Starting a business can be a very scary and intimating task riddled with many questions. Will I make enough money? Would people be interested in my business? How do I even start?
The key to success in starting any business boils down to one simple formula: dedication, building a stellar reputation, and effective self-promotion. Building off these three principles allows you to grow your business and continue learning each and every day. The toughest part about the whole thing is honestly having the financial funds to get started without going into debt. Especially, if you were like me and dove head first into starting a business without having another primary source of income.
My specific field is graphic design and marketing but the resources listed below are found to be valuable for any industry start-up. These five resources will get your business laid out and guide you through the next steps in the development process.
1. Small Business Development Center
The SBDC organization is a non-profit that supports small business development across the country. SBDC provides entirely free advisement and training resources for small businesses across the state of Oklahoma. This is an absolute fantastic and FREE resource that I would recommend to any entrepreneur out there that is starting their journey. It doesn’t matter what industry you are in, they have advisors placed across the state of Oklahoma(where I am based) ready to aid in your business ventures.
Personally, I have gotten help planning exactly what steps I need to take organizationally, financially, and legally. Just today, I attended a BOI(Beneficial Ownership Information) training session. SBDC keeps people up to date on all things business owners need to know and will help get you on a track to success. SBDC teaches you everything you need to know about business ownership and management and aid in a smooth process for you(as smooth as it can be!) to start your business.
If you are wanting to start your own business but need help in plotting out legal, financial, and organizational plans then the Oklahoma Small Business Development Center is the place for you. They do have Small Business Development Centers across the country that serve other states. Check here if you are not starting a business in Oklahoma but another state.
2. Canva
All businesses need a logo and if you are not in graphic design, have little experience, and/or cannot pay someone to create a logo for you then Canva is the place for you. There are several resources out there to aid in logo creation but most of them seem to cost money. Canva has thousands of templates that will aid in starting a logo that is tailored to your brand.
Using Canva, you will be able to fast track your way into having a memorable brand identity. Canva is free for all users but there is a version, Canva Pro, that I would highly recommend for businesses. It is a monthly subscription at $14.99 a month but honestly so worth it, especially if you are doing your own marketing to start out.
Canva Pro gives you access to templates, images, fonts, and more. But my favorite part…Building a brand kit that is entirely suited to your business and creating templates specifically for your business needs. Your company logos can be uploaded to your brand kit, specific colors, fonts, icons and more! You can also create brand templates like letterheads, notecards, business cards, etc that can be used by your team members if you have any. That way all of your branding is saved in one space and easy to access when creating.
The free version will definitely get you started out on logo creation and marketing tools but once you are in business, I would definitely upgrade the the Canva Pro.
3. QR Code Monkey
QR Codes are becoming highly popular with their quick and easy access to websites, social media pages, and more. Who doesn’t love QR Codes? I certainly did not after I got 500 business cards printed and realized I created a code through a site that wanted to charge me $35/month to stay active. Needless to say, I jumped online, did some research, and found an entirely free QR generator site called QR Code Monkey.
Regardless of whether you are using your QR Code for a letter, poster, social media, sticker, etc QR Code Monkey is the place to go. You can download your codes in different formats to suit all your needs and it is entirely free. After finding this platform, I printed out the QR Code in proper size for my business cards and taped over the old ones so I wouldn’t waste perfectly good cards.
This is definitely a site you will want to check out as you grow your business and begin marketing it. There are some great marketing tactics you can find online involving QR Codes and I would highly recommend doing some research on it.
4. Staples Business Cards
Now, this next one is not a free resource but definitely crucial when it comes to getting your name out there and connecting with future customers, clients, or partners. Printing business cards can seem like an expensive and tedious task. Not to fret! Go visits Staples and either upload a design or create from one of their template. Once again, Canva is a great resource for creating business cards and makes it pretty simple even for those will little experience. The cards below were created on Canva.
When it comes to the actual ordering and pricing of the cards, it is way better than a lot of other places around. I spent under $30 on 500 business cards that came out beautifully(other than the QR Code deactivated). If you are looking to get business cards to help market yourself, and at a good price then I would definitely recommend checking out Staples.
5. Bold Sign
This last resource is going to be great for entrepreneurs who are building a clientele, writing contracts, terms of agreements, and things of that nature. E-signing has became very popular in today’s world and it’s important to be able to do that with ease. There are a lot of different platforms and options but some unfortunately require your client to have a certain software or you have to pay a monthly fee(and it can get quite expensive!).
If you are one of those above then I highly recommend using Bold Sign. This platform allows you to request signatures from your client with ease and for free! They do have payed plans as well but for someone who is just starting out or signing part of their contracts in-person, the free version works fantastic. You get 25 e-signatures for free each month which is perfect for someone not needing to sign several a month or just starting out and needing a place to start.
These 5 resources will work wonders for you if you are an entrepreneur. Starting a business can be expensive and scary and it can be hard to find resources that are actually beneficial. I highly recommend starting your journey with SBDC. They are amazing people are extremely helpful throughout the entire start-up business process. Feel free to reach out to me here if you have any further questions as well!
Hamilton Communications, LLC 
Leave a comment