How to start up your own business

1. About

This research is about starting a business

2. Acknowledgments

We would like to thank @Freerk and @Marijn for the expert interviews and the feedback we got from it.

3. Contents

1. About
2. Acknowledgments
3. Contents
4. Foreword
5. Research
6. Method
7. Answers
8. Conclusion
9. Sources

4. Foreword

5. Research

Research questions

1. How to setup a business?

   • What is a good business idea?
   • What is a business canvas model?
   • What to consider when setting up a business according to experts?
   • What is our business idea?
   • What feedback did we get from experts?

2. How to obtain your first customers?

   • What are ways to reach out to possible customers?
   • Is social media a good way to find customers?

3. How to get customer relationships?

   • Where should you look for good customer relationships?
   • Why are customer relationships important?

4. How to deliver your first product or service to a customer?

   • What are good hosting options?
   • How do we deliver our product to the client?

6. Method

Below are all the methods we used for this research. We will also assign everything to the questions. We will be using the DOT framework as mentioned above.

• Literature study (First question)
• Expert interview (First question)
• Product review (First question)

7. Answers

1. Setup

1.1 What is a good business idea?

Enterprising Oxford (Business Model Canvas Explained | Enterprising Oxford, 2021) explains the business model canvas this way:

“ The Business Model Canvas is a business tool used to visualise all the building blocks when you want to start a business, including customers, route to market, value proposition and finance.”

There are also blocks in the BMC. They are all listed below.

1. Customer Segments: Who are the customers? What do they think? See? Feel? Do?
2. Value Propositions: What’s compelling about the proposition? Why do customers buy, use?
3. Channels: How are these propositions promoted, sold and delivered? Why? Is it working?
4. Customer Relationships: How do you interact with the customer through their ‘journey’?
5. Revenue Streams: How does the business earn revenue from the value propositions?
6. Key Activities: What uniquely strategic things does the business do to deliver its proposition?
7. Key Resources: What unique strategic assets must the business have to compete?
8. Key Partnerships: What can the company not do so it can focus on its Key Activities?
9. Cost Structure: What are the business’ major cost drivers? How are they linked to revenue?

Each of these blocks needs to be accurately filled in, and revisited regularly to ensure the business model is still accurate – its a good thing to do before you register a business.

1.2 What is a business canvas model?

According to entrepreneur.com (Petch, 2017) there are 5 signs that you’re business idea is good. Below I will list all of them with some context.

1. It solves a problem

Solving a problem means delivering a solution that makes a sizeable number of people’s lives easier. The problem doesn’t have to be one that nobody else is tackling, it can just be as easily be a problem that no one has dealt with effectively.

2. It’s scalable

Scalability is the potentional of your business opportunity to grow and be applied to an ever- increasing market. Whether it’s actually ready to scale depends on you building this into your business plan and investors are likely to look for both the potentional and the readiness. After all, returns on investments come from the ability of those investments to grow and prosper in the years ahead. Can you expand on your idea, make it flexible and resilient, monetise it throughout and remodel it if necessary?

3. You can sell at an attractive price and make a good profit

Finding the right price for the goods or services you’re providing is essential, because no matter how good the idea or how well it solves the problem, if the price isn’t right, people won’t buy.

4. It isn’t easy to copy

Coming up with something truly unique is difficult enough, but keeping it that way is even harder once other people hear about it. There are plenty of cases of companies filing lawsuits about similar products and services, whether it’s smartphones, taxis or vacuum cleaners and while some have managed to corner the market almost entirely, its often down to shrewd strategic moves.

5. Trust your gut, but not at the expense of your head

Finally, one of the keys with any new idea is really to be honest with yourself. If you have a flash of inspiration followed by a handful of nagging doubts, it’s easy to set them aside because they don’t fit with the version of events you prefer. You need to be honest though.

1.3 What is our business idea?

our idea is a company that makes applications for customers. This is possible in package form with a certain format that can be adjusted. What is also possible is a application completely custom made for the customer. Once the applications are created, we provide a service to maintain and host them. We also made a business canvas to further explain this.

1.4 What feedback did we get from experts on our canvas?

Freerk

• Have more details.
• For a company it is important to know why you are better than another company.
• Customers are also important: (who are they and why do they choose your company?)
• After you figured out these points you can look at the costs, income and finance.

Marijn

• With key activities I would be a bit more specific about how your company differentiates from other companies. eg report the package form in it.
• With revenue streams you could say that you consider that maintenance as a subscription model.
• With customer segment i would be a bit more specific and add for example: start-ups that want to have a site cheaply and quickly and easily.
• At key propositions i would also add: can deliver fast sites through formats.

2 Getting your first customers

2.1 Ways to find your first customers

Here a some ways to find your first customers:

• Make a list of people you have already met that could be interested in your products or services.

  Do some research on who are most likely to be customers.

• Search for local business that could be interested in your products or services.

  Local business could be potential customers but also can help you with finding customers

• Show off what you have already made.

  This shows potential customers what you are capable of.

• Build a website and make use of search engine optimization.

  This way there is a chance a customer finds your business from a search engine.

2.2 Social media

Social media is also a good way to find your first customers. With social media it is possible to find potential customers and to advertise your business. With social media platforms like: Linkedin, Instagram and Facebook you can easily reach out to potential customers.

Also it is a good idea to setup your social media pages. So when a potential customer visits your page you want to earn their interest in your business. With social media advertising it is possible to target specific audience. This way you can find potential customers that meet your market criteria.

3. Customer relationships

4.

8. Conclusion

9. Sources

1. Petch, N. (2017, 4 maart). Five Signs That You Have A Great Business Idea. Entrepreneur. Consulted on 8 december 2021, from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/290111
2. Business Model Canvas Explained | Enterprising Oxford. (2021). Business Model Canvas Explained. Consulted on 8 december 2021, from https://eship.ox.ac.uk/business-model-canvas-explained/
3. Lesonsky, R. L. (2019, 6 augustus). 8 Ways to Find Your First Customers. SBA. Consulted on 9 december 2021, from https://www.sba.gov/blog/8-ways-find-your-first-customers