Whether it’s your first venture into business or not, you need to have every base covered when it comes to starting afresh; you need to be organised, to ensure you are successful, and you make a good profit. Starting your own small business can be nerve-wracking, but it’s also incredibly exciting. You will have so much on the line, however, as long as you’ve thought your plans through, received expert advice, sought all the guidance you require, got the funds, the drive, and the business acumen to go forward, you should be able to be successful in business. Getting started is no easy task, so here’s a guide to starting your business adventure and reaching your goals:
Track Your Finances
Getting your small business off the ground can pose problems, and some no more than financial concerns. Try to use as much of your own money before you apply to get a loan, as you’re far more likely to be careful with the cash you have when you understand where every last penny has come from and how you made it. If you need to apply for extra money straight away, then consider using Bonsai Finance to raise funds, or alternatively, try to secure a small business grant, or consider crowdfunding. Keep a record of where every pound and penny is spent, and calculate what you look set to earn and spend over the course of each week and month. Regularly compare these two figures, and hire an accountant if you’re unsure at any point.
Be Smart Online
Any content you publish online needs to be high quality, and you should operate across a wide range of social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, and Google+. Many multinational corporations utilise social media to a get seen, noticed, and to grow in popularity. Content has the power to go viral if it’s fresh, funny, and entertaining enough, and you should focus on posting regularly and creating original material. Know who your target market is by finding out who’s interacting with you, liking, commenting on, and sharing your content and then work on further appeal to them. From here, work out who’s just falling short of your net of influence, and work to appeal to them too.
Do Your Research
Before you leap headfirst into business, you’ve got to know your stuff, and truly know it. Business is an extremely competitive field by its very nature so you must be confident in your abilities, able to recognise what’s good for you and your growth and have a strong product and service that can take you forward. Where legal matters are concerned, speak to a lawyer and get acquainted with the law, your rights, and any relevant regulations that you must abide by. Find out what’s currently successful on the market, and have a thorough understanding of how your competitors are performing, and how they’re successful or why they’re just falling underneath the radar. Find out how successful businesses similar to yours started out, where they invested their cash, and who they interacted with when starting out.
Know How To Network
Networking is a broad term for, essentially, getting to know as many people as possible and getting your brand seen and understood for its quality and usefulness. Networking will require you having to meet strangers, influential individuals, and step outside of your comfort zone in the name of improving your communicational skills, build trust, form and strengthen relationships, and develop a good group of contacts. Keep your eyes open for social conferences, seminars, lectures, and meetings that offer guidance and explanation of business topics, or on any subject that you feel could be beneficial for you and your growing business. Fundraising is a sure way to get you noticed and to improve visibility, as is volunteering in relative fields.
Do The Hard Work Yourself
Aside from the areas in which you’ll require additional and expert assistance, try and carry out all the necessary hard graft yourself. It’s your business, and you’re responsible for nurturing it in the beginning. By completing tasks yourself, you’ll save yourself money, and you’ll be furthering your skills and knowledge along the way. Resist the urge to pay someone to fix a problem you can tackle yourself, as you’ll be able to increase your profit margins by limiting how much of your budget you use. You’ll have to invest a considerable amount of your time and effort into starting your own small business, and the initial outlay might seem to require every spare minute you have, but remember that you get out what you put in, so stay strong, motivated, and pro-active.
Have A Great Website
Whatever your business involves and whatever industry you are in, you need a website to advertise your product or service, to demonstrate what you do and how you do it, and to show prospective clients why they should choose you. A website works for you 24/7. There’s no opening and closing time; it has the ability to drive sales both day and night so it should be persuasive, effective, and use good quality SEO copy. Your website needs to be compatible across a range of platforms and should translate to read clearly on mobiles and tablets as well as laptops and desktops. Designing your website so that it meets your customer’s needs and wows them can be a challenge if you’re not used to building websites and following expert marketing techniques. So, consider employing the services of a professional if you want to put your best foot forward from the start.
Hire Passionate People
You can only be as strong as your weakest link, so ensure that every member of your team is driven, passionate, high-achieving, as well as able to flourish in their role. You need to be serious in your approach to hiring and want to find the very best team you can. Leaving it to the last minute isn’t going to be an effective strategy, so circulate news of the upcoming position well ahead of time so that you can carry out a thorough and structured round of interviews and then decide who is best suited to the job you’re offering. If you’re unsure about an individual who doesn’t seem to have the required experience, then look for enthusiasm, commitment, and ability to adapt and take a chance on young, creative, and pragmatic people.
