Listen as you read …
Many in this world dream of starting a business. However, establishing a business requires an entrepreneur’s character and resilience. An entrepreneur is driven by a dream and does whatever it takes to make his vision come true. At times, it may require long days and nights of work. There may be instances where one will face failures but learns from them. Other times it will require the ability to handle different types of personalities. And definitely, it expects a character that can handle success with grace.
A Guide to Starting a Business in Canada
While talking to people, I find it common to meet individuals that love to start their own business but do not really know where to start from. Some people begin with writing a business plan, but I personally favour a different approach. And I always recommend for my clients to start by finding their business dream.
Have You Found Your Business Dream?
We can start a business based on numbers lacking the passion that drives the business, but that will only be a project with a short lifespan. Or we may start a business with big dreams and a great passion to accomplish the work, but lacking structure, budget, and projections for profits and gains. And that is also a project with a short lifespan. Finding the business dream can be a good start as one will go into the business with enthusiasm and passion to accomplish the work. However, the structure has to be identified and defined as part of the process.
Yes… A business dream is a major element in starting a successful business and cannot be underappreciated as it is the driving force of business development.
An Inspiring Vision
Once we find what our business dream is, then it’s time to think it through carefully and turn the dream into a vision. A vision is more defined and allows us to see what the final destination is like as we dive into our business journey.
See how the bigger picture is clear?
We have the dream, and we have the vision. Yes, it is time to move on and identify the product or service that will be offered to clients. In Addition, a decision has to be made in regards to the type and name of the business.
Structure and Finances
At this stage, it is a good time to write a business plan. It doesn’t have to be too complex and long, but it has to be measurable with a clear action plan and timeframes. A 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year plan is recommended as guidelines to help the business reach its important milestones. And as part of the planning process, we need to carefully think about the financial status of the business. Now is the time to reflect on whether we will be needing a bank loan or not. What type of Bank accounts will we need to operate the business? Will there be a need to rent an office or rent equipment? All these decisions may have financial ramifications in the future, and that is why it may require some planning before we move into the execution phase.
Get The Business Registered
Running a business requires an official status that we cannot neglect. If the business is planning to operate across Canada then it has to get registered with the Federal government. On the other hand, if the plan is to operate inside one specific Canadian province, then there is no need to register it at the Federal level, but we definitely will need to get it registered with the provincial government.
End the Startup phase
We still need to complete the financial structure and open the bank accounts or get the loans that we need to run the business. I also recommend short-term planning as the final step to starting a business. Set short-term measurable goals one or two weeks at a time and make sure to work hard to achieve them.
Notice how we started with the bigger picture and once we understood and mastered that part, we then moved on to a short-term action plan. That’s when the Startup process is complete and it’s time to move on to the execution phase.
Grace Nasralla is the founder and senior business blogger at BizReflections. She is a Co-Owner at HUDDLESPACE which provides small business owners with offices for rent. This year (2024), Grace launched a loose leaf tea brand and named it Brew & Scone.
Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post! You may follow BizReflections blog for future business related posts and updates. (FOLLOW button in sidebar). I would also like to invite you to subscribe to BizReflections YouTube channel. Our channel has a collection of business videos that equip small business owners for growth.
