When starting a business, everyone must have wondered: "Looking at large businesses succeeding with such a systematic process, should I do it systematically from the beginning?"
There will be many different opinions, no two are the same. But for me, the answer is: "You should do it properly from the beginning."
Not to be flashy or expensive, but to save time and money in the long run, avoiding having to “demolish and rebuild” when you want to develop. Do it systematically, but do it in a reasonable, streamlined way that fits with current resources.
Starting a business is hard enough, don't make it difficult for yourself, but don't ignore the important foundations right from the start.
First - Sit down, review the market and product
Start a business slowly. Before you start building a product, sit down and be honest: What is the market like? What do I have? And what do customers really need?
Step 1: Take time to research the market.
Before launching your product, take some time to “go out in the field.” Visit supermarkets and stores to see if anyone else is selling a similar product, what weight they sell it in, what the price is, what the quality is like, and how strong their brand is. This data will help you understand the playing field you’re about to enter.
Step 2: Assess your own abilities.
Next, look back at your own resources and advantages: what do you have to compete with your competitors? Capital, experience, relationships, or raw material areas? Don't rush if you don't really know what your strengths are.
Step 3: Assess potential market demand
Look at the market to see if anyone else is selling a similar product, what weight and price they are selling it at, what the quality is like, and how strong their brand is. This will help you know how you are going to enter the “game”, avoiding making a product that is already saturated in the market or difficult to compete with.
Once you have enough information in all three areas, sit down and analyze carefully. If you see that you have the ability to compete, then you should start launching your product to the market.
Rule 2 – Get your paperwork in order from the start.
In large companies, they always have their own accounting department, with clear tasks, functions, and accounting. But for many startups, I find that this step is often overlooked. Many people are willing to invest heavily in products, communications, sales, etc., but they ignore or do the bookkeeping and accounting carelessly.
As a result, you don’t know if the company is making a profit or losing money. Because when you don’t declare all expenses, including your own salary and the founding team’s, it may seem like you’re making a profit, but if you calculate correctly, you may be making a loss without even knowing it.
Simple solution:
Outsource accounting services. Save time, reduce costs, and help you focus on product development and sales while still controlling cash flow and understanding the financial health of the company from the beginning.
Article 3 - Product pricing.
When pricing a product, you need to include all actual costs in your books. However, for a startup company with little or no sales, how can you price your product appropriately?
First of all, you need to determine the minimum target, that is, how many products need to be sold or what revenue level is needed to break even at that time (not cumulative). From this break-even point, you calculate the appropriate selling price of the product. In the early stages, you will almost certainly lose money, so you need to save as much as possible and prepare enough capital to survive until you reach the break-even point. If you price too high, the product will be difficult to sell in large quantities. On the contrary, if you price too low, the more you sell, the deeper the loss. Remember, it is very difficult to increase the price later, especially if you sell to the supermarket system.
Another important factor is to reduce fixed costs to a minimum, while converting most of the costs into sales-variable costs.
If you produce by yourself when capital is limited and you are not sure about the product, the company will easily fall into a difficult situation. In the food industry, many times you plan to sell product A, but when it is released to the market, A is not received as expected. The market changes, you come up with the idea of product B with more potential, but when you have invested in machinery to produce A, it will be very difficult and costly to turn around.
Therefore, I recommend outsourcing in the early stages (unless you already have experience and production capacity). This way, you can minimize fixed costs, create flexibility, focus on product quality control and develop sales systems.
In addition, you should outsource warehouse and transportation services. Sell more, costs increase; sell less, costs decrease. If you rent a warehouse or transport yourself, these expenses will become fixed costs, creating an unnecessary burden.
Regarding products, most startups understand that quality is a vital factor, so I don't need to emphasize further, it is definitely necessary to do it properly from the beginning.
However, packaging is equally important, because packaging is your “silent salesman”, especially when you do not have a large marketing budget. Choose simple, beautiful packaging, with colors consistent with the brand, easy to identify when placed on the shelf. You should prioritize convenient packaging, suitable for many products to easily manage inventory.
Regarding packaging, base it on the needs and convenience of customers. Do not choose large packaging to save costs or reduce prices, especially when the brand is new, because customers often want to try first with small weight, cheaper price.
Article 4 – Sales and branding
Many startups are still wondering: Should we build a brand first or focus on sales first?
In fact, selling to maintain and develop business is always the top priority. You can start from online channels, then offer to small supermarkets, then move to large supermarket chains. If your products are special, different and diverse, there is a high possibility that you will be able to bring your products to a few systems.
However, don't overlook parallel branding, even in simple and cost-effective ways.
You should design a simple logo that is meaningful to you and register your intellectual property – preferably before launching your product. Don’t take this lightly if you don’t want to be sued one day when your product has developed for “infringing on your own trademark” (because someone else quickly registered it first).
In terms of marketing, you can start with low-cost channels such as online marketing. Write your own articles to share on Facebook, make friends with like-minded business people or potential customers. If your content is convincing enough, they will become your free promoters right from the beginning.
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to appear on free media channels, or even better, TV shows like Shark Tank Vietnam. If you have the chance, seize it right away, prepare your content carefully to maximize the media coverage.
In short, learning from the well-established models of large enterprises is worth doing. They have paid the price of time and money to build the process, and you get free reference. But be flexible in applying it to your current situation and resources, you will save a lot of time and costs in the early days of starting a business.
I wish you soon find your own successful startup path.
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