sums up what your business does. It could convey your business values or what makes you different from the competitors but you'll want to have this in your back pocket for marketing materials or when you need a quick and simple way.

SAMPLE TAGLINES 25 point Playbook for Biz Startup ~ www.charlottefixmybiz.com

BUSINESS DESCRIPTION - SHORT VERSION I'm emphasizing short version because we're living in a day and time when businesses evolve. The description you come up with today will most likely change, so don't spend a whole bunch a time on this, just come up with a brief description and refine it over time.

ELEVATOR PITCH Don't over complicate this, simply review what you've written for your business description and pull out the highlights. Link these highlights in a way that can be easily verbalized. Practice saying this pitch in a mirror, make sure you tweak it until it feels right and represents what you want to communicate about your business in a few seconds because you've only got a few seconds to gain interest and make that first impression.

BUSINESS SUMMARY PLAN The challenge with online businesses is the breakneck speed with which digital technology is changing. These changes require entrepreneurs to constantly re-evaluate their plan and adapt accordingly. Creating a business summary plan is more time efficient and much easier than the traditional plan recommended by business schools all over the world.

FILE TRADEMARK OR PATENT PLEASE, PLEASE, I beg of you, PLEASE protect your intellectual property whether it's a new invention, a system or process or a unique product, Be sure to visit the website USPTO.GOV. (United States Patent and Trademark Office). This is where you will register your idea and either get a trademark or patent depending on the type. It's easy to overlook this task and then suddenly you find someone has stolen your idea, so don't wait. Go on now, protect your genius! 25 point Playbook for Biz Startup ~ www.charlottefixmybiz.com

Write it down Business Name:

Business Tagline:

Business Description:

Elevator Pitch:

Draft Business Summary Plan

25 point Playbook for Biz Startup ~ www.charlottefixmybiz.com

ONLINE PRESCENSE REGISTER DOMAIN NAME Hopefully, when you go to search for a domain name, your business name will be available but sometimes it's not. Don't fret if the name.com is taken, google the website and check it out to make sure it's live. As long as it doesn't match what you're doing then I would go with the same domain name but with and ending .NET or .CO. If the other website can be easily confused with your business then I recommend coming up with a different domain name.

COMPANY LOGO You can either design your own logo because you have the skills or you can hire a friend, family member or local artist to create your logo for pay. If you're strapped for cash then I highly recommend going to Fiverr.com where you can pay someone as little as $5 to make you a professional logo that can be used for all your communications and marketing materials including your website. Start with something and if you want to change the logo in time, you can always re-brand in the future, no worries, it happens all the time.

Make a list of your ideas


SETUP WEBSITE There is so much information on the internet about setting up a website and I trust that you know where to go to. If you need assistance with figuring out your website situation, please don’t hesitate to email me at [email protected]. Nonetheless, I will say that I think people really need to examine at least 100 or more websites, really look at them, poke around and try to see what people are doing. Also, you will want to start making a list of the elements of a website that you like or the stylistic choices that will help support your business endeavors. Finally you’ll need to get honest with yourself about your technical skills, because while there are plenty of user-friendly platforms for building websites, some require more expertise than others. The bad news is that the less experienced you are with websites, the less flexibility you will have but that doesn’t mean you can’t create (DIY) a professional looking site for your business. Weebly, Wix, Squarespace, Wordpress are just a few places to consider for a self-hosted website. On the other hand, you could go with a FREE website in the beginning and I fully support this because a website is better than NO website. There is nothing wrong with these FREE sites and in fact, many allow you to create really wonderful looking websites.


REGISTER SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILES Registering your social media profiles is the first step but an important one even if you don’t know what you’re going to do with the profiles. Once you’ve come up with a name for your business and have purchased your domain name, I highly recommend that entrepreneurs setup a gmail account with the business name or a version of the name as a place for all your business email to come to. Also, as a bonus for having a gmail account, it comes with the opportunity to produce a blog, a youtube channel and you can create a Google plus profile as well. The second step would be to use your NEW google email to create your Facebook account, your Twitter account, your Instagram account and your Pinterest account. At some point in time, you will might want a LinkedIn profile for your business depending on your niche as well as accounts with other social media platforms like periscope, snapchat, etc. Just remember you’re just registering these accounts for the moment. Part of your marketing plan will be to establish goals for your social media profiles and how to brand these profiles as well. Take the first step.

Webiste and Social Media Plan


LEGAL & FINANCIAL APPLY FOR EIN - TAX ID # EIN (Employer Identification Number). You're not incorporated, you're not a limited liability company and you’re not a partnership, then you're a solopreneur with a business, you don't need an EIN. But if you’ve inherited or taken over someone else’s business you will want an EIN, so that it distinguishes you as the current owner. But here a few really good reasons to get your EIN: you've hired staff employees; you've decided to incorporate; you've establish a partnership or you want to file bankruptcy. Finally, some banks won’t allow you to open up a business account without the EIN. However, you can get around this temporarily by simply opening up another checking account to separate out your business revenue and expenses from your personal stuff. Truth is you can hold off on the EIN until absolutely necessary or until you make significant revenue.

DECIDE ON LEGAL BUSINES STRUCTURE There are three (actually four) main types of legal structures for a business. Quiet as it’s kept, being a solopreneur (sole proprietorship) is a legal structure for your business and you can use your personal social security number to take advantage of tax credits for business owners when filing your income tax. You can become a corporation (sounds kind of intense if you ask me) which has two main categories, incorporation and limited liability. The process to incorporate is different for many states so check with your local or state chamber of commerce or small business administration office to get instructions for this process. Limited Liability means you’re incorporated but you have limited liability, much like sole proprietorship or even a partnership, these structures allow for what is called pass-through taxation. In essence, business owners can report their profit and losses on their individual income tax forms and don’t have to submit the corporate tax forms. To incorporate is to establish your business as it’s own entity, it typically requires participation of a board of directors that own equity and who will have a say in what goes on in the business. A corporation completely separates the personal from business, hence all liability is placed on the business and can’t be held against the owner or their personal assets (mostly but they’re exceptions to this rule). 25 point Playbook for Biz Startup ~ www.charlottefixmybiz.com

OPEN UP A BANK ACCOUNT Warning, warning! You might need an EIN to open a business account but nowadays, many banks offer really cheap accounts that have no fees associated with them but they do come with limitations. You can open the infamous ‘Free Checking Account’ when you’re first starting because you will want to separate your business expenses from your personal expenses, trust me you really want to do this. It’s easier to track expenses, revenue as well as have peace of mind about what’s going on with your business financially. But if you’ve got an EIN, open your business account, the cheap version will suffice until your business grows and you start generating revenue that requires an upgraded account. The account is important if you’re taking online payments, you really want a place for revenue from online sales to go and again this will assist with financial tracking and accounting.

SETUP ACCOUNTING SYSTEM I’ve been a bean counter for over 30 years and I can hear your growls when I recommend creating an accounting system. No worries, it doesn’t have to be complicated and we’re living in a day and time where there are plenty of online tools and apps that will do most of the work for you. You could start with a simple excel spreadsheet, believe or not, there are multi-million dollar entrepreneurs that use excel as their main accounting tool (kinda crazy, huh?) Luckily, there’s all types of accounting software, many of which designed for every business niche, from consulting, to sales, to huge companies with lots of production cost and overhead, or for travel agencies, non-profits or programs for nail or hair salons. No matter what the area of your business, there is something out there for you and it won’t be hard but it will be important for you to stay on top of your money. But if the task seems too daunting, then hire an accountant, you’ll be glad that you did. 25 point Playbook for Biz Startup ~ www.charlottefixmybiz.com

CUSTOMER AVATAR DEFINE CUSTOMER PROFILE It’s easy to get caught up in figuring out what you want to offer, sell or create for customers because that’s the exciting part and the reason why you’re an entrepreneur. However, I have some necessary news (neither good or bad), you’ll need to take a few moments to consider your ideal customer. Who is this person? And the answer isn’t EVERYBODY, I’m sorry that’s just not true and has never happened for any company on the face of this earth with the exception of perhaps McDonald’s but this is rare. You’ll find increase success when you really take a moment to consider the needs, wants and desires of your customers. As you brainstorm about your customer, it will help you deliver a product, service or offer that appeals to your customer's basic needs and will inspire them to spend money with you. Basic elements to include: demographics (age, gender, education, annual income, etc.), what they are looking for, what they want in a product or service, why would they come to you, what do you offer that's different or more appealing than your competitors, essentially you want to go inside the mind of your customer and understand who they are. Worksheet on next page.

Jot down information about your ideal customer, who are they?


KNDW YOUR COMPETITORS I can hear you now, there’s no competition, because you’re the best! And I believe you but trust me, it will take time for other to know you’re the best as well. So in the interim, you want to seriously consider your competitors. Be sure to examine what they do; what works, how are they capturing their customer’s attention; how do they deliver what they do and what seems to work. The truth is this, there is no need to re-invent the wheel, so feel free to use some of the same strategies that your competitors use. Ideally, you’ll take your customer profile information (go back to your worksheet) and contrast that to your competitors' customer profile, to see if there are any similarities but more helpful, is to understand the differences. Don’t spend too much time on this but be aware and remember to do some comparison analysis every so often because it might help you devise ways to drive their customers to your business.

YOUR UNIQUE VALUE PROPOSITION UVP is a fancy way of saying, what makes you better than your competitor? What is it that you’re offering, selling or producing that is completely different than anything else out there? What makes your business unique? What is the intrinsic or extrinsic value? And how much value added is offered? People want value first and foremost, albeit customers aren’t always conscious of this desire. People want to feel like they’re getting something that no one else has or at best, very few people have. Customers have a need and they want to feel that you’re delivering a product, service or offering that completely meets their need. It’s important to not only OVER deliver on value and quality but you'll be a trusted supplier that customers can learn to depend on. Your unique value proposition is what generates new business, causes customers to promote your business via word of mouth and most importantly, there is a strong chance you can experience brand loyalty. We all want repeat customers or consumers that tell all their friends about our business and we all want to stay in business. The value we provide customers is what keeps them returning time and time again as well as good value continually attracts more and more customers in the future. So what is your unique value proposition? This is important stuff, so take it VERY VERY seriously. 25 point Playbook for Biz Startup ~ www.charlottefixmybiz.com

SALES & MARKETING DETERMINE YOUR OFFER This is obvious and the reality of the situation is that you became an entrepreneur because you’ve known or know exactly what you want to share with the world. But some of you have multiple ideas, different directions you want to take or you’re not completely sure about where to start. Whatever your situation, no worries. Take some time to do what I call a ‘brain dump’ where you write out all your ideas, dreams and desires for your business. Next, I would recommend selecting a handful of the things on your list as your ‘TOP’ choices and then create a plan for what you will offer. Personally, I make my decision using the following criteria: I love the idea, I think the idea is really important, I like doing these types of things, I’m really good at doing these things, I feel that this will help my customer (based on customer profile information), I have to try this, I believe in it, and I want this as part of my business. I guarantee one thing, whatever you start with, that will not be the thing that you will end up with down the road, so don’t sweat the small stuff and start with something now. Always be open to change, tweaking and allowing things to evolve due to technological changes, customer need changes or due to unforeseeable changes in your business.

SUPPLY VENDOR & SERVICE PROVIDER NEEDS If you’re business requires another business to help you produce your offer, product or service, take a moment to research these companies because they’re important to your business success. Obtain first hand feedback from actual customers, check out their online reviews and really spend time confirming that the vendor will meet all your needs. This is the time when you become the customer and can have certain demands and expectations, use these moments as teachable moments about how to run your business. People resist this next suggestion but you need multiple bids because while one company may make what seems like a reasonable offer, you might discover another company with better pricing, outstanding customer service and easier to work with. Don’t compromise your values and goals when it comes to your business and don’t be afraid to not use those businesses that you know won’t deliver top-notch service, it’s not worth the risk. 25 point Playbook for Biz Startup ~ www.charlottefixmybiz.com

CREATE YOUR FIRST PRODUCT OR SERVICE Hip, hip hooray! This is the best part of being in business, creating the thing you will be offering to the world. I love spending time in creation, it’s when I feel as if I am in my FLOW! I can spend a zillion words talking about this step but I get the feeling you know exactly what to do or you wouldn’t be an entrepreneur. But for those that aren’t quite as sure, first decide on what you want to do, research free and/or paid trainings and then start experimenting. You won’t know until you start creating something and then let your intuition guide you along the path. As I mentioned before, start somewhere and don’t be afraid to edit, tweak, revise, re-configure or change all together in time if it doesn’t work. Being an entrepreneur is about falling down sometimes but ALWAYS getting back up, you can do this.

DEVELOP YOUR MARKETING PLAN Ugh! Yeah, I said it, marketing plans are the bane of my existence which is why I pay people to help me with this aspect of my business. Nevertheless, I’ve learned so much from these marketing geniuses and their brilliance has inspired me to be more conscious about engaging in many aspects of the marketing plan. Coming Soon! eCourse on How to create your Marketing Plan

Take some notes before you forget


EXECUTE YOUR MARKETING PLAN Entrepreneurs love to come up with ideas but we sometimes fall short when it comes to execution, we suffer from some type of paralysis or we suffer from decreased motivation because the creative process, brainstorming or visioning is more exciting than the actual execution. But let me gently remind you that in order for you to attain the prosperity that you’ve envisioned for yourself, execution is vitally important and the only way to get to the promise land (don’t let me get all MLK, Jr. on you)., you must execute. In my humble opinion, writing down the different ways you want to market, prioritizing your list of ideas and then choosing a few to focus on is your best strategy. Time allows you to accurately assess what marketing methods work and which efforts are not netting any results. And I give you permission to be a copycat, if others in your niche are heavily involved in a specific way of marketing and it works, by all means you should take that wisdom and use it to your advantage. So go on now and get to implementing your marketing plan.

Create a step-by-step Marketing plan


NETWORKING GET YOURSELF A MENTOR(S) I’ll be the last to admit that for many years the thought of getting a mentor was intimidating. Who was I to take up others people’s time? Who was I to ask for help with my business? Why would anyone want to help me? And the truth is that people actually enjoy mentoring because being an entrepreneur can be a lonely adventure. I’ve found that 100% of succesful business owners are more than delighted to be a mentor and most really enjoy sharing their experiences and helping new entrepreneurs. But mentoring doesn’t have to be one-on-one, it can be from a distance or you can choose someone to emulate. I’m a huge fan of Lisa Nichols and although she is accessible, I have followed her for over a decade and have learned everything I could about her. I’ve listened to her speeches, attend some of her trainings and gathered as much information as I could about the steps she taken to be a successful entrepreneur. She was a mentor from a distance, through her books, courses, talks and online tribe on various social media platforms. I consider many people mentors that I haven’t met but equally as powerful has been the connections I have with local business owners. I pick their brains, they love to share thoughts about their journey and the combination of one-on-one and distant mentors has been invaluable to my development as an entrepreneur. Pick a mentor or get help getting picked to be a mentee and watch yourself grow as a Infopreneur.

Your list of potential Mentors


ENGAGE IN NETWORKING This is another area where I am suggesting that people network one-on-one but given technology, most of today’s networking happens online. Networking from a distance is not only a viable option but will garner you just as much support, information, resources and connection, if not more than in-person networking events. Nowadays it’s so much easier to find the group of people online that are doing what you’re doing and ask them questions, get advice or even just talk about your entrepreneurial struggles. More than anything, networking allows for the journey to be less lonely, allows for moments of reprieve when the business is either thriving at unimaginable levels or you’ve bumped into some challenges that may seem insurmountable, only to find out from a fellow entrepreneur the magic formula for resolving the issue. If nothing else, networking will get you closer and closer to the help or answer that you might need. For those of you that are shy, try online Facebook groups or local meetups. Much like a mentor, you will discover the gold that can come to you and your business journey as a result of a little networking.

JOIN CHARLOTTE: FIX MY BIZ FACEBOOK GROUP Duh! Of course the checklist for Infopreneurs will have the task of joining Charlotte: Fix My Biz Facebook group, I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t lead you to the safe space specifically created for you to get support, resources, trainings as well as an opportunity to connect with other Infopreneurs. Also, I highly recommend checking out other FB Groups where you can connect with other infopreneurs.


Notes


Notes


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s ' e t t o l Cha2r5 - p o i n t PLAYBOOK for Biz StartUp

charlottefixmybiz.com

BUSINESS BASICS CHECKLIST Write it down

BUSINESS NAME

BUSINESS TAGLINE

BUSINESS DESCRIPTION - SHORT VERSION

ELEVATOR PITCH

25 point PlayBook for Biz Startup ~ wwwcharlottefixmybiz.com

BUSINESS SUMMARY PLAN

FILE TRADEMARK OR PATENT Visit the website USPTO.GOV. (United States Patent and Trademark Office). Go on now, protect your genius!

25 point PlayBook for Biz Startup ~wwwcharlottefixmybiz.com

ONLINE PRESENCE CHECKLIST Write it down

REGISTER DOMAIN NAME

GET A LOGO

SETUP WEBSITE

REGISTER SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILES


LEGAL & FINANCIAL CHECKLIST Write it down

APPLY FOR EIN - TAX ID #

DECIDE ON LEGAL BUSINES STRUCTURE

OPEN UP A BANK ACCOUNT

SETUP ACCOUNTING SYSTEM


CUSTOMER AVATAR WORKSHEET Write it down

DEFINE CUSTOMER PROFILE Top Ten Questions to Ask Yourself 1. Where do they go to get help with the challenges of running their business?

2. What are their challenges and frustrations?

3. What are their goals right now?

4. What have they prioritized for 2017?

5. How money are they willing to spend? What's their budget?


CUSTOMER AVATAR WORKSHEET Write it down

DEFINE CUSTOMER PROFILE Top Ten Questions to Ask Yourself 6. What phrases or the kind of language they use to describe their struggles?

7. Why are you uniquely qualified to help them?

8. What promise are you delivering?

9. What is it like to work with them?

10. What will they say after working with you?


Notes

25 point checklist for Biz Startup ~ wwwcharlottefixmybiz.com

Notes

25 point checklist for Biz Startup ~ wwwcharlottefixmybiz.com