Most budding entrepreneurs feel that starting a business is a complex process especially if when one carries a first timer’s badge. In order to smoothen the process of starting a business with less obstacles and headaches, it is better to know precisely what you need to start a business.
First of all, you will need to have the right business plan to kick-start a business. Once the plan is in place with proper business budgeting and projection, you will need to choose the right business entity for your upcoming trade. Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) offers a few types of business entities like Private Limited Company (Sdn Bhd), Limited Liability Partnership (LLP), Sole Proprietorship or Partnership for you to choose from. Both Sole Proprietorship and Partnership are easy to set up with low costs but come with unlimited liability to the owners. However, Private Limited Companies and Limited Liability Partnership both offer limited liability to the owners with the difference of Private Limited Companies having higher set up and maintenance fees. Judging from the blatant comparison, Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) undoubtedly becomes the leading choice for new start-up businesses.
Once you have decided on the business entity, choose a strong name for your business. Your establishment’s name plays an important role in building your business image – a good brand name will set you apart from your competitors.
Following that, you need to decide on an address for your business. As a start-up, it is all about keeping the business lean in order to maximize profit. Virtual offices is an ideal solution for new start-ups as most start-ups do not require a physical office which comes with crazily high costs for rental and maintenance. You can rent a prestigious business address for your business with affordable fees and still be able to boost your business image and simultaneously your clients’ confidence in you.
When your business registration is complete, start obtaining business licenses from local authorities depending on the nature of your business. Look for a bank that is convenient for you to open an account with for all your business transactions. As a business owner in Malaysia, you will also need to register your business with Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (LHDN) for tax related matters, Employees Provident Fund (KWSP) and Social Security Organisation (SOCSO- Perkeso) for your staff welfare as required by the Malaysian law and Royal Malaysian Customs for Goods and services tax (“GST”) if you foresee your turnover exceeding the threshold of RM500,000.
In order to keep your business operations cost effective, it is wise to outsource part of your operations like answering phone calls and bookkeeping to third parties. Outsourcing will not only save your time in managing and hiring the staff to carry out tasks, it also gives your clients/suppliers an impression that you are not a lone ranger.
By having a virtual receptionist to answer your calls, you need not worry about missing a million-dollar call from your prospects whilst you are engaged in a meeting. It is also crucial for the business to let the client feel that there is always someone answer their calls. Furthermore, it is also important and required by the law to keep your business accounts in a proper and accurate manner. With up-to-date bookkeeping for your account, you will be able to know the health and efficiency of your business and offers you the insides of your business performance. It is costly to hire a full-time accountant to handle your business accounts especially if you just started out hence outsourcing will be a great choice and directly contribute to your ability in focusing on running your business.
Sales and marketing are a crucial part of any business. In running a trade, the manner of which we obtain sales is crucial to reaping profit. As a fresh character in the market, you need to find a lucrative way to provide clients and potential clients accurate information about your business. Traditional advertising via mass media is unfortunately very expensive and is difficult when it comes to tracking results. However, owning a website that promotes your products and services coupled with the efforts of Google Adwords is a very effective form of advertising for start-ups. Not only is it economical, you are able to specify your advertising budget and determine your specific target audience, it also allowing you to track the results of your Google Adwords advertisements.
Hopefully, with all the helpful information we’ve provided, you are now ready to start your business! We at Business Butler Business Centre offer various business support services at reasonable prices so that you can focus on the growth of your business instead of handling mundane tasks. We strongly believe in the concept of crowdsourcing and resource sharing. Our goal is to help as many micro sized small and medium business (SME) owners as possible to stay lean and efficient whilst making profit and maximizing their margins. “Business Butler takes care of you; you take care of your business!” is our tagline.