Do you have any general advice for starting a business?
I would appreciate your best advice on starting a business - anything that applies to all businesses would be greatly appreciated :)
Hi Vicki,
The order and type of advice depends on what you're doing, but as a general rule...
1. Build your processes.
A process will help you stay on track and help you improve your service and highlight any deficiencies.
2. Flexibility
You may think you know what you're selling and who you're selling to, but in reality you'll find that it will constantly adapt and change as you figure things out. Be flexible to change and move your business around to help your customers and build your sales.
3. Be Humble
Sounds silly. But I have met many business owners that are more concerned about the title on their business card than actually working on their business. You're always learning (well I know I am) and you need to continue to grow.
4. Start a good routine
If you begin with good habits, you're more likely to maintain them. I can get lazy when it comes to CRM and computer filing. How can I connect with my leads if they haven't been documented ? Note to self... make time daily!
5. Good Presentation
You don't need to throw money in all corners to begin with - but you do need to make sure you start out with professional presentation. It's no good throwing together a quick website and drawing your logo in word. Consumers are smart, and they can smell a newbie a mile away. Make a good first impression and don't send your potential client to your competitor.
6. Don't Expect miracles - plan for them
When I started my business, I had a burning vision for instant success. I am one of those people who wanted instant gratification. Well I learnt the hard way. It doesn't take a day to build your business. It is constant work and effort. Just don't give up!
Hope this helps :)
Those were lots of great tips. I would say learn to do more with less. Many people think that having access to tons of money makes things easier, and it does to a point. However, many people don't realize how much money they are wasting because they have easy access to it. Less money or a lack of good money helps force your creativity to make the money stretch further. As revenue grows you can always expand but starting out by being frugal and savvy will take you a long way (through both good and bad times in business).
I think the answer above is excellent. A different perspective I might add on this is with the view to sustainability (excuse the tone, but i pulled the content from a blog I wrote)
When I started Mesh, people were quick to congratulate me and offer me a recurring piece of advice. Whilst the words were different, the concept was all too similar: put my head down and push full steam ahead, letting nothing stand in my way.
Ultimately, I learned it is great to have your foot down at times, but it is equally important to remember that all paths in life have curves. If you have your foot down all the time, not only do you risk running off the track but you will find the pace is unsustainable. The key is to know when to pour your all into something and the times to pull up a little, look around, figure out how to tackle the curve and most of all, to get perspective.
Yee Trinh, Cofounder at SavvySME
Routine and processes, agree 100%. While you may not have a large team/company around you, you need to operate like one from the get go.