Patterns in Business

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
    • online or offline
      • physical products
      • digital content: writing, code, audio, visuals, podcasts, movies, games, chatbots, ...
      • online workshops, meetings or one-on-one sessions
      • face to face workshops, meetings or one-on-one sessions
  • setting prices / how much to charge
    • who is offering similar products and services?
      • what are they offering?
      • at what price?
    • working backwards from desired income
      • take non billable hours into account
      • take needing a (part time) job into account
• 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 and are they available: energy, input materials, knowledge and labor
  • packaging and shipping
    • how to package the product
    • how to get the finished product to the client / customer