How to create a start-up?

 Start-ups are companies created to develop and market an innovative service or product and make it essential for customers.

Creating such a business is not an easy task and several steps are necessary to get there. SeDomicilier explains the essential steps to creating a start-up.

Find a start-up idea

Creating a start-up, as with all other types of businesses, begins with finding an idea. To get started successfully, you must first find an idea that is innovative, relevant, unique, and likely to interest a large number of people. It must also please the various partners otherwise some will withdraw from the project.

Your start-up must provide an effective solution to a problem that other people are facing. To find a good idea for your business, you must therefore identify and analyze the most recurring problems in a given situation. Then think about the best way to solve these problems.

Failing to find a  new and unique concept, you can draw inspiration from an existing idea. This involves copying the idea of ​​an existing project which is still in its early stages and working to improve it. Before choosing a start-up idea, check that it really corresponds to your project, your qualifications, and your skills.

Conduct market research for your business

Once you have found the perfect startup idea, you need to proceed with market research. This helps ensure the relevance of the chosen idea. The market study consists of a documentary, quantitative, and qualitative analysis. This step includes defining and analyzing the market, identifying your potential competitors and partners, as well as estimating potential and future demand.

The market study also includes an analysis of the environment, as well as the project. This comes down to identifying external factors that are capable of influencing the market such as technological, economic, regulatory, and social trends. These different steps will help you identify your target audience, as well as your typical customers.

Write a solid business plan for your start-up

The next step in the process of creating your company is the construction of a solid and relevant business plan. The realization of the latter offers you the possibility of materializing and structuring your project. It is done from the start of the project, to ensure its sustainability.

In addition to allowing the evaluation of the feasibility and profitability of the project, the business plan also serves as a management tool at the start of the activity. This document will be useful for you to explain your project clearly and precisely to investors. The business plan contains different information. Here we find the presentation:

• of the market (identification of customers, competitors, etc.),

• of the service or product offered,

• of the start-up's business model,

• of the team (competent, motivated profiles who share the same ambition),

• of the financing plan,

• of the provisional income statement.

With a costed and convincing business plan, you have a better chance of obtaining financing for the creation of your start-up. There are ready-to-use business plan templates that you can use as inspiration to write an impactful document.

Seek funding to set up your business

The question of financing is certainly the most feared by entrepreneurs who wish to launch their start-ups. Without financing, your business creation project risks failing. This is why you must ensure the sustainability and success of your project by seeking financing. Entrepreneurs generally have to use personal funds to set up their new businesses.

If your personal contributions are insufficient to fully finance the project, you can ask for help from members of your family or friends. This form of financing is called “Love money”. Several other means also exist to finance your start-up creation project. You can approach banks to take out a bank loan. This solution is ideal for people who have a solid business plan and who have guarantees.

There are numerous public aid for business creation in Belgium, but it depends on the sector of activity of the structure and the region in which it is established. For example, SRIB (Brussels regional investment company) offers financing to Brussels startups in innovative sectors such as economic transition, artificial intelligence, and technology.

Another fairly common method of financing for this type of company is the use of business angels. The latter are investors who finance startups by providing equity and become minority shareholders in the company. Crowdfunding or participatory financing is also a good way to finance the creation of your structure. This method of financing takes 4 forms:

• the gift,

• counterpart crowdfunding,

• crowdlending,

• capital crowdfunding.

The latter is commonly used for startups.

Choose a social form for your start-up

For your business to operate legally, you must choose a legal status. A start-up can adopt different legal forms, but the SRL (limited liability company) and the SA (public limited company) are the most recommended for the creation of such a company in Belgium. To choose the ideal corporate form, you must take into account your activity and think about the prospects of your young business.

Do you intend to embark on the adventure alone or with partners? Have you considered the possibility of bringing in new partners after the launch of the start-up? Do you want your business to grow fairly quickly? Ask yourself all the right questions before choosing a legal status for your company.

Launch your start-up

The last stage of this project involves the launch of the start-up. Once the legal form has been chosen, you must complete the other formalities. This will generally involve drafting, filing, and registering the statutes of your start-up and declaring the company's activities. You must also register the company with the ECB and publish your activity in the JAL (legal notice journal).

The domiciliation of your start-up is an essential step in its registration since the address of the head office will be mentioned on the ECB extract. Choosing a good domiciliation address is crucial to giving a professional image to your company from its creation and strengthening your credibility with investors. To find an interesting address in Belgium, turn to a  domiciliation company like SeDomicilier.

We offer you a wide selection of prestigious addresses to domicile your start-up. Online domiciliation with our company helps you save time and energy. With an online signature, you obtain your domiciliation contract quite quickly. Benefit from an offer with no administrative fees and is completely transparent, as well as a fast, professional quality service with SeDomicilier.