Starting a Small Business? Follow These Survival Tips

Many people have turned the threat of redundancy on its head into a real opportunity to go it alone. The numbers of startup small businesses and the self employed are on the increase. If you are successful it can be far more fulfilling than being employed. Imagine earning all the fruits of your own labour. But a huge number of startups fail within the first few years. So if you’re thinking about going down this road, it’s crucial to do things right.

The tips below are not a complete list, of course. But from my experience here are some of the key things you need to consider if you are to succeed:

¢ Do something you enjoy. The path before you is going to throw you a lot of tough challenges. The people who make it a success on their own are the ones who live, breathe and sleep their work.

¢ Get a pro to do your accounting. My advice is don’t go it alone when it comes to taxes unless you have experience with it – letting an accountant deal with it can really save a lot of hassle. I’d say do this for at least your first year or two – then you can take it over.

¢ Make use of the internet. The web can be the best friend of the small business owner. Whatever your industry, it’s pretty much guaranteed that many of your customers will be looking online. There has never been a more effective way of getting leads and customers. Make sure you invest in a well made website. And look at search engine marketing in particular.

¢ Learn from your competitiors. Then Improve on it. Dont try and reinvent the wheel – learn from the wisdom your competition has gained of how to be successful. They have years of experience on you and you shouldn’t discount that. Then take it one step further and see what they aren’t doing but should be. Find yourself a Unique Selling Point, no matter how small. Without this no business can succeed.

¢ Appreciate your staff. If you have a team underneath you, no matter how small, you need to look after them. Youll need them more than ever right now so show them theyre appreciated by treating them now and again, or taking them out on team building days.

¢ Be intelligent with your marketing. There are of course a wealth of choices facing you in terms of marketing and advertising. But small businesses are notorious for throwing good money after bad on ineffective advertising techniques purely because they have no idea of how well they’re performing. Try and get an idea of where your business is coming from.With online marketing this can all be automated within an analytics package – but it can be as easy as asking your clients how they found you. Review every few months and act accordingly.

I hope these tips are helpful to you. Your comments are most welcome below! For business tips and corporate cookery events.