New Business Essentials For Every Entrepreneur
If you have decided to wave goodbye to your full-time wage, your excellent career prospects and your pals at work, the chances are you are having a mild panic attack now that you’ve handed in your resignation letter.
Rather than moving onto full time employed pastures new, you have decided to forego the promotion and opt for a more freeing way of earning a living.
Turning your money-making dreams into a reality can be scary, but it can also be fulfilling. Many people have an idea for a product or service and never have the opportunity or courage to give it a go.
However, you have chosen to walk the lonely road of entrepreneurship.
As a new business, you may be a little overwhelmed by the number of business functions that you are now responsible for.
You need to be the head honcho, the marketing executive, the financial guru, the social media manager, and the advertising bod.
These roles within a business that you work for are usually undertaken by specialists, but with a new business that you are running, you need to become a Jack of all trades.
While daunting, there are ways to get through your first year of trading successfully. Take a look at these new business essentials that every entrepreneur should take heed of.
Business Plan is One of The Top Business Essentials
Don’t just think that you can print off a generic template business plan that you can then file away into a drawer forever and a day.
Instead, your business plan needs to be a well-thumbed working document that helps drive and formulate the vision of your business.
You may have chosen to go freelance as a self-employed version of what you were employed as, or you may have chosen to follow a passion and career switch in the extreme.
Whatever the business model, you need a plan.
A business plan can help you to achieve the much-needed funding you require to help you launch your venture.
Your startup will enter a competitive field of already well-established businesses and you need to hit the ground running to help you compete.
Funding can help you achieve this. Head to the bank with your business plan in hand which details your profit forecasts, your risk mitigation and your predictions for your first three years of trading.
This can demonstrate to your bank manager just how good a proposition your business is.
Alternatively, you may seek assistance from a business angel. These individuals invest their own money into businesses that they deem as profitable.
If you can secure investment from a business angel, your idea will be well and truly validated. Ensure that you dress the part, you engage enthusiastically and that you know your gross from your net.
A business angel may scrutinize your figures but this could be worth it.
Marketing
Because your business will be a small fish in a big industry pond, you need all the help you can get to help you compete with your rivals.
While you might have a strategy of undercutting, this could lead you to undersell and you may lose your cash flow. Instead, consider implementing some sound market research to help you surpass your rivals.
Launch a new product with research at the very heart of it. Ask meaningful questions through focus groups and surveys – those are business essentials.
This research could even help you to hone the perfect price point, forge a new niche and work out the best channel through which to sell your product or service.
Ensure that you investigate the option of PPC management services, which you can outsource to.
These firms are specialists and will empower you to advertise your wares to your specific niche rather than having a scattergun approach online.
The banner ads or pop-ups that you endeavor to employ need to be focused on those people who will actually be interested in purchasing your product or service.
Without this, you will end up wasting money which you cannot afford to do in the first few months of trading.
Social Media
Social media feeds can be an excellent way of marketing your wares but also your company.
Being a new business, you need to hone a company voice. While the large conglomerates are more formal and stuffy, your smaller money-making entity can be more familial and chatty.
Engage with the millennial market over Twitter.
Answer queries and responds to comments promptly. This demonstrates how committed you are to providing an exceptional customer experience.
Many larger companies see customers as numbers or money bags. Ensure that you don’t fall into this trap. Customers and clients are savvier than ever, so don’t treat them with anything less than the utmost respect.
Instagram is a great visual channel that you can utilize to show off your product ranges. This is a great way of displaying your wares in a fashionable and on-trend way.
You can show your products in action and explore how best to promote offers and discounts. Instagram is an effective platform for those sectors that are more creative such as graphic design, the arts, and advertising.
Social media will also enable you to generate a bank of online reviews to show off your customer service and develop a solid reputation. Online reviews are crucial in securing business.
Without a strong online presence and a decent reputation, you risk losing out to those larger and more well-established rivals that can harness five-star reviews.
Outsource
Outsourcing is crucial if you are to manage your new and diverse workload. While you can hire directly to fill skills gaps, this is a long term commitment on your part. Instead, you can outsource specific functions to offsite experts.
This is cheaper and can be more precise for the jobs that you need completing. Outsourcing, when done well, can pay for itself many times over as you gain expertise that is world-class.
Don’t allow your business to fail at the first hurdle. Follow this guide and be a strong, customer-focused entrepreneur.
