When it comes to starting your own business it can be one of the most exciting things you ever do. With so many incredible milestones to hit, it’s easy to get carried away in all of the excitement and forget the important duties that you have to do. Whilst it may seem as though starting your own business is the absolute dream, it can be incredibly stressful and a lot of hard work, especially in the early years.
To help ensure you make the best possible decisions during the first years of your business, this guide is designed to tell you everything you need to know about getting started. It’s going to cover why you should start your own business, some top tips for business owners and how you can ensure your business can get off to an amazing start in its first year. What more could you need?
So, Why Would You Start Your Own Business?
Starting your own business is no easy feat, so why do people do it? Here are just a few of the incredible reasons why you should be considering going it alone:
- You have a lot more freedom and can work flexible hours whenever you want. Ultimately, you set your own deadlines.
- It gives you a chance to put your ideas out into the world and share your skills and knowledge with the world.
- It’s a chance to pursue your passion, no matter what that passion is.
- You will have an uncapped earning potential, as your income is what you make it. Whilst it may be low, to begin with, it will definitely grow with time.
- You call the shots and won’t have a management team to answer to.
- It gives you the chance to start building your own team of people.
- It will bring lots of opportunities to meet new people, whether it be through clients, events or the world of networking.
- You will face new and exciting challenges each and every day.
- You’ll learn far more than you ever imagined and you’ll want to learn as much as you possibly can in order to succeed.
- You can work from absolutely anywhere in the world, including the beach.
If that’s not convinced you to start your own business, perhaps these top tips will give you a little bit of reassurance:
Top Tips For New Business Owners
Make Sure You Have A Clear Idea What Your Values And Mission Will Be
One of the first things you need to do as a business owner is to ensure you have a clear idea of what your missions and values are. Whilst these may be something that is obvious to you, writing them down is the best way to ensure they’re something you’re always adhering to.
Your values should be the guidelines in which you follow when making absolutely any business decision, and they’ll soon become something that makes your business unique and special to you. Whether it’s to care for the environment with your principles or to donate to charity with every order, your values should focus on doing something good and giving back to the community.
When setting your mission it’s important to think about what you want to give to your customers, as often people get this confused with your goals. Whilst goals are important, your mission thinks about how you’re going to help others and exactly what it is you’ll do to ensure each and every one of your customers are happy. For a guide to setting your values and your mission as a business, you can visit this site here.
Work Out Who Your Target Audience Are
Another great way to get your business off to a great start is to work out who your target audience will be. Although a lot of people think this just means choosing a gender, age range and location – it’s actually a lot more than that.
The most successful businesses will have a detailed description or ‘avatar’ that represents their ideal customers. It will go into detail about their demographics, their likes and dislikes, their spending habits, their income and the way in which they interact with content and advertisements. The more details you can come up with, the better.
Make Sure You Have A Business Plan
One of the hardest things you will do when setting up your business is to create a business plan, but it is essential if you want to succeed. Whilst your missions, values and target audience will be included in your business plan, it will also cover a lot more things in great detail.
For a detailed business plan, you should be considering including:
- An executive summary
- A description of your company
- Your missions and values
- A detailed account of the products and services you’re going to offer
- An analysis of the market and the gap you’re going to fill
- Your detailed target audience
- Your strategy and implementation tactics
- Details of your business structure and team
- Your financial plan and projections
For a guide on creating your business plan, you can visit this site here.
Get A Virtual Phone And Registered Address
If you want your business to have a more professional feel from the get-go, it’s important you’re getting a virtual phone number and registered address. Whilst you may be using your mobile phone from your home office, giving off the impression that you have a dedicated office with a contact number not only makes you seem more like a legitimate business, but it may encourage people’s purchasing decisions. With lots of businesses using online stores and services to scam people out of products, the professionalism of your business is important. For more information when it comes to using a virtual phone system, you can visit this site here.
Have A Dedicated Space Where You Work
Another great thing to ensure you have when you first start up your business is a dedicated space to work. Whilst you may be able to work from your sofa or your bed, having a desk or office space to work from is a great way to encourage productivity. Whilst it doesn’t have to be an entire room of your house, sectioning off a small part of your home for work is the best way to ensure you always have a spot to work it. Not only will it help you stay away from distractions, but it will also allow you to separate your work time from your relaxation time. If you’re working AND relaxing from on the sofa, it will be hard to differentiate between the two.
Work Out Whether Or Not You’re Going To Need A Team Of People
Finally, you need to work out whether or not you’re going to need a team of people to help you run your business. Whilst you may not be able to hire a team right away, thinking about this as soon as you getting started is the best way to plan ahead. Whether it’s outsourcing work to someone on a freelance basis or bringing in a full-time team to assist you with your work – the more time you spend focussing ON your business the better. If there are admin tasks you can easily outsource from day one, you may want to consider investing in this as soon as you possibly can to get a head start. Whether it’s designing a website, building your branding or running your social media channels – you’ll be surprised the difference it can make. Today there is wave of businesses that focuses on the importance of aptitude test. There is an increasing number of employers are using aptitude tests as a way to assess the specific capabilities of potential employees. Y
How To Ensure Your First Year Goes Off With A Bang
If you want to ensure your first year is an incredible one, here are some amazing tips:
Set Yourself Goals You Would Like To Achieve In Your First Year
Setting yourself goals for your first year is a great way to measure your success. Whilst they may not be as ambitious as your goals in the years to come, you need to be sure you’re making progress in your business. Whether your goal is to simply make a profit or raise awareness of your brand, having this set in place before you get started will really help motivate you to achieve. The best thing to do is set 3 main goals and 7 little ones, making note of everything you need to do in order to achieve them. For a guide when it comes to setting yourself goals, you can visit this site here.
Use Social Media Promotion To Help Spread The Word Of Your Launch
Social media is a great tool when it comes to marketing. With most of the population using at least one social media platform, it’s important you’re talking about your business as much as you possibly can during your launch. A great way to get the word out if you don’t already have a lot of connections and followers is to ask your friends and family to share information about your business – after all your first client or customer could be on their friend’s list.
Alternatively, you need to be sure you’re building a community of people that are not only your target audience, but that will also support you as you start your new venture. It’s not easy, but it’s definitely worth it.
Attend As Many Networking Events As You Can
In your first year of business, the best way you’re going to get clients and customers is by attending networking events. Whether it’s local trade fairs where you can sell your products or business events where you can pitch your skills, the more events you attend the more people start to recognise your face. You need to be sure you’re reaching as many people as possible, giving them your thirty-second elevator pitch when needs be. To put it simply, you need to be able to sell what you’re selling to absolutely anyone you meet.
Remember, It’s Okay To Make Mistakes
Finally, it’s important to remember that during your first year it’s okay to make mistakes. You’re still learning and every single mistake you make will lead to an important lesson being learnt.
Are you starting a new business? What do you need to consider beforehand? How can you ensure your first year is a huge success? Let me know in the comments section below.
