This post is a collaboration with Twill for their ‘Go Global’ campaign, but all thoughts and experiences are my own.
More and more people are aspiring to run their own businesses than ever before. It’s no surprise it’s become so desirable, as many people these days seem to know someone who has launched a successful business, or them themselves have a story to tell about their own business journey.
We live in a world today where everyone wants to shop online, find someone local to buy from, or use the many marketplaces on the internet for handmade products. The same can be said about services, where people look to find local tradesmen, cleaners, interior businesses, beauticians, personal trainers – the list goes on.
Although many of us are bursting with ideas, the hard part to succeed in business today is actually having the time and money to get a business started, and then off the ground. You as an entrepreneur need to have every aspect of business
covered, especially those with retail businesses. You may have an incredible product, but it has to smoothly arrive when you have demand, whether that’s something you make, or order from abroad via Customs Clearance. The product
must have scope to change and grow due to business demand, be profitable and be suitable for today’s eco-conscious world.
Business women and men need to be flexible, and show excellent planning and organisational skills. For many, starting a business involves working around the day job in spare hours, building up a business at every opportunity you have. It requires drive, passion, and the excitement about the future plans. This is where many people can go wrong from the beginning. They may have an idea, and think about the financial goals and benefits, yet aren’t overly passionate
about getting their hands dirty in those early days. It’s wrong to visualise starting a business and thinking that as soon as you turn on a computer or open doors, you’ll start making money.
Many people who launch small businesses, and those that go on to be medium sized businesses, need to be aware that it’s a lot of hard work before the big bucks come rolling in. I for one currently juggle three businesses, and although each one is different, they all took a long time to be rewarding. I am a freelancer who provides a content writing service to brands, mainly beauty and wellness. I’m also a bridal makeup artist, travelling to locations to work with bridal parties. My third business is that I have an Etsy print shop, which provides poem and illustration prints for gifts.
Each one means I have to be a creator, a marketeer, social media expert, finance, and administrator. And of course, with my print shop, I have to be the one printing and packing, manually making trips to the post office. With some small businesses, it will always be you who is spinning a hundred plates, being a master of many talents. Packages need to be shipped directly to the customer, and you find yourself being the picker, the packer, the courier, the customer service… you name it!
If it sounds like something your committed to, then read on! Of course, there are millions of benefits to being your own business owner, but it’s worth understanding how to be successful in your venture, without looking at things through rose tinted glasses.
Be an analytical thinker
Starting a business requires you to be an analytical thinker. Everything you do for the business has to have a purpose, even if that purpose isn’t always an immediate financial driver. For example, you may have to take some time out attending conferences, trade shows, events, networking etc., which to some may seem like a waste of time. But think of the bigger picture, and the long run. Similarly when getting in touch with a company for all the legal work or road permissions for business can save you a lot of time and penalties that you may incur if you don’t have proper permits or licenses to transport your products from source to destination.
Similarly, when getting in touch with a company for all the legal work or road permissions for business can save you a lot of time and penalties that you may incur if you don’t have proper permits or licenses to transport your products from source to destination. You may learn more here and learn how crucial to have a trip permit before you hit the road for commercial transportation.
Every decision you make must be properly thought through. You also need to be determined and have excellent organization skills, alongside detailed record-keeping. Every penny put into the business and every penny taken out needs to be recorded for up-to-date and accurate bookkeeping, and so you can forecast financially too.
Stay on top of competition
It’s important to be aware of your competition no matter what business area you’re launching into. Once you have identified the competition, you can analyze what techniques have worked for them, what their weaknesses are, where there is space for you to step in, and improve upon their successful tactics.
Understand personal life sacrifices
You’ll almost certainly end up working harder for yourself than you would for someone else, so prepare to make sacrifices in your personal life when establishing your business. You’ll be the one having to source people to help you, like for web design, couriers, any building work etc., especially during the start up days. You may also be the one running the social media accounts 24/7 and responding to customers at all hours.
You must understand excellent customer service
No matter what type of business you’re running, providing good customer service to your customers is crucial. Even more so in the early days, when you are going to need to rely on word of mouth for recommendations, and the main way to do this is to gain their loyalty. For customers to retain their business, they need to feel like they were looked after, received a quality service or product, and are happy enough to return or to recommend.
Don’t launch until YOU are ready
Make sure not only that the business is ready for launch, but you are as well. You may have your business all set up and in a good place to launch, but there could be certain things associated to you as a person why it might not be a great time. Don’t launch when you’re not 100% available – you never know if you’re going to require working around the clock, travel somewhere, or be on hand to sort a major teething problem. Launching a business and then having a busy social calendar, or perhaps your mind might not be in the right place, can all affect the smooth running’s of a business launch.
If you have any of your own personal tips and advice regarding running a small or medium business, it would be amazing to read them in the comments!
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