IT industry is rapidly growing, Every IT Graduate dreams to start own setup. If you thinking to start an IT business you need to know all pros and cons of IT industry. Many people confused between IT and software industry, every software company is an IT Company but every IT Company may or may not a Software Company it could be hardware, database, or networking.
Before starting IT setup you need to know following things.
Technical and Business Expertise
Obtaining a degree in IT or business is not enough. You need to learn not only technical skills, but you have to be expert in your domain. Ask yourself could you be an entrepreneur? Do you have business sense?
The best way to learn practically is to join any renowned company and practice things in real time. Read about other IT companies meet people with the similar sector, grab more knowledge about it. Have a proper understanding thing about things need to be done and not to be done.
Business plan
Write a business plan that describes your idea, purpose of business, target market, product, customers, competitors, finical needs, and funding.
A business plan is the most important part of starting a new setup. The plan should be detailed enough and it covers every aspect of mission statement to products lunch.
The legal structure of the business
Before starting business define the business structure, this will indicate taxes and amount to pay. Mostly small business are sole proprietorship because it requires least paperwork and easy to start. For other business, structure lawyer is required for legal documentation.
Licensing, Taxes and Insurance Knowledge
For Income Tax registration Company will have to apply for NTN (National Tax Number) at the tax facilitation of the Regional Tax Office (RTO) of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). The requirements for this application include
NTN form
Proof of registration
Memorandum and Articles of association
Bank account number
Copies of National Identity Cards (NICs) of companies’ Directors
An attestation of business address
For the Professional tax, register with Excise and Taxation (ET) Department of the District. Business Liability insurance is also an important aspect for companies.
Funds for Software Company
To run an IT Company capital is very crucial to meet expenditures. Find investors in family friends and relatives to discuss your idea with them. To set up a new company you need capital to finance your business. Explore capital venture funds or research grants and loans. Explore the funding availability from banks and universities. Consider online funding source.
Office setup
Find a suitable commercial location for your company office in big cities of Pakistan like Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad.
Purchase necessary equipment and applications for your workplace.
Resource
Hire suitable candidates for design, development, and administration, networking sales, and marketing departments to run set up. Advertise job boards (Rozee pk, indeed) and online through social media especially LinkedIn. Conduct interviews and be specific about skills experience and motivation level.
To find your dream team use your reference, friends, and colleagues in IT or software industry for the recommendation.
Services or product?
IT services actually refer to the application of business and technical expertise to enable organizations in the creation, management, and optimization of or access to information and business processes. It includes build, design, and development and runs activities. There are different categories of IT services it includes application services, business process services, infrastructure services and outsourcing.
Product is usually a new idea or existing product modification, targeting customers all around in some specific business domain.
It’s time to decide will you go for services or products and plan accordingly. Build your own website for services or products which your company offer. If you looking for services then target your niche promote your company through a different medium and create hype for your upcoming products.
Market Research
Market research is the process of collecting information about target market and customer. Market research provides a clear picture of the business, what kind of services or products brings benefit for you. It provides important information to analyses and identifies market needs, Market size and competitors.
Starting a company without marketing research is like driving a car from Karachi to Lahore without a map. So market research is a key factor for business success. The information gathered from market research helps entrepreneurs to make wise and profitable business decisions.