iCre8solutions isn’t here to walk through what it means to be an entrepreneur or how to be one. There are plenty of books on that topic that discuss coming up with an idea, testing that idea by creating a minimum viable product (MVP), and to “just get started.”
That last point of “just get started” is where many get lost. Where does one start? Is there a checklist? Are there templates?
The answer is yes, there are thousands floating out there, some free, some not, but they’re out there. However, they’re not always straightforward, simple, or consolidated into one place. The onus is now on the newly minted-entrepreneur to figure things out.
We’re here to put rubber to the road and give you the tools necessary to “BE” the entrepreneur you may or may not think you are. Contrary to popular belief, starting a business isn’t necessarily difficult. Taking the time to complete some critical steps, in the beginning, can help save a lot of time and energy. This starts by identifying the ideas you are capable of executing at that moment in time.
All businesses start out as an idea, and depending on what resources are put towards that idea can make all the difference in the world. Just like with anything else, having the right tools to get a job done makes doing the job ‘easier’ and typically yields a successful final product.
iCre8solutions has set out to make starting a business more intuitive and methodical. Everyone has natural strengths and weaknesses. An individual when starting a business is naturally drawn to focusing specifically on areas that use those talents.
That makes sense. It’s a whole lot easier to execute against something that one knows they’re good at vs. struggling through more challenging areas.
For example, if a person is more creative, they will most likely spend their time on the artistic aspects of the business, such as designing logos or a website, and will avoid focusing on building out the business’s financial model.
Or if one is a list maker, they will gravitate toward the project management tasks of the business and get caught up nit-picking the project plan vs executing what’s on it.
In both instances, the entrepreneur’s downfall typically occurs due to not correctly prioritizing the work that needs to be done. As they say, there is a method to the madness and iCre8solutions is here to not only support you at each stage of this journey but give you the roadmap for it.
Standing up and operating a business is hard work that requires dedication, determination, patience, and focus. iCre8solutions is ready to get started on building your confidence to be a successful entrepreneur & business owner.
So You Have a Business Idea… Now What?
Do you create a business plan, build a financial model, establish a website, create a logo, etc? Where does one begin in the most effective and efficient manner? Time is severely lacking for many of us and starting a business is extremely time-consuming.
Let’s face it, whether you are employed or not, time is money, and that’s the first takeaway in any business. It’s where the phrase “work smarter, not harder” comes into play. Whether creating a tech unicorn or a side hustle, when, where, and how time or resources are spent can make or break the bank or the business in many cases.
From our collective experience, spending effort up front in planning and setting expectations will yield greater results and more efficiencies later on.
There are five key methodologies that prove beneficial when starting a business. Now, we won’t get into the details of each just yet, but becoming familiar with each of them will make things much easier.
- Evaluation & Scoring Matrix is a decision-making tool to help qualify and prioritize an idea or project against specific criteria.
- Business Model or a Business Canvas Model reflects systematically on a business model, so the business model can be focused on segment by segment.
- Financial Model the task of building an abstract representation of a real-world financial situation to aid in decision-making.
- Business Process Management coordinates the behavior of people, systems, information, and things to produce specific outcomes in support of a business strategy.
- Project Management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to activities that meet the project requirements
Great, so now there are all these big words and strategies that mean nothing to you right now. Stay open and patient, it will all come full circle. You only need to focus on one at a time, in this order.
It’s also important to recognize that not all of these strategies will require days, weeks, or months to produce. iCre8solutions is a big fan of “KISS” – keep it stupid simple or simple stupid – you pick.
The degree to which you choose to allocate to each of these areas is highly dependent on the complexity of the idea and quite frankly just how much time you have to spend on building them out. We have a wide range of solutions to meet your needs where you are at in your life as an entrepreneur or your business life-cycle.
Evaluation & Scoring Matrix
Ideas, ideas, ideas! Some people can generate thousands of ideas at any given moment. Those folks are typically known or referred to as visionary thinkers. Nine times out of ten, visionaries aren’t executors. Often this is simply because they have a harder time drilling into the details, and we all know that the ‘devil is in the details.’
Something can sound like a good idea in theory, but practical application is always a completely different story. Then there are those individuals that have a harder time coming up with so-called “good” ideas. This is where the evaluation and scoring matrix comes into play.
The matrix begs the questions, “How well and easily can this be done?” and “If done well, what will happen?” This exercise allows anyone or teams to qualify and validate ideas against specific criteria.
In simple terms, it’s a chart that allows you to score your ideas against each other. The ideas with the highest scores are the ones that generally have the greatest potential and are the ones to focus efforts on.
The criteria are different across business types but typically include:
- Sales/market growth
- Value added by product/service
- Scalability of product/service
- Profitability
- Business model
If you have one idea or many ideas, this exercise helps to validate an idea so that time isn’t wasted on the project if it’s not worth the effort.
Business Models
There are so many versions, which one to pick? Business model templates are a dime a dozen and range from too simple to very complex. There are web applications that take you through a ‘process’ for a monthly subscription fee, or there’s the free template you can score off of Google.
I hate to tell you this, but no matter what, a business model is a necessary and key tool for starting a business. A business model not only helps to articulate the idea in a succinct manner that can be shared with others, specifically investors, but it’s also to be used as a reference for your business.
Starting a business can take on a life of its own and can often feel like a runaway freight train. A business model helps to stay focused and serves as a critical reminder of what was set out to be accomplished.
As mentioned, there are many different business models available to pick from. Based on our experience, not all are created equal, and some are better than others depending on the idea, entrepreneur, and resources available.
Financial Model
The dreaded financial model. So you’ve made it through the business model, and now you’re faced with creating a financial one. This is by far one of the most intimidating requirements for starting a business.
A huge spreadsheet, calculations, lots and lots and lots of numbers, with so much detail, there’s so much to get buried in. iCre8solutions is here to make it so that anyone, not just individuals that come out of the womb gifted with financial acumen, can not only create but become proficient and actually enjoy the ins and outs of a financial model.
When understanding how your business translates into numbers or profitability is a feeling like no other. The conversion to becoming this person doesn’t happen overnight, but it does happen and sooner than you would anticipate thanks to our methods and approach.
Business Process Management
What business processes are there to manage? Having an idea of what business processes should look like at the onset of starting a business is challenging. It requires discipline and oftentimes experience in that particular sector or a knowledge expert to lean upon.
In the early days of operating a business, the process can be described as “fly by the seat of your pants” meaning the operator is doing anything and everything at any given moment. The businesses subscribed to this process will hit a wall with how big they can grow, or what’s called scale.
Successful operators are able to see their processes clearly and adapt change along the way. At the onset of starting your business, having a game plan of how individuals, teams, or partners interact and when is critical.
This ensures that everyone is focused on specific tasks or in certain areas that ideally match their strengths. More importantly, there should be slight overlap, but not to the point where persons or teams are working on the same thing, wasting valuable time and resources that many new businesses don’t have an excess of.
Having this type of insight gives you access to critical operational data that will help to enable growth.
Project Management
The glue that holds it all together. In the past 20 years, project management has been made popular by Big Tech looking to utilize its resources to the max. There are many variations and philosophies of project management, some formal and some not so formal.
In the end, it’s as simple as creating a detailed checklist with due dates and sticking to it as much as possible. Nearly everyone practices project management in their daily lives. Parents with small children know firsthand that pre-planning in any capacity can make or break an activity.
Then there is the typical example of planning to stop at the gas station to get gas before you run out, or check the metro schedule to ensure an on-time arrival. Combing a set of activities in a specific order within a certain timeline is basically project management.
When it comes to starting a business, this is the glue that holds it all together. It’s the one stop shop for everything that needs to get done, when it needs to get done, and by whom. Really-really good project planning also integrates notes, communications, documents, and associated costs to keep things centralized and organized.
There are so many different project management software applications out there to use, which depending on the size and type of business you have, we have recommendations for.
Conclusion
Laying a strong foundation is the first step in starting a business. All businesses start out as ideas — it’s the decisions you make along the way that ensure those ideas can come to life.
Here at iCre8Solutions, we’re here to support you through every part of that journey, from the very beginning all the way through scaling up to become a larger venture. We provide you with the business, financial, and website development tools your ideas need to thrive.
Contact us to learn more about the types of solutions we can create for your business.