You are going to start as a self-employed person. Very good, what a nice step! First of all, we wish you good luck with this beautiful adventure. Don’t let what everyone else is saying drive you crazy and follow your own path. There are a few tips that we would like to give you if you are going to start as a self-employed person now.
But what do you need if you are going to start your own business? What should you think about? Of course you need a Chamber of Commerce registration. Then you will automatically be registered with the Tax and Customs Administration and you will have to keep the administration. Very nice!
Making contacts
Even before you start, it is wise to make contacts with potential clients. Maybe it’s your old boss, colleagues you’ve worked with or others. Of course, you have to be very careful with your old boss’s customers. Do you have a non-compete clause? But building relationships with all these people from your new company or business to be is of course always possible. Then of course you will keep track of these conversations in a simple CRM system, but that goes without saying. Nevertheless?
Testing ideas
Before you get started, it’s also smart to test your ideas. Is your idea catching on? Is it something potential customers would pay you for? Or not? Since your income will soon depend on this, this is of course very important. You can do how you are going to test this in different ways, but the best way is to make that first sale. To see those pennies coming into your bank account, that’s the best proof that you have an idea that can work.
But you can also interview people. Ask them what they want, what they need and what they are willing to pay for. All these conversations alone provide you with a lot of valuable information. Do something with that. In any case, make sure you write it down properly, after all, you never know when it can be useful or when you want to read it again. Maybe the people you interview will soon be your first paying customers.
What makes your idea unique?
The next question is: what makes your idea or business plan unique? What distinguishes you from the others? Can you do something special? Do you know something that others don’t? Or is there simply a shortage of your knowledge and skills in the area where you want to work, that is of course also possible. It is good to think about how you want to distinguish yourself. Otherwise, there is a chance that there will soon be far fewer paying customers than you expected or expected.
Following on from that, what is your experience? What can you do and what performance have you already achieved? That can be very simple, for example, you have worked as an employee for 5 years and are now going to do this for yourself. Or you have gained certain insights during your previous work that you want to teach others so that they do not make the same mistakes or can achieve the desired results faster.
It is especially important that it is clear what you bring to the table and why people should choose you or your company. If you make a commitment to write it down, you will be forced to think about it, which is a very good exercise. So do that too. And let others look at this critically. Don’t be afraid of feedback, but see it as something you can learn from and get better from.
Listen to others
Finally, what do others think of your experiences? For example, are you very good at building relationships? Or are you accurate and precise? Can you work hard? These are just a few of the things that others may think of you. You can learn a lot from that too. Don’t be afraid to ask this, be open to this feedback so that it benefits you.
Good luck with your startup and we are curious what it will be!