Startup Success: Take Note Of These Realistic Tips

Starting and growing a business in today’s highly competitive market is tough and takes perseverance but it doesn’t have to be a huge undertaking that overtakes your life. You only need to be equipped with the right knowledge and expertise. We outline what you need to know about making your small business or startup a success from the start.

The process of starting and growing your own business is never going to be simple; that’s a fact. You might be extremely keen to build and grow a business that has the potential of being hugely successful, but that doesn't mean making a success of your venture will be any easier and faster to achieve. The fact is that building a successful startup from the group up is hard work. In order to achieve success, you need to understand that you need time to build traction and momentum and even more time to maintain it.

You also need to have a fundamental knowledge of positioning your business for success. If you want to see your venture succeed and thrive over the long-term, then you need to constantly grow your business. Planning and growing a successful business isn’t just about finding a concept and launching a company around it--it’s also about learning to make smart decisions quickly and effectively and always be able to think on your feet. 

Wondering what it takes to see startup success in today’s overly saturated market?

Below are a few useful tips that it might be worth taking note of when it comes to building a profitable and prosperous business.

Create a Plan and Start with Taking Small Incremental Steps towards Achieving Your First Goals

Every strong company starts out with a solid plan of action. If you are going to ensure that you put your business on the map, then you need to have a clear set-out plan to follow. The concept of creating a business plan may be daunting, or you may feel that it’s unnecessary and a waste of time but having one in place is crucial to your success. The plan doesn’t have to be hundreds of pages long, but it does need to include the following sections:

·       Executive Summary

·       Owner Bio(s)

·       Company Description and Management

·       SWOT and Competitive Analysis

·       Target Market

·       Marketing Strategies

·       Market History and Growth

·       Product/Service Lines

·       Sales Strategies

·       Request for Funding (if you’re looking for investors)

·       Financials  

Writing a business plan doesn’t have to be an overwhelming task, as it’s just a case of mapping out each aspect of your business and determining how you’re going to best utilize each of these sections. That’s it - it’s simple really. 

As an aside, whenever I write a business plan for any of my own ventures, I keep it to four pages and include all of the sections above (but the request for funding) because all of our funding is done internally. 

Make Networking a Priority (Both in Person and Virtually) for Your Small Business 

If you want consumers to know about your business, networking (both in-person and virtually) with other industry professionals and consumers is key to your success. Business is all about the connections that you build and nurture. If you are going to take it to the next level, you need to take advantage of every networking opportunity to expand your circle of professionals. Whether that’s networking in person at networking events or it’s networking via platforms like LinkedIn or industry conferences that are now virtual, it’s essential that you are making it a priority.

Optimize all of Your Operations for Efficiency and Sustainability

As your small business or startup grows, it becomes increasingly important to streamline operations and ensure that every process is as efficient as possible. This not only helps in cutting costs but also in reducing your carbon footprint, making your business more sustainable in the long run. 

Start by evaluating your supply chain and looking for ways to make it more eco-friendly and efficient. For example, partnering with a national pallet company known for their sustainable practices and excellent quality can help your business to maintain effective and efficient logistics operations. 

Moreover, adopting green technologies and practices in your workplace, like energy-efficient lighting and recycling programs, can significantly contribute to your sustainability goals. Additionally, consider implementing project management tools and systems that enable your team to work more collaboratively and productively, regardless of their physical location. 

By focusing on efficiency and sustainability, you save money and build a positive brand image that resonates with today's environmentally conscious consumers.

Focus on Productivity to Maximize Output During Launching and Scaling Your Small Business or Startup

One of the most important steps to take as a business owner is to make being productive your focus. You can spend all day sitting in your office, but if you’re not working in a productive way that’s generating revenue, then it’s a waste of time, isn’t it? 

When it comes to how you run your business, take steps to ensure that productivity is always at the forefront of your mind. If you’re the CEO or founder, then focus on the tasks that actually generate revenue and outsource the tasks that don’t generate any income.

For instance, instead of waiting until an IT issue occurs, source IT services that are able to offer business support, so that when you need help, help is close at hand. Similarly, instead of sending out invoices or bills, hire a virtual bookkeeper to manage that aspect of your business. If you don’t have the resources to hire or outsource to a virtual assistant, then use a free software program such as Wave Apps or a paid low-cost program such as QuickBooks to automate your invoicing and accounts receivables. You’ll be amazed at how much time these tech tools help save over the course of a week. You can do the same with social media marketing with tools such as Later, TailWindApp, or HootSuite.com.

The truth is that running a successful business is hard and it takes a lot of patience and grit; and it also takes a lot of time and effort to build a venture that has the potential to be successful. However, by taking note of the tips and advice above, you can make the process of running a successful startup, a little easier for yourself.

The Demands Of A Growing Business

A growing business is one that can be hard to manage. In fact, all of the business owners who expected their business to take years to grow, when it is, in fact, growing in a matter of months, find it impossible to manage. All of the sudden you go from small finances that are easy to manage, and sales that are easy to track and handle because they are so few, to a business with a huge influx of customers that makes everything hard to track and handle. So, what you need to do is go into crisis mode, and figure out how all of the systems of your business are going to work together as one so that your business can flourish.

All you have to do is focus on the growth aspects of your business, how you can streamline them, and how you can promote your business. Because the last thing you want to do is focus on all of the changes you’re going to make, only to find that the influx of customers was temporary and you now go back to a lull. So, we’re going to try and help you with all of that, as well as feel secure with your own knowledge about business. The more you know, the more you grow! Keep on reading and we’ll talk you through what we think you should be doing.

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Managing Sales & Production

Production and sales are something that’s going to flourish as soon as your business starts to have that influx of customers, and it can just be so hard to manage for a small business that isn’t used to being a business. But don’t worry, there are tons of tips that we can show you.

The first is hiring two people to work for you on a temporary basis. Freelance business analysts and advisors are essential for a business that is new to being on the market and really doesn’t have a clue what they’re doing. Because the one trend that’s happening at the minute is that business owners usually know their trade, but nothing about the intricate parts of running a business. These services are only going to benefit a business that hasn’t had experience being a business before other than the minor processes that are needed.

Hiring in people to give you good advice is always going to make you more comfortable with the decisions that you’re making. They can advise you on how to maximize your sales, and minimize the time and money spent on production as well as financial losses. A lot of it will come over time. You’ll need to find ways to streamline your production process. Whether you’re selling services or products, you will still have a production line that needs managing, and it can easily be done by focusing on the weak points and the areas that are taking the most time to complete. You can then use different techniques in a trial and error sort of fashion to see what you’ll end up with!

Inhouse Improvements

Running a business is going to take your inhouse life from being pretty casual, to pretty hectic. All of a sudden you have all of these orders and queries coming your way and it can be so hard to manage. We’re writing this assuming that you have your own office space. If not, then it might be time to seek out a small space for you to be able to run your business. Not only does it allow you to have that air of professionalism, but it’s far more practical for a growing business.

You then need to consider some of the improvements you can make to your office that will make it far easier to run. Lingo Communications Business VoIP might be one consideration you have. VoIP systems are so beneficial for any business, let alone one that’s growing at such a rapid rate. What it does is give you a system that’s connected throughout your business, preventing downtime and delays in internet speed, and allowing your phones to have the best connection. The one menial task that you’ll find yourself doing as a business owner is answering emails and phone calls. You’ll also find that office internet is absolutely shocking, so seeking out something such as what we have linked to could greatly improve the productivity of your office.

Even if there is just you in the room, it makes it far easier to expand and cope with the demands of your growing business. You should also think about the other equipment you’re using, such as your computers. Having a computer system that’s able to facilitate software that you need is important, and a good business will splash out the cash on an Apple Mac. As expensive as they may be, they look far more professional and modern for one, and they have a ton of capabilities that other computers don’t have.

Do You Need To Hire?

Hiring is one of the things that you might need to do far sooner than you thought you were going to have to do. The process of hiring can be so intimidating for a small business, especially for a business owner who doesn’t really know what they’re doing. You can miss out on the key questions you need to ask, and you may even cross the line towards inappropriateness without even meaning to with the questions that you ask, which is why we think it’s important that you stick to the basics.

The first is to make them relaxed as soon as they come in. Perhaps say that you’re just as nervous as they, or tell them to take a breath and relax because it will be a more chilled out interview. A chilled out interview-style attracts the right type of person. You’re allowing the candidate to relax in their natural way of being, rather than coming in with this forced behavior that would change as soon as they got comfortable within your company. Stick to asking questions about their likes and dislikes, goals, what they want from the company, and then give them all of the company information that you need.

To cover your back, you can hire HR services that are not in the house, but they will still support your business with any HR issues that may come up. You can then integrate them into your business and use it as a learning curve. Always make sure that you give ongoing support and training, and actually take the time to get to know them.

Promotion & Marketing

Promotion and marketing are something you’re going to become so used to doing. All of a sudden you’ll have everything on your shoulders, but the main thing you want to do is keep it there. Which is easily done through promotion and marketing. If you already have the influx of interest coming from somewhere, you must have been doing something right with a basic budget. So all you have to do is scale that to a bigger size and focus on the areas of promotion and marketing that are going to get the most attention.

For us, it’s simple techniques such as billboard marketing that you need to go for. You’ll still be a small fish in a big pond, so until you’re a bigger fish trying tactics such as SEO and PPC might not work well for you. But billboard marketing alongside Google Adwords, for example, might be the killer combination that your business needs for that extra boost of sales. Once you get a steady number of customers each month and your brand begins to grow, you can focus more on online marketing methods. Alongside this, we would always recommend that you use social media marketing to build your business a profile.

Financial Demands

The financial demands of your business are going to make a big difference in the way that you’re able to run your business. All of a sudden you’re not so much struggling for money, but struggling to manage the money and figuring out where it should be distributed. All we can say is to relax and take your time figuring it out.

Your first plan isn’t going to be your final plan, and you’ll often find that your financial plan has to be tweaked along the way so that you adapt to your business’s needs. The largest part of your distribution should be to production, then marketing, then whatever else is a priority within your business. Last should be your own pocket! Always make sure that you’re consulting a financial advisor before making any big decisions. Everything that you do with your budget is going to influence the way that you run your business.

Personal Demands

The personal demands seem to be what business owners seem to forget about. We’re so focused on our growing business that we don’t realize what it’s doing to our bodies and minds. Burnouts can happen pretty quickly, so make sure that you’re giving yourself time in the week to have personal time. To clear your mind and truly relax. It’s one of the best ways to keep your mind clear and focused is to switch off from work and forget about it all, even if it just be for 30 minutes a day whilst you’re on a run.

Top Things Your Business Needs To Succeed

Financial and operational success are two of the most important goals for any business owner. You don’t put your time, money, and sanity into a business idea with the hope that it will be a failure, right? Well, that means that you need to get your head down and start to consider the things that your business needs the most to be well received by the audience you’re aiming for, despite how boring and laborious those tasks may be.

You want a solid business foundation, a strong support system, effective marketing campaigns, and a superior IT strategy to ensure that you can input the ideas that mean the most to you and your business bottom-line. So, that means that you need to know exactly what will make sense for your business to be a successful one and thrive in the future. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the items things that your new business needs to grow and succeed.

Cash on Hand. Let’s be honest, without hard cash or some type of financial reserve, you’re not getting anywhere fast! A lot of small business owners fail at money management, though, so while it feels like something that should be common sense, you’d be surprised at how many entrepreneurs aren't sorting and spending their business funds properly. In many instances, they spend more than they earn and lack a fundamental understanding of bookkeeping and how to balance a budget. So the lesson here is to know what your finance options are, and make sure that you are always prepared for challenges or economic downturns. Keeping at least $5K in reserve in the bank can help weather unpredictable challenges.

Marketing Strategy. When it comes to investing in marketing, digital advertising, PR, or social media strategy development and execution, most small business owners and entrepreneurs view it as another expense or something that they’ll only invest in when they get time, or after they’ve launched other important initiatives. However, for your business to stand out against your competition and build your brand, you need to invest in a diverse array of marketing activities. Marketing can be complex and difficult if you don’t have the skills, knowledge, or experience to develop and implement such strategies.

Fortunately, you don’t have to do it alone. You can partner with a digital marketing agency or publicity firm that will help guide you throughout your marketing journey. A strong agency partner will develop your short and long-term strategies and execute those tactics. This means that you’ll still have enough time to handle the other essential business processes and operations. As an aside note, we usually tell clients they should allocate seven percent of their net revenue to spend on marketing for the year.

Strong and Supportive Staff. You may be the brains and leader of the operation, but without knowledgeable and experienced staff, your business is not going anywhere. You need people—good people at that—to help you to run each department of your business. You cannot be successful without a strong team working in the right positions, and so you need to take the time to interview the right candidates. Once you determine right people for the right positions and onboard them, then, you need to support them in any way they need! You also need to think outside the box and outsource some of your tasks to experts, and you can see more information here about who you could need. It’s important to research your options so that you get the best of the best every single time.

The Right Tools and Equipment. You cannot operate successfully without the right equipment, resources, and tools, so take as much advice as possible about what you need in terms of technology, furniture, marketing materials, and everything else that your business could require to keep running and growing. Conducting the right research is key, and you can be ahead of the game simply by knowing you are using the right tools to run your business correctly. Don’t be fooled that all you need is a laptop and yourself—it’s so much more than that! This is especially true if you’re selling products as you need to maintain inventory, fulfillment, and many other operations.

Excellent Mentors and Coaches. Your staff is an excellent support system for you—you know that already, but starting and running a business is HARD work. You need cheerleaders—a strong support structure to keep YOU motivated and inspired to weather the tough and unpredictable times. Every business experiences it.

While you’re over there motivating everyone else on your team, you need to ensure that you also have the motivation to keep going yourself. Don’t be fooled about what you think you may need, and instead invest in what you know you will need. Personal cheerleaders are a must, but maybe with fewer pom-poms.

Your business can be a success if you’re focused and input what you need the most. Don’t be afraid!

Digitizing Your Business Methods Effectively

Starting up a business from nothing is a daunting process. You go through so many stages from the planning and foundation side of things to the implementation and sales. Many people can find that as entrepreneurs they can be a little “old school” with their methods.

For many that involves keeping physical copies of things and using a good old fashioned notebook, diary, and pen. However, with technology advancing all of the time, you need to digitize many elements of your business. So which areas should you focus on? Here are some of the business methods that you can focus on digitizing to help your company and ideas thrive now and in the future.

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Your website and online shop

A website is likely to be a standardized element of your business, and with people using the internet hourly for information, social aspects or for business, it is one of your biggest assets. Giving your website the option of a shop can also enhance your capability for business as this makes transactions within your business far easier for the consumer. In terms of how it benefits your business in other ways, a website and online shop will allow you to keep digitized records of sales strategies and stock levels. Allowing you to plan and be forward thinking for new campaigns. 

Using the cloud 

The cloud, in its basic terms, is a centralized location on the internet that stores data. For a business there is huge value in using it. Gone are the days where you have filing systems from floor to ceiling filled with paperwork. You can now easily transfer the data to a digital copy, and then store it in the cloud. There are many different cloud services options you can use.

However, the main benefit is a reduction in costs, it's easy to use and accessible for those that need it, while giving your business and employees flexibility. Last of all it helps to encourage automation within your business practices. 

Customer management and service

It is important to recognise that the way you handle and manage your customers can also be digitized. With the introduction of customer relationship management systems, allowing you to keep records of purchase history and notes to help add value to customer conversations, can help your business to thrive when it comes to the customer service side of things.

Email communication where G Suite for business productivity could help enhance this area might be the answer. Instead of letters, using email or even text messaging services for simple and up to date information regarding updates can help to improve the level of service you provide. 

Being present online and humanizing your social media

Finally, social media is such a big part of business these days and can be arguably one of the biggest contenders when it comes to your marketing campaigns. However, with every other business focusing on it, you need to ensure that your social media strategy and content plan stands out from the crowd.

This is when humanizing your business and social media can be a huge asset. You can offer up insights using other tools within the platform, play around with video and imagery. The old practice of people buying from people does still exist today, so it is important to add an element of that in an online world. 

Let’s hope this has helped you to consider what methods to change within your business.

All You Need To Know About Starting A Home-Based Business

By Amy Collett

Working from home is a dream for thousands of people, but making that dream a concrete reality is one of the most daunting things you will ever do. After all, it takes a lot of guts to let go of the safety net of a steady paycheck to work for yourself, but the rewards are well worth the risks. Running your own home-based business gives you flexibility, control, and incredible job satisfaction, but getting started can be the hardest part. That is why we’ve compiled everything you need to know to finally take that step and answered some of your most burning questions. 

Where Do I Start? 

There’s not one correct place to start when setting up your home-based business, but your website and social media presence is a good place to start. If you don’t have any experience with building a website, don’t worry: it’s not nearly as intimidating or expensive as you would imagine.

Essentially, you will need a domain (the name of your website) and a web hosting provider. Both are usually available through web building services, and doing everything in one place is better if you are a beginner who is making a simple website. Modern web builders feature intuitive, easy-to-use, drag-and-drop interfaces, allowing anyone to put together a good-looking website with little to no design experience. Check out this detailed guide to web builders to help you choose the best one for you.

Think about what your website needs, and try to keep it simple to start with - an “about me” section, portfolio, and contact page are usually enough. Then, consider which social media platforms you want to be on. Doing something visual? Instagram is a must. Showing off your way with words? Keep a witty and engaging Twitter feed.

Make sure you regularly set aside time to maintain your online presence. Don’t worry if you don’t have anything to show off on your website or social media yet. Just setting the processes in place and having these ready for when you do will save you loads of work down the line. Online tools like Later (which allows you to schedule Instagram posts on a calendar) and IFTTT (which can help you update multiple platforms at the same time) can be a huge help.

How Do I Start Getting Clients?

This is probably the biggest question for most budding freelancers and entrepreneurs, and the answer is that it depends. If you already have an established network in your area due to past jobs, then this part can be easier for you. Reach out to any contacts that could be interested in your services, and let them know what you can do. Even if you don’t have an extensive list of professional contacts, you can start by reaching out to friends and family members to get the ball rolling.

 If you are freelancing, you may find online platforms like People Per Hour or Upwork extremely useful for getting your first clients. However, bear in mind that the jobs listed on these portals are not likely to be high-paying ones and that you will be competing with people from all over the world who can afford to request lower rates. If you do choose to use these services, make sure you take your time setting up an attractive profile and writing careful, tailored bids for work. 

Finally, you have the option of cold pitching. While this can lead to great opportunities, it does come with its challenges - think about how many unrequested marketing emails you receive at work or in your personal inbox that you actually read and pay attention to. Make sure any emails you send are personalized and engaging, and always try to find a specific email address on LinkedIn rather than a generic “Contact Us” one. This guide to cold emailing by the Harvard Business Review is a good place to start.

 What Should I Charge?

Again, it depends. It depends on the work you do, your level of experience, and your ongoing expenses. Take some time to look up the average rates for your area as well as the different ways you can charge for your work. For example, writing work can be paid per word, per piece, per hour, or per day. Consultancy rates can be hourly, daily, or weekly.

It is a good idea to set your ideal rate for each of these methods, as this gives you a starting point for negotiations. Be realistic - you won’t be able to charge high rates if you are a beginner with a small portfolio. However, you should also be able to take pride in your work, so know how low you are willing to go. One option is to offer different rates based on the complexity of different clients’ work and their budgets, and then establish a set rate based on what seems to work for the majority of them. Using an invoice app (Square Point of Sale is a popular option, and it’s free) will help you keep track of what you’re charging everyone and which rate(s) are the most widely accepted among your clientele.

Finally, many business owners just starting out wonder if they should accept “experience” as compensation in the beginning of their new venture. The question of whether to offer free or extremely cheap work during the start of your career is a difficult one, and it comes down to personal choice. Some people believe it cheapens their work and can lead to being trapped with low-quality clients, while others swear by it as a way to build experience. It’s best to take this on a case-by-case basis - for example, this list by Forbes outlines four times in which it’s a good idea to take on work for free.

How Do I Stay Productive?

One of the hardest parts of running a home-based business is staying productive. After all, home is where you relax, and there are endless potential distractions lurking around every corner. Being your own boss is all fun and games until you realize that you have to monitor and motivate yourself.

First of all, focus on properly setting up your home office. Working from your bed or the dining room table is an attractive option (and you can always do that occasionally), but you need a desk with a proper work area to get your head in the right space for productivity. If you don’t have a separate room to turn into an office, then a partitioned corner of any room can work. The important thing is that it has everything you need to be productive and that it feels separate from your home life. 

Technology is a great ally to the home worker, so use it to be as productive as possible. There are apps that can streamline your invoicing, web extensions that can block certain websites (we’re looking at you, Facebook) and thousands of online playlists filled with music to promote focus and concentration.

On the other hand, you can consider outsourcing your work or contracting it to people outside of your main business. When working with remote contractors or freelances scattered across the world, you need to know how you will pay them in the most cost-efficient manner. The best and most affordable way is by using electronic payment platforms, which can allow you to send money to the UK and other countries throughout the world.

Now that you know the basics, it’s time to start putting your plan into action. Don’t worry - anyone who has ever started a business has been slightly terrified, but the truth is that millions of people have fulfilling, prosperous careers working from home. With some planning, organization, initiative, and motivation, you can join them and have the business you always wanted.