Patterns in Business

Posted on vr 31 mei 2024 in tools

Some of the patterns most businesses will face at some point.

legal structure
- See Wikipedia: List of legal entity types by country
- what capital requirement is needed for its foundation
record keeping
- bookkeeping
  - what counts as business expense
  - what counts as income
  - is the business liable for taxes
    - VAT
    - income or corporate tax
    - other taxes? duty, excise, tariffs,...
  - when does income become taxable
    - at the moment of sale or at the moment of payment
  - who keeps the books?
    - owner / dedicated employee / external bookkeeper or accountant
- archival requirements
  - number of years
  - accessibility of records
viability assessment
- trends in expenses and income
  - recurring expenses (try to reduce)
  - incidental expenses
  - recurring income (try to increase)
  - incidental income
- what is my burn rate
  - burn rate is months or years before financial buffer is depleted at current expense levels
- when is my business reaching break even
  - break even is when income equals or exceeds expenses, i.e. there is a surplus
- when is my business making profit
  - when will all incurred losses in the previous years have been recuperated by the surplus generated by the business
regulatory environment
- tax requirements
  - schedule for VAT payments to the government
  - schedule for income or corporate taxes
  - need for an accountant or tax specialist
- certificates
- licenses
- bank accounts for business
- (in)voluntary membership to a professional organization
- cost of these add to the expenses
sales process
- who is my client?
- why should my client choose me? Unique Selling Points
- how do I reach my client
  - personal visits
    - cold calling
    - introductions through other people
  - word of mouth
  - (social) media / advertising
- how can people reach my business
  - opening hours
  - physical store / place of business
  - by telephone
  - by email
  - by contact form on website
  - by messaging service (Whatsapp / Signal / Telegram / ...)
- what are my products and services
- setting prices / how much to charge
fulfillment process
- purchasing
  - where to get the products
  - how much delay between ordering and receiving
- warehousing
  - how much stock is needed to smooth out delays
- production
  - does my business modify the products in any way
  - what is needed for that
- packaging and shipping
  - how to package the product
  - how to get the finished product to the client / customer