10 Small Business Tips for Beginners
Tip 1: Research Before You Begin
You have a great business idea, your enthusiasm level is high and are ready to get going. We don’t want to lose that momentum, but before starting your own business you need to put in some background work, starting with researching how unique the business idea is.
The reality is 99% of businesses that get created today have direct competition from day one. That is not a problem, but you do need to understand that competition and your sector before you go headfirst into creating your new small business.
Tip 2: Find Your Niche
Great news, you have selected a sector and product you want to sell. Time to start selling, right? Wrong. Most sectors are massive and to get your message heard and gain momentum, you want to find a sub-section, commonly known as a niche. Let us explain with an example.
“XYZ Creative Services” designs and develops websites; they attempt to appeal to everyone and struggle to distinguish themselves from the other 1,000 web design agencies.
“Hospitality Creative Services” designs and develops websites for restaurants and venues. They focus on this specific niche and can demonstrate why they are so different from the competition.
Tip 3: Define Who You Are
What Is Your Mission
Branding is not a concept most small businesses think about, but it is more than just a logo or name. It is the essence of what you stand for. Do you exist to provide the best quality in your chosen field? Is your goal to be a supporter of local businesses? Do you simply aim to be the cheapest option?
These are the types of questions you should be asking yourself, leading to understanding your mission. A mission statement is about the purpose of your business, what it aims to achieve. If your goal is to grow to include multiple staff it will help them understand the business, but if your initial ambition is to be self-employed, then the mission will be about your goals.
What’s In A Name
Your business name is important but people spend too long focused on it. Your chief goal is not to choose a terrible one that puts people off. Don’t worry about creating one that will change the world. Apple is only a great global brand and business name because of the product and vision of the business, not because of the name they picked.
It is ok to be related to what you do but sometimes that makes it harder to pick a name: people often end up choosing something that means something to them and then when they explain the business they will put it in a description. For example, Red Box is the accountancy firm for the people of our little village.
Tip 4: Set Goals
If you don’t understand your destination then your journey will have no direction. At the beginning of your journey towards creating your new small business you need to have goals, the things you want to achieve.
These will be a combination of short term and long term, starting with the overall goals and working backwards. You’ll set your goals for the next couple of years then work out the smaller goals that will help you achieve that.
Tip 5: Everyone Needs A Business Plan
Now it’s time to get very practical. Any business, regardless of size, needs a business plan. This might be needed to raise startup funds, get a small business loan or just to give yourself focus on what you can afford to spend. Once created, it allows you to plan changes as the business and the business structure evolves.
Many of the factors we have covered in tips 1-4 should be added to your business plan, for example, what are your goals, the competitor landscape and niche you will be targeting.
Tip 6: Articulate What Makes You Special
We have a plan and it’s almost time to go out into the wild and start talking to people, but before you do, make sure you can articulate what makes you stand out from the crowd, why someone should choose you.
Very few businesses are truly unique in the modern world, but find a combination of things that when grouped make you different from the rest. It might be the niche that you target, the way you support the product, it could be your pricing model, maybe it's a combination of all of them or ten other things.
Tip 7: Network Like A Master
As a small business owner, you are the best salesman, the point of contact with the customer and the person that people complain to! As you grow this can evolve but when you start your business no one will understand it like you or convince prospects to buy from you and customers to remain with you.
The most cost-effective way to achieve this is networking. You need to make yourself part of the community and become someone trusted in your sector. The old adage is true, people buy from people and the best way to meet people is networking.
Tip 8: Effective Marketing
Marketing is an area many small business owners are uncomfortable with, but with a little planning and covering the basics, it doesn’t have to be that scary.
Know Your Customer
Step one is thinking like your customer. Get this right and everything else about marketing is easy. You must recognize that not everyone can be your customer. If you attempt to market to everyone, then you’ll do an average job. If you market just to target customers, then you’ll do an amazing, focused job.
To truly understand your customer as well as a best friend, you need to get into their minds and sympathize with the pains they have, understand their core needs, celebrate their desires and respect their purchase drivers. If you combine this information with basic demographic information like the male/female split; age range; income and family status, you have a rounded view of them.
Going forward all your marketing should be geared towards these target customers. Writing an article? Think, would your ideal customer read it. Posting on social media? Will your ideal customer be attracted to it? Building a new product? Would your ideal customer buy it?
Tip 9: Technology And Automation Are Your Friends
As a small business owner, you always need to be conscious of the limited time you have. Where possible you need to find solutions that cost little but save money and time by automating your processes. This is where technology is your friend.
Financial software
Start by putting in place invoicing software that will automate most of the process, update your clients automatically and give access to the right people at the right time.
Marketing automation
This is the ability to trigger communications based on people's actions. For example, an email welcome program when someone registers on the website.
Customer service
Chatbots are a good example of using technology to handle the initial customer queries and filter down the ones that land with you.
Task Management
This could be something as simple as online notes or a more complex solution like Trello. One key advantage of all these platforms is they can be accessed through any device, from your work PC through to your phone.
Booking calls/meetings
Use an online booking system, like Calendy that allows people to automatically book time in your diary. They connect automatically to your calendar and save you having to check your availability.
Virtual meetings
Platforms like Zoom have taught us it is no longer required to attend all meetings in person. Where sensible, book a virtual call and save hours in travel, as well as keep startup costs down
Tip 10: Prepare Mentally For Bad Days
Setting up and running your own successful business can be incredibly rewarding, but it doesn’t come easily. There will be ups and downs, and how you manage these problems will decide how successful you are in the long term.
All problems can be resolved and often, by taking the right approach, you can take something positive from the experience.
Courtesy of hiveage.com
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