You’ve been mulling over the idea of entrepreneurship for a long time, but you can’t decide because there are a lot of unknowns that hold you back. Ignorance, fear of failure and doubts assail you again and again making your desire to become autonomous disappear.
Undertaking is not an easy task and that is why we have decided to develop a basic guide that summarizes the steps you must take to launch into the adventure.
Table of Contents
Guide to become autonomous
Idea development
Do you have an innovative idea that you think can be translated into an economic activity that will generate returns?
If the answer is yes, the next step you should take is to assess whether it is truly a viable idea. To do this, you must study the market and analyze the competition.
Prepare a SWOT analysis and detect the Weaknesses, Threats, Strengths and Opportunities of your business. The global vision provided by this analysis will allow you to determine whether or not you are in the right direction.
Your idea has not turned out as lucrative as you expected? Do not worry. Perhaps by applying a few slight changes you will get it to work:
- Adapt your business idea by imitating one that already works.
- Use your professional experience and try to bet on a field that you know and handle with ease.
- Observe the market and detect needs that are not covered.
- Take an existing business around and find a new innovative approach.
Once you have found the business model you want to bet on, it is time to develop the business model canvas. It is a business management tool that will allow you to understand the business as a whole and will simplify the strategic approach to follow.
Value proposal
In this section you must portray the “problem” or “lack” that your business solves and your competitive strategy.
Customers
At this point, you must answer the following question: what is the target audience of your business?
Channel
Expose the channel that you will use to offer your product or service to your customers.
Relationship
Determine how you will relate to your customers.
Income
Set out your income strategy in great detail: sale, subscription, rental.
Resources
Describe the key resources needed in your business.
Activities
Identify and list the activities that will allow you to start your project.
Alliances
Define the alliances necessary for your company to function.
Costs
Know and optimize the fixed and variable costs of your business. Production, marketing, and logistics costs are usually common to all types of businesses.
Once you have prepared your business model canvas, you are ready to create your business plan.
Search for financing
There are different financing options:
Bank credit
If you have followed the previous step correctly, you know your business, the market, and your competition perfectly. This is key and essential to guarantee the success of your application. Detect the needs of your business, quantify the exact money you need, and check scrupulously and realistically that you can meet each of the installments.
Business service exchange
The collaboration agreement with other companies can help you finance a part of your project. Register in a census of companies is a business association and attend networking events to find the appropriate collaborations.
Presales
Selling your product or service in advance requires a strong brand image. Bet on a good advertising and marketing campaign.
Startup Accelerators
For this, your business must comply with the basic guidelines of the call, among them, they are usually: that it is a scalable business model, that is technological and innovative. There are accelerators throughout the national territory, find out about their operation, choose the one that best suits your objectives, and adapt what is necessary to meet their guidelines.
Crowdfunding
There are different platforms that collect this initiative that allows any small investor to collaborate with the financing of the projects that need it. Get to know them and bet on the one that best suits your project.
Register as a freelancer
The time has come to register with the treasury (tax agency) and with social security (special regime for self-employed workers, also called RETA). This procedure can be done in person or online (a digital certificate is necessary), on your own, or under the supervision and advice of a professional administrative manager.
Registering with the Treasury implies choosing a specific activity, which will define the labor sector, through the CNAE, and which will determine the heading of the economic activities tax.
Registering with social security implies the possibility of accessing bonuses for new self-employed in the form of flat-rate quotas or the possibility of collecting unemployment and being self-employed, making both systems compatible.
In the latter case, when managing your self-employment registration, you can choose between several options:
- Request a single payment, so that all the unemployment benefits to which you are entitled are capitalized and a good amount of money is generated to finance the start of the activity.
- Continue charging month by month and pay the social security fee in parallel.
- Stop collecting the benefit and subsequently decide to resume the collection of the benefit, in the event that the activity as a self-employed person ceases.
Start of business activity
You’re ready? Succeed! Keep in mind that the beginnings are difficult and it will be difficult to have benefited from the beginning. All projects must have a budget to survive from the start, and be realistic in income forecasts. Consider using a platform for freelance workers, it will help you attract clients. As long as your clientele does not know you, cash flows will be unstable and you must count on this in your planning. Do not hesitate to work the hours that are necessary and adapt budgets or discounts to earn the trust of your first clients. If you get it, they will recommend you themselves and you will hardly have to carry out commercial management in the future.
As you have seen, it is not easy, but following some basic guidelines and putting in a lot of effort, you will make your project materialize. We recommend that you soak up as much knowledge as possible, that you train, and that you let yourself be advised by the best professionals. Launching into an undertaking is a very important personal bet and nothing should be left to chance.
