# General Business Category > Entrepreneurship and Business Management Forum >  Next step: Business starting

## Snoopy_inc

Ok now that we have the business plan among other things down.  Here are some other questions:

1) What bank and what account should one open.  Signing power?
2) What is a good starting capital?

These 2 questions are the primary questions i think should be asked...(i also would like to know them  :Big Grin: )

If you feel that there should be more questions here please feel free to post them.  Lets try and get some sort of business starting 101 here for members.

Snoopy_inc

----------


## RKS Computer Solutions

I'd suggest any bank which will keep you informed about what's happening in your accounts the moment something happens...

I know FNB/ABSA/Standard bank (not sure of others) who has those features.
Nedbank is quite keen on helping startups get off the ground, so check them out as well...

Starting capital will depend solely on what you need to do with that capital to get going...  How much for advertising? How much for branding? How much will be needed for daily expenditures until you make a reasonable income?

Loads of questions that you can only answer yourself after having done your business plan...

----------


## Snoopy_inc

I agree that most of the questions will be answered with the business plan.  My point im making is that there are generic questions to which one canget the answers for without having to do a business plan.

These questions i believe will help me in my situation as well as anyone else that starts a new business and finds their way to the forums.

Hence my continuation of my last thread i started.  Hopeing to put together a comprehensive question and answer thread that will help anyone including business owners.... maybe a bit of a brush up for them.

Questions like... Where best to advertise and how to go about it,  Possibly anyone here that has dealt with someone that does brilliant advertising could mention them.

Im sure you follow what im getting at.

----------


## Dave A

> 1) What bank and what account should one open.  Signing power?


Bank - answered I think.
Signatories in a partnership? - Either require both partners or any one of the two. In a three member partnership any two of three signatories works pretty well. Healthy communication before spending money is pretty much what is _really_ important.




> 2) What is a good starting capital?


That needs to be determined from your business plan. In big business, this can get really complicated as you might be raising funds as you move from stage to stage, but in a small business it's best to use something simple.

I've always considered the breakeven point a critical factor in the working capital calculation for a small business, the part that most people miss. So if breakeven is expected in 3 months you'd want to cover capital expenditure + 3 months expenses minimum. Then whatever income you generate in the first three months can be applied to drive you over the top into profitability.

From there it is a case of staying ahead of the cashflow bubble.

I've managed off a smaller base before, but it's really stressful.

----------


## Snoopy_inc

What about things that keep business alive?

How about ideas to keep your clients interested or give them the " OOO AHHH " Effect.

Online marketing? yellow pages? pamphlet drops?  What have you done and what worked for you.

----------


## RKS Computer Solutions

Snoopy,

Pamphlet drops is a no-go area...  Paid 2k for 10k pamphlets, another 1k to have them dropped here in town, was giving away a 7k notebook for anyone spending even R100 to enter the competition...

Al I got was 1 phone call from one guy wanting to know if he could enter the competition without spending,  :Frown:  , told him seeing as he was the first person to call, I'd give him a free entry anyway...

3 months later, not a single person called, and the same dude phoned to find out if he won anything...  What the....  So, 3k spent, in October, so Xmas shopping season and all coming up, and nothing to show for it...

Keeping business alive is a tough one...  The way I see it is the best advertisement is Word of Mouth...  If you have one very happy customer then the referrals will start flowing in...

Another one is really to have an online presence...  No matter which market you are in, having a website and having it optimized is a great way to attract new eyes to your company...  Online marketing is great, if you do it right you will have to spend very little money to get the ball rolling and get people to come back time and time again...  optimization of your online presence is of the utmost importance...

Reading the report on how internet usage in SA is growing at a rapid rate (no thanks to Telkom ) it is the easiest and cheapest way to get eyes on your company.

You never mentioned what line of work you are in or going into?

----------


## Snoopy_inc

If you dont mind i would like to keep what im going to do quiet till i have it up and running.  When its up and running ill come tell you  :Wink: 

Ye i agree with you on the Online marketing.  I definitly would like to do that.  Hence my interest in SEO and how it works.

----------


## RKS Computer Solutions

No problem...

Here is what SEO can do for a website, in a hugely competitive market, being only in existence since May and letting the bots loose only at the end of May...

Paid Traffic:  None - not a single cent spent!

*Natural Traffic:*  

60% of all new visitors come via Search Engines...

25% return visitors:  80% of these are from first time Search Engine visitors...

15% direct traffic through marketing...

Being online and having a presence is an absolute must!  ChatMaster is the SEO man, own company and all, but in the above websites situation, all that traffic has come through loads of reading up, buckets & buckets & buckets of elbow grease and very long hours...

It can be done without having to pay for SEO, but do your research and follow tips, there is only one way to get to the top...

----------


## Snoopy_inc

So you saying noone has bought from you?

Or you saying that noone spend money through SEO at your site?

Seo is good for getting feet, as well as gaining momentum... Especially if you have a forum hooked up to it in some way.

----------


## RKS Computer Solutions

What I said was no one responded to the pamphlets...  I haven't spent a single dime on SEO for my online shop and have had a few sales already, coming directly from my good old friend Google  :Smile:

----------


## Snoopy_inc

good stuff... i remember back in the day when we used to deliver pamphlets for my folks. It used to work... now everything is digital  :Wink: 

Thank God for the inet

----------


## Dave A

Pamphlets used to work for just about anything. Now it's not the same, and wonderful internet is so cheap as a marketing tool. Unfortunately the side effect of that is spam, but that is another story.

I can think of two big differences between nowdays to those days of old that might explain it - margins are generally thinner and everyone is more rushed.

Thinner margins means that you need a higher "hit" rate than you used to get for your marketing buck. Being rushed means we don't even have the time to read stuff properly anymore. Something gets shoved through our car window (if we're silly enough to have it down in the first place) or into our letter box; we don't much more than glance at it. The best we can hope for is to build a bit more subliminal brand awareness.

The two together is a double whammy that punishes the viability of distributed pamphleting for most businesses.

What _does_ still work is having a pamphlet left where it is relevant and likely to be read. An example of this is day trip info brochures in hotel lobbies. It's the appropriate information in a location where there is a much higher probability that there are people actually _looking_ for that information.

----------


## Snoopy_inc

Thanks Dave.

Anyone else had any response?  Any form of getting something out there.... anything from SMS marketing through to lanyards.

I am curious now  :Wink:

----------


## Chatmaster

Your marketing method is closely related to your target market. So it is impossible to really advise you on what to do. If your business is in a an online environment it is even more tricky. A Viral campaign is very much the bet way to go imo. I would also suggest you do some reading on Lateral Marketing.

----------


## Snoopy_inc

Chatmaster any links?

If at all any people used online marketing and their results.  This thread is more then just a thread for me its to help all of those that want to start a business but are nervous cause they don't know how or where to go.

Any reference material would be greatly appriciated.

----------


## RKS Computer Solutions

I'm actually contemplating doing some SMS marketing...  In May when the site went live I took up my trusty Nokia 9500 and sent out 1 text message to all my clients I've had over the years...  The response was phenomenal and was the biggest day for the site in May...

I agree with ChatMaster, your market should be the deciding factor in selecting a marketing vehicle for your company or business.  Sit down and write down where people in your line of business, normally have interests in, whether it be papers/magazines/books/streets(pole ads)/buildings/online/company newsletters/internet mailings...  There are so many options available, and if you had the cash flow you could certainly go with them all, but for starting, pick the one medium that will get the momentum going....

----------


## Chatmaster

Good response Riaan

I have little time today, but here it goes...

Let me word my original response differently. Look at what makes your business different, look at where you can create a buzz to obtain the publicity from your network of existing supporters or users. Look at examples within the industry.

Google has never spent one dime on advertising but they are the largest online company in terms of profits in the world. They were however not the first search engine and they entered a market with some super competitors. Still what made them the biggest in the world in just a few years?

One of the biggest talked about sites a few years back was richjerk.com He made allot of people talk just by being the most arrogant and secretive person on the web? He would keep on telling people how pathetic they are and how wonderful he is... At the end of the day,... he is nothing special and knows nothing special... But still he is one of the only people sending emails to their subscribers, swearing at them and insulting them, and they do not cancel their subscriptions.

One of the oldest Web forums is got to be webmasterworld.com what made them really popular amongst the SEO community? Googleguy?

I can carry on and on... You can use this exact same example with landbased companies as well. If you do not tell people what makes you unique they will not buy from you, even if you have the best product or service out there! What ever you do must be unique to you. It must make you stand out from the rest! If people drive past your business they must "NOTICE" you! If they get to your website... Visitors must "NOTICE" you.

Does it have to be some special service or product feature? No! It can even be because you have a wooden leg and a tattoo of a rose on your forehead. Something that will get people to notice you! A further improvement on standing out is by attracting only those interested in your service or product and therefore integrate target marketing instead of "shotgun" (Interrupt) marketing.

If you use lateral marketing closely related to the above mentioned you have even more options. By associating your business with something. If you look at a Petrol Station today, what do you see. If you look at it years ago, what did you see? How is selling petrol and selling a coffee at wild bean cafe related. Today, most of us expect these services and products at a petrol station. Same way you can associate yourself with something totally unrelated and use it to your marketing benefit.

----------


## Snoopy_inc

I know this may sound ignorant. But what is lateral marketing exactly.  Maybe i call it something different?

----------


## Chatmaster

Mmmmmmmm. I gave you a practical example... OK I cannot find any reference on Google nor Wikipedia so I will try my best.

It is associating your product or service with a completely different idea. Something that can cause a reaction and make you stand out within your industry.

----------


## Snoopy_inc

Hrm... an example of .... lets say your business and lateral marketing

----------


## Dave A

> Hrm... an example of .... lets say your business and lateral marketing


Let's join the dots. I think Chatmaster's example shows lateral marketing very well.



> If you look at a Petrol Station today, what do you see. If you look at it years ago, what did you see? How is selling petrol and selling a coffee at wild bean cafe related. Today, most of us expect these services and products at a petrol station. Same way you can associate yourself with something totally unrelated and use it to your marketing benefit.


Originally the purpose of a petrol station was simply to sell petrol. Maybe the shopping experience at the petrol station is so widespread it is assumed nowadays, but when first introduced, the presence of a convenience shop was heavily promoted ahead of the "providor of fuel" message.

The message was going out - shop here for convenience - the goal was to get you to draw your petrol there too.

Here's a question - Just how much is your decision as to where you choose to get your petrol influenced by non-petrol factors? 

As example in my case, the presence of a Standard Bank Auto-teller is definitely an influence if I also need to draw cash.
On the long road, I'm influenced by the quality of the coffee and restrooms.

I'm sure you'll have your own examples of things that influence you if you really think about it.

----------

