Do you want to start a business, or are you in the start-up phase? If so, here are 15 little tips, things to do or not to do, which will certainly be of great help to you in the development of your business. **
IDENTIFY POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS BEFORE YOU START
Before you start a business, be sure to gather hot prospects who say they want to become your company’s first customers. Collect a good quantity, even if it means making a waiting list, and place them in an autoresponder in order to communicate with them super quickly. However, be careful. Unless the contract has already been signed, don’t rely 100% on their good word. Many may change their minds along the way. As long as the money is not in your bank account, there is no guarantee that it will actually be.
LOOK FOR A GOOD ACCOUNTANT
One of the black spots of a new entrepreneur is finance. You must ensure that you do your bookkeeping, tax returns, etc. correctly. Ideally, you should be able to find a good accountant in your field of activity. He or she can then help you much more by giving you valuable tips. How to invoice, make your provisions, the state of the market, and it could even refer you to potential customers and reveal secrets you hadn’t even thought of. For example, did you know that the creation of a website can be 100% refunded when the tax is returned? If you didn’t know, talk to your accountant!
NETWORK WITH OTHERS
The worst thing an entrepreneur can do is to isolate himself and stay alone in his corner. You need to surround yourself with as many people as possible. May as many people as possible know you. It’s the best way to word of mouth, promote your business and therefore find your first customers.
TO GET USED TO ITS COMPETITORS
Don’t think that your competitors represent the dark side of force and that they should be avoided at all costs. They can be of great help to you. For example, they can share their experiences, give you advice and even support mandates with you! This could greatly help your cash flow.
VISIT A HELP CENTRE DEDICATED TO START-UP COMPANIES
If you are in Quebec, consider seeing a Local Development Centre (CLD). They are mandated by the government to help you create your business free of charge under the best possible conditions. For example, they can help you write your business plan, do your market research, your financial forecasts, invite you to networking activities, training, etc. And all this for free
HAVE SAVINGS
Don’t go into business without a penny in your pocket. The first few months or years will be extremely difficult and chances are you will do several months without an income. It is therefore important to have a treasure aside to be able to hold on during difficult times and especially to be able to invest in promotion in order to acquire your first customers.
ASK YOURSELF THE RIGHT QUESTIONS
The life of an entrepreneur is far from rosy. It is often very difficult. So, before starting your business, think about asking yourself the right questions to prepare yourself as well as possible and be sure you have made the right decisions.
BE PRESENT EVERYWHERE
One of the keys to success is to have a lot of traffic to your company. To do this, it is necessary to create a presence at all possible strategic locations. Web site, social networks, press releases, directories, search engines, ad ads, YouTube and others, etc. However, be careful. Each new space you create will have to be continually updated so as not to give a false image of your company, give the impression that you are no longer in business and thus lose great business opportunities. Managing each virtual or real space requires a considerable amount of time. We must therefore carefully analyze the pros and cons to ensure that it is really relevant.
INVEST IN MARKETING
Advertise all the time, all the time, all the time, all the time! When finances go wrong, cut where you can, but increase your marketing budget! Promoting your company is vital. If you don’t have enough new customers and you reduce your marketing budget, you will decrease your chances of getting new customers. On the contrary, you need to invest more in promotion in order to acquire new customers to relaunch your business.
LOOK FOR PARTNERS
Ask yourself which sector of activity is complementary to yours and vice versa. For example, if you hold conferences, event agencies, press relations officers, audiovisual agencies could very well join forces with you. You can bring them visibility and new customers and them as well. In addition, you will share your network of contacts, which will be extremely beneficial for your companies.
TALK TO PEOPLE AROUND YOU
Talk about your company, your products, your services, your anecdotes, all the time around you. To your family, friends, strangers, partners, entrepreneurs, customers, as many people as possible. By constantly talking about you, your family and friends will know exactly what you are doing, that you are still active and therefore they will not hesitate to refer you as soon as possible. Of course, talking about yourself as much as possible does not mean harassing others:)
RECRUIT SUBCONTRACTORS
If you perform all the tasks by yourself, you will quickly be blocked by your human limitations. It will be impossible for you to generate more revenue, acquire more customers and produce more. The reason for this is that you only have 2 hands and there are only 24 hours in a day. In order to develop your business quickly, you will need to delegate tasks as quickly as possible. The more your production capacity increases, the more your income will increase if demand also follows. In any case, create a list of subcontractors to contact to relieve yourself on days when you will be overloaded.
FIND FUNDING
There are several funds available to help start-ups. There are loans, grants, prizes offered in various competitions, fundraising activities, donors, business angels and others. Find out about all the opportunities available and raise as much money as you can. This will allow you, for example, to subsidize your promotional campaign or to hold in times of crisis.
DEFINE THE LIMITS OF YOUR PROFESSIONAL AND PERSONAL LIFE
At first you will certainly be tempted to work 18 hours a day. Morning and evening non-stop. Bad idea! You need to get off the hook, breathe and have a social life. You will perform much better by having activities other than work. Your performance depends directly on your balance in life. In addition, think about your family life or your future family life. If you develop bad habits early on, it will be very difficult to change later.
ACQUIRE GOOD ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS
Finally, surround yourself with different software that will help you manage your business. For example, you will need an application to manage
your working time
your invoicing
your finances
your documents
your important notes and information
And many others
Do you have other tips to prepare the creation of your company in good conditions?
