Dear Pennies & Pens,
In this post, I’m going to talk about how to start a business. Please note, this is a comprehensive guide so it is a long post. I wanted to be thorough and share insightful information so it wasn’t really possible to shorten the length. Plus, I figured that those who are serious about starting a business won’t be intimidated by the length because they’ll be excited to have been given all this information for free.
As you all know, I am CEO of ISLP, The InkSpot, LLC. ISLP is a creative production company and multicultural creative agency based in Dallas. We create vegan, organic and sustainable lifestyle products as well as offering marketing, branding, public relations and more.
I originally started ISLP in 2015 when I published my first book #MakeUrPenLoud: How To Be A Lifestyle Blogger. Since then I’ve published my second book, The Loudest Pen Ever as well as producing two travel guides, Cruising thru Cali and Chillin in Chi-Town. I also just launched Pennies & Pens, a collection of 100% Organic Cotton T-Shirts.
In essence, I have extensive experience in developing products, marketing, shipping and fulfilment as well as day to day operations. However, when I first started my business, I was all over the place because I didn’t know exactly what I needed to do to get started. That said, I want to give you the tips that I wish I had when I started.
Write a business plan
First, write your business plan. I know writing a business plan can be a total drag but creating one helps you get your ideas on paper and figure out what you’re going to do. Plus you can use it as a template when creating content for your website, marketing materials, social media, etc.
The most important questions you need to answer are: What is the business – name and description?, What products/services do you offer?, Is it an online e-commerce business or brick and mortar business? What is your mission statement? Where are you located? Who is your target audience?
Also, identify the tools that you will use to manage the business. Things like Google Drive, Dropbox, Adobe Creative Suite are all tools that you use on a daily basis to manage your business. Including these in your business plan keeps you organized and forces you to identify the reason you’re using certain tools so you’re not using anything unnecessary.
Write a brand strategy
Next, write a brand strategy. A brand strategy is a strategic plan in which you identify your brand identity, set goals and objectives as well as deciding which tactics you will use to make your goals and objectives happen.
Brand identity includes your brand name, logo, tagline, typeface + font, tone, language and colors. In every brand strategy I do, I start here because it sets the tone for the rest of the plan. From there, I write the brand definition. The brand definition and business description should be one in the same. It should be 3-5 paragraphs that outline exactly what the brand/business is and what it does.
Next, write your mission statement. A mission statement outlines the purpose of the brand and what it is seeking to accomplish. Now, it’s time to set goals. Your goals should be broad and general. Then do your objectives – these should be more specific than your goals. Objectives should identify a timeline or quantity from a goal.
Example: A goal could be to launch a website for your brand. An objective would then be to launch a website for your brand by March. With this method, you now have a due date for your website so you know what you need to be working on. Finally, set tactics. A tactic is basically a “to do” – something you need to do in order to make your goals and objectives happen. To complete the example: A tactic would be to create a website on WordPress.
Once you’ve completed these steps, your brand strategy will be complete.
Write a marketing strategy
First, decide what you are marketing. This may seem simple but if you offer multiple products and services, then you need to market each one separately. You also need to market the business itself. In my marketing plan, I include ISLP as well as our six products and 11 services.
Now, figure out who your target audience is. Identify their age, marital status, ethnicity, income, career/business, likes/dislikes and needs/wants. Then set your goals, objectives and tactics. Do this exactly like you did the brand strategy.
Finally, do a strategic plan. This is where you’ll decide what you will post on various content platforms to promote the business. Content platforms include Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, your email newsletter and blog. You should also decide when you’ll post and how.
Get your EIN number
An EIN is an Employer identification number and it is absolutely a must have for any business. You’ll need it to file your taxes as well as to set up a business bank account, apply for loans or funding, etc. Obtaining an EIN is free of charge so this is any easy must have.
The application only takes a few minutes and can be done online. Complete your application here
Set up your LLC
To set up an LLC or a Limited Liability Company – the most popular business type, you need to file paperwork with your state and pay the necessary fees. Each state is different but what you want to do is visit the website of your state’s Secretary of State then find a form called a “Certificate of Formation”. Complete that form either online or by mail and then pay the filing fee.
I filed my LLC online and it was actually really easy. It was seriously just filing out a simple form in which I gave them the business name, address and EIN number. So my biggest hurdle was the $300 filing fee.
Get a company bank account
Now that you have your EIN number and LLC, it’s time to set up your company bank account. You can choose whichever bank works best for you and your business. I chose Chase because I have a personal account with them and I wanted to be able to easily transfer money between the two accounts.
Please note, you must have an EIN and LLC to set up a business account with most banks. So make sure you have these items before setting up an account. Also, larger banks require a minimum balance or you’ll be charged a monthly fee.
A business account is best even if you’re not making a lot of money because you can separate your income and expenses. When I first started, I used my personal accounts and so it was hard for me to identify where my income was coming from and what I was spending money on. Now that everything is separate, it’s easier for me to do my accounting.
Create/Develop a product
Since you’ve got all your paperwork together as far as a business plan, brand strategy, marketing plan, EIN number, LLC and company bank account, it’s time to create your products. First decide on a name for your product, then write a product description, identify the product benefits and features, figure out the product details (fabric, genre, color, style, format – physical or digital), set the price and target release date.
Next, go through the steps of actually creating your product. Depending on what type of product you’re creating depends on what you’ll do here. At ISLP, we’ve developed multiple products such as books, travel guides and T-Shirts.
With the books, we started with the writing process, then we edited the book, after that we completed the publishing process. That process entails formatting the interior text, designing the cover and buying an ISBN number. The travel guide process is the same except there’s a lot more photo editing involved. For the T-Shirts, we sketched out the designs in a sketchbook then created the design in Photoshop. To get the shirts printed, we work with a manufacturer.
With product development, the most important thing is to make sure you create a high quality, original product that can stand the test of time. After that, your most important factor is setting the right price. I’ll do a future post on how to set prices for your products.
Determine which services you’ll offer
This is for my service providers out there. Obviously, as a service provider you already know the types of services you provide. But before launching your business, you should decide exactly what your niche or speciality is going to be. For example, if you’re a hair stylist your speciality could be natural hair.
Select a speciality that you are extremely good at as well as one that you love doing. This way, you’ll be happy to provide the service for clients and clients will be excited to work with you since you’re good at what you do.
Create/Design a website
The great thing about the innanet is that you don’t need to be a website designer to create an amazing website. Use a Content Management System (CMS) like WordPress, Squarespace, or Shopify to create your website. Each of these platforms has countless free and paid templates that you can customize to create a website.
Please note, you will need to purchase a domain name and hosting. Customizing a website isn’t hard – follow various tutorials on YouTube and ask questions (direct questions to your hosting provider or whoever created your website template and they can usually help you or at least point you in the right direction). The most important thing to a great website is high quality photos and well written product/service descriptions.
Do a photoshoot
Since you’ll need photos for your website, blog and social media, it’s best to coordinate a photoshoot before you even launch the business. For tips on how to coordinate a photoshoot, check out my book #MakeUrPenLoud: How To Be A Lifestyle Blogger – Chapter 6 goes into great detail about how to plan shoots.
But, I will say here that the most important thing is to get high quality photos of your product. You’ll want photos of the product itself as well as photos of the product in-use or on a model.
At ISLP, we have photos of our books #MakeUrPenLoud: How To Be A Lifestyle Blogger and The Loudest Pen Ever as well as photos of models with the books. We also have photos of the Pennies & Pens T-Shirts and photos of models wearing the T-Shirts. This way, we can spread the content throughout our channels.
Write product and/or service descriptions
Since you’ll need product and service descriptions for your website, it’s best to write these out in a Google doc or MS Word document. This way, you can write exactly what you’re going to say and make edits/changes where necessary. Plus pre-writing this content means you’ll only have to copy and paste this info on to your website.
The type of product and service descriptions you write depend on what you’re selling. Keep it simple and to the point. The most important thing is to focus on the product benefits (why or how will it improve the customer’s life or solve a problem).
Create social media accounts
Now that your website is done, it’s time to start creating your social media accounts. You’ll want to use the same handle across all platforms so it’s easy for people to find and follow you. Also, do not use underscores, periods or numbers!!!
It makes it so hard for people to tag you or find you because if they can’t remember that your handle is @ISLPDTX85 then they might not tag you properly or worse when they go to search for you, your handle might not come up. Stick to @ISLPDTX and keep it simple.
Create a budget
I saved this one for last because it’s my least favorite and the above listed tips will determine your startup budget. Your initial budget should include:
- Product development: Design + manufacturing
- Utilities: website hosting fees, innanet bill, phone bill, etc.
- Brand packaging + marketing materials: shipping boxes or mailers, tissue paper, business cards, flyers, stickers, etc.
- Marketing/advertising/PR: Social media ads, publicist fees, management platforms like Tailwind or Buffer, press release distribution
- Business Tools: Adobe Creative Suite, Dropbox, Shopify fees
- Legal: attorney fees, LLC filing
- Events: Food, drinks, venue
- Professional/Industry Organizations: any industry related organization that you can join to network and connect with industry peers. Include the costs and fees in your budget
- Professional development/training: Any classes or courses you take should be included in your budget. I believe you should always take classes to help further your skills.
Launch
Now that you’ve finally completed all of the steps, it’s time to launch your business!!! Post on your social media, call/text family and friends and start rounding up some customers!
And there it is. de la Pen…All Pen Everything. With us, keeping real never goes wrong.
PS For additional resources, check out the following posts: Why You Should Write a Business Plan and How to plan events to promote your business.
