Top Tips for Startups and Self Employed
There’s an old Chinese proverb that says “a crisis is an opportunity riding a dangerous wind” – and that is how many are treating today’s lack of job security. The numbers of startup small businesses and the self employed are on the increase. If you are successful it can be far more fulfilling than being employed. Consider how hard you have to work for your employer and how it would be to reap the benefits all to yourself. But a huge number of startups fail within the first few years. Planning things properly from the outset can meant the difference between success and failure in those early days.
This is not an exhaustive list by any means. But from my experience here are some of the key things you need to consider if you are to succeed:
¢ Ask yourself: Is this your passion. The path before you is going to throw you a lot of tough challenges. You need to be involved in something where your heart is, or you wont last the distance.
¢ Hire an accountant. Unless you’re experienced with taxes and accounting, I’d strongly advise hiring a small business accountant. Even if it’s only for the first year or so.
¢ Use the power of the web. The internet is the small businesses’ best friend. And it doesn’t matter if you’re not planning on selling through the web. Never before has there been such a cost effective way of gaining business. A well designed, effective website can get you a long way. I would especially recommend delving into Google Adwords and SEO to gain traffic from search engines.
¢ Learn from your competitiors. Then Do it Better. Dont try and reinvent the wheel – learn from the wisdom your competition has gained of how to be successful. Have respect for the fact that they know what they’re doing to a certain extent at least. Then take it one step further and see what they aren’t doing but should be. Find yourself a Unique Selling Point, no matter how small. Ignore this at your peril.
¢ Appreciate your staff. If you have a team underneath you, no matter how small, you need to look after them. Youll need them more than ever right now so show them theyre appreciated by treating them now and again, or taking them out on team building days.
¢ Be intelligent with your marketing. There are always going to be a number of channels you can use for advertising. But small businesses are notorious for throwing good money after bad on ineffective advertising techniques purely because they have no idea of how well they’re performing. It is invaluable to find out the advertising source of your custom.With online marketing this can all be automated within an analytics package – but it can be as easy as asking your clients how they found you. Review every few months and act accordingly.
Hopefully this advice has been useful. Your comments are most welcome below! For business tips and corporate cookery events.
Tags: advice, business, business management, small business, startups