Not all small businesses are created equal. Nevertheless, whatever the offer is; new entrepreneurs need the same information and tools to get the business up and running. Here’s what you need to know for starting a small business.
Business Startup: The Struggle is Real
The startup phase is exciting yet very challenging. Like proud parents or mad scientists; startups & small business owners get that giddy feeling of being able to bring something to life.
However, this happy, exhilarating feeling can be accompanied by frustrations and roadblocks. Here are just some examples:
- cash flow issues
- time management
- task delegation
- marketing strategy
- poor management
- self-doubt
Here are some things every business startup owner must know in order to keep the business in a steady and consistent growth path.
What You Need to Know for Starting a Small Business
- Give customers a voice.
Startups & small businessenterprises need regular content. Customer-created content is free and publishing it is an effective marketing strategy, turning users into loyal customers.
- Have a solid growth path.
To succeed in the long term, business startupowners should have a SMART growth path. This is to ensure stakeholders know how to overcome roadblocks and understand the direction the business will take as it grows.
- Relationships are gold.
All relationships must be treasured. Remember, it’s not who you are; it’s who you know.
- Give stuff away for free.
Giving free samples of products or services or discounts will do wonders for your business. Just look at Zappos! and Warby Parker; they understand the lifetime value of customers and they’re better for it.
- Use robots.
Automate your business to save time and money. Email, content marketing, bulk SMS, etc.; all these can be placed on automated; mode, freeing up valuable time and energy.
- Don’t be a martyr.
For small business startups, time is money so delegate tasks to the pros. For example: tax stuff should be delegated to an accountant; graphic design and web development should be done by designers, etc.
- Know what’s going on.
What you need to know for starting a small business is simple: keep track everything. Monitor everything from employee activities, productivity, and what and where traffic and revenue are coming from. Tools like Google Analytics is great for this task.
- Use social media regularly.
People visit social media more than company websites. Ergo, social media posts are crucial to engage with the customer base regularly. It also helps with building brand identity and recognition and proving the business is alive.
- Use tools.
There are many tools to help manage day-to-day business activities. This includes Trello, Slack, etc. for workflow automation; email marketing tools, Hootsuite and Buffer for social media automation; and other cost-effective platforms for different tasks.
- Encourage feedback.
Proactively asking for feedback helps improve a business’ product and services and tells customers the company actually cares. Feedback and improvement are the keys to a sustainable growth.
There will be obstacles as one starts a small business. Additionally, as days turn into weeks and months, operating small business startups will become harder and more challenging. Understanding what you need to know for starting a small businesswill help business owners anticipate problems and prepare solutions as they go through this exciting journey.