Startup checklist - A guide to starting a business

Research

1. Research whether there is a market for your product i.e. will customers want it? You could do this by asking 10 people if they would buy your service or product if it existed. James Holden @ Holden Associates
2. Define your go to market sales strategy i.e. how you will get customers? Will you have to phone prospects, promote a website, set up an email marketing campaign? Adam Wilson @ Intevi
3. Build out your business model canvas to set out your business model on one page. This will provide a simple summary of your strategy. Vincent Ryan
4. Work out what your business name is going to be. Is it easy to remember? Check the domain name exists. Rachel Balchin @ Bulldog Accounting
5. Build a vision statement which clearly focuses what you are building it will help give direction and mould a great culture for your business. Warren Davies @ Utilize

Finances

1. Get a business bank account. Thomas Rees @ Deloitte
2. Get an accountant. Nick Levine @ Deloitte
3. Cash flow management - as a new business every area can benefit from a little extra spending, but understand where and when to spend and what to keep in reserve. Anthony Dibble
4. Choose the right accounting software to stay on top of your finances. David Carr @ Clear Books

Legal

1. Decide whether you need to be a sole trader or a limited company. A sole trader is easier to get started. A limited company is more administration but it does limit your liability if the business fails. It may also be more tax efficient. Arthur Croker @ Arthur Croker & Co
2. Ensure you will not fall foul of third party intellectual property rights (notably trademarks) i.e. don't use a logo or a name trademarked by another company. You can check trademarks here. Aaron Wood
3. Register your own trademark here. It costs approximately ￡200.
4. Obtain insurance. Professional indemnity (protects you if a client sues you over a mistake or bad advice), public liability (protects you from someone being accidentally injured on your premises), employers' liability (if you employ someone then in most cases this is required by law). Venu Nair @ ORM Accounting services
5. Register with Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) if you are processing any personal data. James McKinlay
6. Make sure you comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Yousef Syed @ Bayvision

Limited company

1. Incorporate the company so it is registered at Companies House. The Formations Company is a service that does this for you cheaply. Karen Baez

Sole proprietor

1. Register with HMRC to get a letter with your 10-digit Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) and to be enrolled for the Self Assessment online service at the same time

Sales & marketing

1. Get a logo designed. You can do it yourself on the cheap using tools like this.
2. Document and stick to your brand guidelines i.e. what colours and font to use in marketing material.
3. Register a suitable domain name. Sean Turner
4. Build a website. If you don't know how to do this use something like Wix.
5. Create a social media profile for your business on Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook
6. Network, network, network. If no one knows you're there it doesn't matter how good you or your product is. Liz Davies @ Oak Bookkeeping Services
7. Perform an SEO audit of your website once you have one to help you rank better in google for search terms. Richard Hickson @ RichardHickson.com

Investment

1. Get yourself some great backers who will help you turbo-charge your route to market. Nick Patrick @ Sempre Analytics
2. If taking investment get your investors a 50% discount with SEIS tax relief. Gary Green @ Key Business Consultants

Operations

1. Get organised with your email. Use something like G Suite for email, docs and calendar.
2. Join a co-working space to get a daily fix from other like-minded entrepreneurs. Huckletree in London is a good example. John Horton

Employees

1. Choose an automatic enrolment workplace pension, if you plan on employing someone in your business. Will Lovegrove @ pensions.market

Support

1. Be sure you have the support and backing of family and friends. You'll need them more than you can ever know. So be sure they understand what you are doing and why - they will be your best support when things look the bleakest - and be happiest for you when things look the best. Jacob D Flindt @ MedArkive
2. Find a superstar co-founder with a complementary skill set. Dominic Ahern @ Best Suited
3. Get a business coach who is right for you. If you can't afford a coach see if an experienced business owner you know will mentor you. Mitali Chopra @ Action Coach

Attitude

1. First things first, the courage to take your business from a plan on paper to action. James Moncrieff
2. One thing that comes to my mind is to have a superhuman commitment. Mark Plumber
3. Find a way to establish early on your work/life balance - if you're a sole trader it's really easy to lose yourself in the business and very hard to break bad work habits once the business takes off. Taryn Lee Johnston
4. Only do what is necessary. Do it well, and do it cheap! (remembering that most startup failures are due to lack of cash). Alastair Harris

Contribute to the list

For nine years I’ve been running a business. Now I’m experiencing what it’s like to be a startup again; doing everything from scratch.

This list was created from comments made on this article and mostly this post.

Help me create this startup checklist for other startups. Please leave a comment including:

• The task a startup should consider doing
• The name of your business and a link to your website