The business plan is going to be a crucial part of starting your own company.  Laying a solid foundation is important for setting yourself up for success. Here are five things that you should think about when constructing your plan of attack.

1. Keep track of your expenses

• As we all know, it's often times hard to keep track of expenses in your head and we can sometimes get carried away. We suggest keeping a logged file of your upcoming and forecasted payments.  You'll also want to make note of your re-occuring expenses month to month.  You can do this using softwares like Excel.  This will help you see where you can cut costs or analyze the types of calculated risks you can take.  

2. Contracts, Legal Documentation, Bank Accounts

• From our experience, it's best that you have everything documented for legal purposes.  Ensure that the company you are creating is protected so that nobody can steal your likeness or image.  Having a company bank account will help you keep your personal life separated from your business in terms of expenses.  In our case, we deal with people overseas and it's easier to conduct business transactions using a company account rather than a personal account. 

3. Equipment & Supplies

• When analyzing the equipment and supplies needed to start your venture, it's best to perform extensive research.  If it sounds like it's too good to be true, it most likely is.  Never be satisfied and always continue researching and finding more efficient alternatives.  

4. Advertising & Promotion 

• When advertising for your brand, you should create content that is engaging and helpful for the consumer.  You want to express the value you add as a company to your target demographic.  Continue to search and find new ways that brands are interacting with their consumer. 

5. Borrowing Costs

• There are a ton of ways in which you can obtain funds to start your business. Some popular crowdfunding sites include Kickstarter or Fundly.  That will allow you to gain upfront funding from people who want to help bring your vision to life.  You can also opt for starting a business out of pocket or with a business loan.

Overall, there are a lot of things to consider when creating a new business.  We feel that these are some of the main ones that were beneficial to us creating Ironpulse.  These five categories helped us lay out a plan that was attainable and executional as a startup.