Starting a new business can be both exciting and scary. Entrepreneurship is a complete lifestyle, not just a job with which to pay your bills. While there are countless bits of advice out there for those who are new to the game, some of them clearly overlap. Here are 5 of the most important tips for new entrepreneurs.
1.) Pick the Right Business
Make sure you’ve chosen an industry and niche that excites you. Just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean you’ll be willing to go out of your way to make it work. It’s incredibly difficult to motivate yourself to do something you’ve fallen out of love with. The last thing you need is to feel burned out too quickly.
Remember that it’s not just about showing up in the morning. Even when you’re not “at work,” it’s in your best interest to read and learn everything you can about the business you’re in. It should also be something you have experience in already, since too steep a learning curve can hurt your chances for success.
2.) Watch Your Finances
It could take years before your startup returns a substantial profit. Until then, you need to maintain as thick a financial cushion as possible. While you can predict many upcoming expenses, you can’t foresee every problem that might come your way. If you had to change your marketing strategy or spend twice as much on it as predicted, would you have the funds?
If your business is struggling to bring in enough money at first, consider getting a part-time job to supplement your income. This is a wise choice, even if you have money saved up. Succeeding in business is an enormous undertaking and it’s hard to focus when you’re worried about how to pay next month’s rent.
3.) Hire Carefully
One of the worst mistakes you can make is hiring the wrong people. They need to have the right background and should have sufficient experience. They should exhibit strong work-ethic and flexibility, with the understanding that their roles might have to evolve with the new company. Keep in mind that personalities can vary and the employees who work out best are usually those who can blend into the company culture.
Before hiring anyone, make sure you really need them. By all means, bring them on if they can provide a needed boost. Just make sure you’re not creating a position you don’t need. Just as there’s a time to grow and expand, there are times when bootstrapping is essential. In the beginning, it’s often best to handle certain duties yourself.
4.) Offer Excellent Customer Service
Few things can guarantee quick failure like poor customer service. While you may have your own reasons for starting a company, the only thing your customers care about is that they’re getting their money’s worth. Like you, they work hard for their money and with so much attention given to scams and unscrupulous businesses, it’s not going to get any easier to gain the public’s trust.
Don’t forget to be patient and respectful during interactions on the web and social media. Word gets around quickly and with today’s technology, your reputation can get ruined in a matter of hours. Make sure that whoever you hire to handle your customer complaints and social media channels understands the implications of what they’re doing.
5.) Hustle
No matter what business you’re in, if you’re starting it from the ground up, you should expect to hustle like never before. Employees can often get away with just showing up and doing the bare minimum. In a busy company, there’s so much going on that no one may notice them slacking off. Such is not the case, when you’re the boss.
The boss has to make sure the bills get paid or there’s no sense in anyone showing up. If employees need certain equipment to do their jobs, it will be your responsibility to provide it. When they come to you with perplexing IT issues, you’ll either have to pay someone to figure them out or learn how to do your own network monitoring. New product ideas, acquiring raw materials and payroll will depend largely on you. If you intend to make this work, you’ll have to work harder than you ever have in your life.
It takes a ton of work to become a successful entrepreneur, but the rewards beat anything you could expect from an ordinary job. Your time and effort will be yours to control and distribute as you see fit. When you learn to view it as building a life, rather than just a career, it will get easier to keep both the highs and lows in perspective.
