7 Important Tips for New Business Owners

Are you tired of answering to a terrible boss? Have you always dreamed of dropping your 9-5 to pursue your passions? If you have a good business idea in your head, you can turn your ambitions into reality.

Don’t set your expectations too high, however. Almost 20% of all startups fail within the first year.

If you’re going to be successful, it’s going to take a lot of hard work and determination. Business owners also need to polish their organizational skills and learn to listen to customer feedback even when it’s something that they don’t want to hear.

These are only a few pointers that will help get you by. Check out this guide to learn more.

Table of Contents

Keep Your 9-5 (For Now)

Once you make the decision to become your own boss, the temptation to quit your 9-5 right away will become pretty strong. There are a few reasons why you should resist that temptation.

It will take a while before you’re able to get your startup off the ground. Unless you have money in your savings account, you may find paying bills to be a bit difficult.

If you’re dependent on the money coming in from your business, you’ll be more focused on how you can make a profit than being creative and taking risks. You’ll be so busy trying to make a good impression on important clients that you forget to establish a real relationship with them.

Organization Is Key

Managing a business gets chaotic if you allow yourself to get disorganized. You’re going to have a ton of tasks that you have to get done. Losing your paperwork won’t help you do that.

If you find yourself getting overwhelmed, invest in management software. Having it will allow you to delegate tasks to your employees, set deadlines, and share documents with your entire staff.

For tax purposes, you’ll have to keep detailed financial records. Hold on to all your receipts and invoices.

While you can keep track of a lot of your business operations by hand, it’s recommended that you automate as much as you can. It will keep you organized and eliminate the risk of human error.

Hire a Strong Team

Your company is only as strong as the people who help you run it. You need to hire top-notch staff members who share your goals and ideals.

Bring people on board who can get excited about the possibility of working for a successful startup. If they’re just looking for a job for the money, they’re not going to like the unstable nature of working for a brand-new company.

Look at a candidate’s skill set and qualifications to assign them to the best roles for them. Ask customized questions that have to do with the job rather than paying too much attention to canned cover letters.

Be Prepared for the Hours

Many small business owners are thrown off guard by the amount of responsibility and work they have to contend with when starting their companies.

It can be a lot to juggle if you’ve decided not to quit your 9-5. Until things settle, you’re going to be working well over 60 hours a week.

Be Flexible

running a business is all a big game of trial and error. You may try out a pricing system or product that your customers hate.

Instead of being stubborn about your vision, be willing to make changes according to feedback that you get from potential clients.

If your website isn’t getting a lot of attention, you may need to take the plunge and bring in a designer. They can help, but you’ll have to be willing to listen to their ideas.

Speaking of ideas, if one of your employees has one that might help improve your business, hear them out.

Study Your Competitors

Many of your competitors are successful for a reason. There’s something they’re doing that’s working for them.

While you shouldn’t copy their exact marketing strategy, there’s nothing wrong with getting a little inspiration from them. On top of getting a lot of great marketing ideas, you’ll also learn how you stand out from them and be able to advertise yourself accordingly.

Market Yourself

The first step towards marketing yourself is to have a social media page. You can use it to promote new products and boost events that your company is part of. If you include a link to your site on your profile page, you’ll increase your web traffic.

Once your social media page is up, it’s time to work on your website. The more popups and widgets you use, the slower your site is going to run. Keep things simple for the ultimate in page speed.

Optimize for SEO with killer blog content and competitive keywords that pop. If you’re not sure where to start, talk to a search engine optimization company. Allow customers to get in touch with you at all hours of the day with messaging apps and chats.

Use online analytics tools to keep a constant eye on the performance of your social media posts and site.

Having restroom signs, braille ada signs, door signage, and window ads will attract people to your brick-and-mortar store. Participate in community-wide events and trade shows.