What Must an Entrepreneur Do After Creating a Business Plan?

December 31, 2023

You’ve done it – you’ve created a solid business plan that outlines your product or service, target market, competitive analysis, marketing strategy, operations plan, and financial projections. Now it’s time to take that business plan and turn it into reality by launching your business.

As an entrepreneur and new business owner, it can be daunting to take the next steps after finishing your business plan. Where do you even start? What must an entrepreneur do after creating a business plan?

Here is a comprehensive guide to what an entrepreneur must do after creating a business plan to launch their business successfully:

Table of Contents

Refine Your Business Plan

Just because you’ve completed a first draft of your business plan doesn’t mean it’s set in stone. As you take further steps to establish your business, you’ll gain more insights that allow you to refine and improve your original business plan.

Revisit the key sections of your plan – your product or service description, target customer profile, market analysis, competitive research, marketing plan, operations plan, and financial projections. Ask yourself if there are any changes you’d make based on new information, research, or resources. Making tweaks now can save you from having to pivot too much down the road after you launch.

It can also be helpful to get feedback on your business plan from experienced entrepreneurs and business advisors. Their insights can help you strengthen any weak points and make your business model more robust.

Start Building Your Team

Every great business needs a great team. When starting out, you may have been a one-person show – but now is the time to bring on people and surround yourself with talent.

Evaluate what roles you need to fill in the early days of your business – whether it’s partnerships, employees, freelancers, service providers, or advisors. Then develop a plan to identify, recruit, and onboard them. This can include posting job listings, tapping your network, hiring recruiters, or utilizing professional services like lawyers or accountants.

Some key roles you’ll need in the beginning include:

Co-Founders – Partner with someone who complements your skills and shares your vision.
Financial/Legal Experts – Work with accountants and lawyers right off the bat.
Marketing Help – Hire marketing pros or agencies to build brand awareness.
Operations Support – Take some day-to-day tasks off your plate by outsourcing admin, fulfillment, etc.

Building even a small but mighty team gives you more bandwidth to execute on your startup’s mission. And don’t wait too long – getting those key roles filled is what will propel your early growth.

Set Up Your Business Structure and Operations

There are some logistical steps all entrepreneurs need to take to legally form and structure their business. Don’t overlook these parts of the process just because they seem tedious. Taking the time to build a solid foundation will pay off exponentially down the road.

Some must-do’s in this phase include:

Choose a Business Structure – Will you be a sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC, Corporation, etc? Consult lawyers and financial advisors to determine the ideal structure for legal liability, taxes, and ease of management.
Register Your Business – Make it official by registering your business name and establishing licenses, tax IDs, permits and other credentials.
Open Business Bank Accounts – Set up separate business checking, savings, and credit card accounts to keep your personal and business finances organized.
Set Up Accounting – Establish processes for invoicing, tracking income and expenses, managing payroll, and other accounting essentials. QuickBooks and similar tools can streamline this.
Secure Business Insurance – Protect yourself with general liability insurance, and any industry-specific coverage needed. Work with insurance brokers to find the right plans.

Handling this bureaucracy early creates order and legitimacy for your business. Having these ducks in a row means you can focus on the fun stuff like developing your products and growing your customer base.

Start Building Your MVP

At some point, you’ll need to have an actual, tangible product or service to offer customers. This is when you take your idea from concept to reality.

The best way to do this is to build a minimum viable product (MVP) first – a pared down version with just the essential features. Develop your MVP using these strategies:

Focus on the core functionality that addresses your customers’ primary needs.
Build a prototype to test functionality and get user feedback.
Work with tight budgets and short timelines to avoid over-engineering.
Outsource parts of production if needed to fill gaps in your team’s skills.
Plan for multiple iterations based on initial user testing and feedback.

Your MVP gives you something to put in front of customers asap, start generating revenue, and continue perfecting the product. Think lean and agile – you can always add more advanced features later.

Reach Your First Customers

The thrill of landing your first paying customers is a huge milestone. Now that you have a product to sell, it’s time to get it into the hands of real customers and start making money.

Some proven tactics for reaching those critical first customers include:

Tap your personal network – Let friends and family be your first customers. Offer discounts in exchange for feedback.
Run pre-sales or crowdfunding campaigns – Generate momentum and capital to fund production.
Onboard pilot customers – Form partnerships with a small handful of test customers.
Start selling at local events – Get exposure for your product at markets, pop-ups, and community events.
Sell online via your website – Build your site, ecommerce shop, and sales channels.

Gaining even one loyal customer at a time at first will propel your entrepreneurial efforts. Deliver value and customer service worthy of word-of-mouth referrals to grow your base.

Refine Your Business Model

Chances are your first business model won’t be perfect right out of the gate. You’ll need to refine it based on real market response and customer feedback.

Be prepared to continually adapt and pivot your business model by:

Fine-tuning your product mix, prices and delivery models
Developing new revenue streams when opportunities arise
Modifying marketing tactics and sales channels that aren’t working
Adding new roles to your team to refine the business
Finding ways to streamline operations and cut unnecessary costs

Constant refinement ensures your business model remains competitive and optimized over time. Stay nimble and keep enhancing the blueprint.

Fundraise and Manage Finances

If you don’t start your business with ample existing capital, fundraising will be imperative at some stage to bankroll operations.

As you refine your business model and achieve milestones, ramp up your fundraising efforts. Consider:

Crowdfunding campaigns to validate and market your product.
Applying for small business grants and loans.
Reaching out to angel investors or VCs.
Utilizing debt/credit options like business loans or lines of credit.
Working with financial advisors to manage cash flow and projection.

Manage finances meticulously from day one to ingrain financial discipline into your business culture. Track all income, expenses, profit margins, and cash balances. Stay lean and profit-focused.

Market Your Business and Brand

Get the word out! With your MVP built, it’s time to execute the marketing plan outlined in your business proposal to attract ideal customers.

Some foundational tactics include:

Launch branding – Create logos, design branding guidelines, and establish your business name and visual identity.
Build your website – Develop an ecommerce site if selling directly to consumers or a lead gen site for business customers.
Run targeted ads – Place digital ads like pay-per-click or social media ads focused on your buyer personas.
PR and media outreach – Craft press releases, pitch media, and secure earned media coverage like press mentions.
Promotions and referral programs – Offer deals, launch contests, create buzz, and reward referrals.
Utilize content marketing – Build your audience with blogs, videos, podcasts, and other content assets.

Consistency and persistence with marketing is key. Track results closely to double down on what works and refine ineffective tactics.

Develop Automated Systems and Processes

In addition to marketing systems, look to build automation and consistent processes across all areas of your business. Systems create leverage, efficiency and scalability.

Key areas where you can implement systematic processes:

Sales and onboarding – Document sales sequences, create onboarding checklists/playbooks.
Fulfillment and delivery – Standardize and systematize how you produce and deliver your product/service.
Customer support – Build knowledge bases, ticket flow managers, feedback loops.
Administrative tasks – Automate scheduling, reporting, workflows.
Accounting and analytics – Use software tools for bookkeeping, reporting and data-driven decisions.

Documenting and systemizing your processes assimilates learnings and best practices into your operations. It allows you to improve continually and not have to reinvent the wheel each time.

Grow Your Team

As your startup evolves from the idea stage to a real business, reassess your team needs. Are there roles you need to add or upgrade?

Some growth stage positions may include:

Engineers and product developers
Salespeople and account managers
Marketing specialists
Operations, logistics and supply chain staff
Finance and HR professionals

You may need to replace some people who aren’t scaling with the business. Seek those excited by growth and able to adapt as things progress rapidly.

Also, focus on strong leadership, coaching, and strategic management. Making the organizational hierarchy more defined will be key.

Growing your team strategically prevents you from becoming overwhelmed as interest in your product takes off!

Keep Your Momentum Going

The early days of any business are both exhilarating and highly demanding. Keep your momentum and energy levels high using these tips:

Maintain focus each day on your 1-3 most important priorities and move those yardsticks methodically.
Celebrate small wins frequently to feel a sense of progress and confidence.
Stay organized and on top of tasks using systems like Asana, Trello, or project management software.
Take time for strategic thinking and planning, not just daily execution.
Set regular meetings with mentors or advisors to discuss problems and gain insights.
Make time for exercise, healthy meals, and rest to avoid burnout.

You may feel like you’ll never catch up or get everything done – and that feeling may never entirely fade. But maintaining focus, drive, and resilience will ensure you move forward consistently amid the frenzy of entrepreneurship.

In Conclusion

That covers the main steps entrepreneurs must take after finalizing their business plan to successfully get up and running. Though launching a business is demanding, following this process sets you up for growth and sustainability. Stay nimble and agile, focus on continual improvement, and work methodically through each phase. Before you know it, you’ll have brought your startup idea fully to fruition.

FAQs

Q: How long should I expect it to take to fully launch my business after completing the plan?

This varies widely by industry and business model complexity, but aim for within 6-12 months. Give yourself an ambitious but reasonable timeline, and break down goals into smaller milestones.

Q: What if I run into issues with cash flow in those early months?

If you hit snags with cash flow, consider debt financing options like business loans, credit cards, or lines of credit. Reduce unnecessary spending, offer sales/promotions, or crowdfund. Discuss capital needs with advisors.

Q: When should I worry about legal issues like trademarks and patents?

Don’t wait – address intellectual property, trademarks and patents right away when starting your business. Do preliminary trademark searches, provisional filings, etc. to protect your business name and IP assets.

Q: What marketing tactics work best for gaining first customers and traction?

Focus on low-cost organic marketing to start, like SEO, social media, and networking. Offer promotions, run contests and leverage referrals. As you grow, invest in paid advertising and hire marketing pros.

Q: How soon should I start hiring employees?

Bring on independent contractors or agencies first to test roles and functions. Hire your first employees when you raise funding or your revenue supports the additional payroll burden. Outsource or automate first before hiring full-time whenever possible.