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SO
YOU WOULD LIKE TO START A BUSINESS? BUT NEED SOME HELP?
O.K. We hope to provide you with a practical
guide to starting up a small business of your own. We
have gotten some sound advice from those who have been
there, pitfalls to avoid, some really great links to useful
information websites, and lots more.
For a start, just have a look at these
planning pointers to see if you are ready
to go into the serious business of putting in real money
to make money.
- What business would
you like to do?
- Have you done research
on its viability?
- Do you have a business
name?
- Sole proprietorship,
partnership or limited company?
- Do you have a workable
business plan?
- ...... marketing or
promotional plan ?
- Finance & start-up
capital considerations?
- Place of business?
1. WHAT BUSINESS WOULD YOU LIKE TO
DO ?
Perhaps you would like to
turn your hobby into a money making venture, or you have
this great niche idea or product that you think will take
the market by storm - well, first, decide on the actual
business at hand and the way it will be done and ask yourself
why do you think the idea will work. Until you can convince
yourself that your business will suceed, will you be able
to convince others likewise. Remember that it's not always
true that what you like will also be liked by others.
Too often, new businesses fail from the simple fact that
the product or service was often overrated by the start-up
entrepreneur and eventually failed to capture the market
as expected.
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2. HAVE YOU DONE RESEARCH ON ITS VIABILITY?
First and foremost, you must identify
your target market i.e. who will you be selling to? It
would be advisable to conduct a market research or survey
to establish if your product or idea will be widely receptive
in your target market group. You may need to do a patent
search just to be sure that your product or idea had not
already been conceived by somebody else beforehand.
Market Research
To check out the market's acceptability
of your product or service, you can do one or more of
the following :
- Engage a commercial market research
company to get data directly from a section of your
target group
- Get hold of a small quantity of the
product in question and try selling it at a trade fair
or at specialised venues like restaurants if its a food
item
- Ask around for honest views and opinions
from reliable friends and relatives
Patents
Information on what to do and how to go
about your patent checks can be found at the following
websites :
The
Patent Application Fund (PAF), set up by the Intellectual
Property of Singapore (IPOS) provides financial assistance
to help applicants defray the costs of patent applications
with the view to encouraging local companies to register
their unique inventions or ideas.
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3. DO YOU HAVE A BUSINESS NAME?
You need a business name to operate a
business, which must :
- not already used by an existing business
- not sound or resemble that of an existing
business
- not include official words like "Singapore",
"ASEAN" etc.
For further information, please check
with the Registry
of Companies & Businesses or look up Setting
Up a Business
Registering your website domain name
For companies wishing to "dot.sg" your business
in Singapore, visit the Singapore
Network Information Centre (SGNIC) which administers
the registration of .SG domain names.
For companies wishing to "dot.com"
your business, please contact us for assistance at webmaster@singapore-business.com
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4. SOLE PROPRIETORSHIP, PARTNERSHIP
OR LIMITED COMPANY ?
You should obtain sound professional advice
from Corporate Lawyers on the merits and disadvantages
of the different types of business registrations and decide
accordingly. Certain businesses are exempt from registration
like farmers, licensed hawkers, taxi drivers whereas certain
businesses like schools, insurance companies etc. require
special licences to conduct their operations.
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5. DO YOU HAVE A WORKABLE BUSINESS
PLAN ?
The Business Plan is a written summary
of your business and its potential. It states what you
want to do and the resources you will need to do it. In
today's business climate, one can never hope to get finance
assistance without a good and well written business plan
in hand. Your Corporate Accountant or Lawyer or Banker
should be able to advise you accordingly.
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6. .... MARKETING OR PROMOTIONAL PLAN
?
Try to incorporate this into the overall
business plan as well. Because a new product or service
will have to be promoted and advertised to gain as much
exposure as possible - preferably with the objective of
making it a household name......within budget constrains
of course. Shop or ask around for a reasonable and reputable
promotional company or link yourself with media publications
by sponsoring samples as contest prizes or providing your
advertorial article for inclusion in special issues.
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7. FINANCE & START-UP CAPITAL CONSIDERATIONS
With your business plan in hand, you are
in a better position to approach your Bankers or Venture
Capitalists for financial assistance. Please check out
our Business Resources Page
for further information.
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8. PLACE OF BUSINESS ?
You can operate your business under specified
conditions at the following venues :
- Home - for more information,
please visit our Home
Business Page.
- Rented premises
- Owned commercial property
- Incubation Centres provide
facilities and shared amenities that allow high-tech
businesses to start-up quickly at low cost. Various
options are available:
- Innovation Centre at Singapore Science Park 2.
Contact Arcasia Land Pte Ltd Tel: 6774 1033 or Fax:
6778 4761
- Jurong Town Corporation's Technopreneur Centre
- Standards, Productivity and Innovation Board Singapore (SPRING)
Tel: (65) 6278 6666 or Fax: (65) 6278 6667 Website:
http://www.spring.gov.sg/portal/contact_us/contactus.html
- Nanyang Technological University's Innovation Centre
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