Anyone can start a business. You just need to fill out the correct form, get the license and permits, offer the correct services, and bam, you become an entrepreneur. But keeping the profitable business afloat and profiting from it turns out to be much more difficult as time passes by.
The hardships that come along, the stress, the responsibility, just about everything you can think about could potentially destroy your business. Something that you think is very small or irrelevant could prove to be a big boulder coming in the way of your business’s success.
Especially since the start of the worldwide pandemic, businesses have been failing. Employees that have been working with the company for years are getting slacked. Unemployment is increasing. Most employees are now turning to start their own business. But how do you keep this business still working after, say, two years?
Things to keep in mind while starting a new business
Understand the current market scenario
Before starting a business, it is of utmost importance to study the market. You need to have a concrete idea of who your target audience is. You need to understand the market needs and requirements, the general demand of a product, the current market trends, etc. Finding out all these before actually starting the business will give you an insight into what you need to provide to the consumer.
Other than these, you also need to focus on your 4 Ps: product, price, promotion, and place. It essentially gives the answers to what kind of product you are selling, at what price are you selling it and is it the same as that in the market, how are you promoting these products to reach the maximum customers possible, and where are you selling it.
Plan before you start
Once you have understood the market and decided on the product/service you want to sell, it is now time to plan how to start it. You need proper investors, a workable strategy, insights on promoting your products and services, links to professionals who can help you on your endeavour, etc. It is not enough to simply write down your goals. You need proper research on how to achieve these goals.
Start Small
The most common mistake that many people who have just left a job make is getting a place, building an office, hiring staff, etc., but you don’t need that when you have just started. You need to save your resources and put them to use correctly. You don’t need an office; you can start online work from home. And when your home gets too small, that is when you should think about getting an office.
Most people fail to understand this and waste most of the investment in creating the infrastructure. And when they have to buy the equipment or anything else that is very important for their business, they don’t have any money. So start small, start from your home or garage or attic. And when the time comes, you can expand.
Don’t get stuck on your mistakes
Everyone makes mistakes. There will be times when you have made some big mess that you think you can’t get out of. It’s ok. Don’t stress. Start thinking about how you can remedy that. Don’t get stuck on the loss. Think about how to overcome it. Learn from the mistake and move on. Don’t try to play the blame game.
Learn from others mistakes
Always learn from others’ mistakes. Other than that, make sure to find good mentors who would guide you. Learn from like-minded people and experts in your field. Attend conferences and gain reviews on your work from others with experience. This will save you a lot of money that could be wasted in trial & error.
Keep a record
Always keep a record of what you are doing. Take notes of all your clients’ responses. These notes will help you in the longer run. Take detailed reports of whatever you do, and all the advice people give you. You never know what will come of use in a crisis.
Hire small but hire correct
When you require a team, make sure to hire the correct people if you require one. Don’t hire a big team. Hire a small team and make sure that they work efficiently. Also, make sure to give your staff incentives. This motivates people to work harder and better, and more efficiently.
Get to know the investors
If you need investors for your business:
- Do whatever you can to find what the investors expect and what they are looking for.
- Try to find out where you can find these investors.
- Keep an industry pitch ready to present it to them whenever you could get the opportunity.
Go digital
Since the pandemic started, digital marketing has seen a boom. All digital businesses are getting more and more customers, and the business is booming. Even if your business is more on the physical side, it is always better to create a digital platform. A place where there is s detailed information of what you do, your products and services, and how to contact you. This will help you gain more customers as well as keep a record of your customer feedback.
Keep yourself open to new ideas
Trends in the world are often changing it we have to change our business strategies according to these trends. It is of utmost importance to keep an open ear to new ideas that might help your business grow.
Never stop learning
What is popular today may not be popular in 4 to 5 years from today. If, say, you are into coding, there are always new languages that keep coming into the market that is better than the existing ones. In such a case, if your customer asks you to use the new language, you may not be in a position to tell them no. in such a case, you will have to learn this new language to keep up with the ever-changing world.
Tips and tricks to increase your business
Understand risks and rewards before taking them
We always hear that a business booms by taking risks. Well, that is not completely true. Yes, you do need to take risks but not without calculating the rewards that you might gain if you take the risk. Without this calculation, the risk might become too risky, essentially getting your business into a large debt.
Stay focused
Just because you have started a business doesn’t mean that you will start gaining customers as soon as you start. You have to be patient. You have to stay focused on your short-term goals and bettering your services. Don’t waiver and give up.
Make sacrifices
We might have all heard that to gain something, you must lose something, and it is true. If you want to make your business successful, you will have to sacrifice your leisure and cut up your free time. In many situations, you won’t even have time to meet your family and friends. You are making a successful business means you have to work much harder than you would have you been working for someone else.
Be organized
Organizing your tasks on the basis of their importance and the time they require will help you achieve more and not waiver from the track. It will help you stay focused and will ensure that you do everything without missing anything important.
Be consistent
You have to be consistent if you want to make money in your field of business. You have to make sure that everything is in line and that nothing is being taken for granted. You have to keep working hard and efficiently.
Be creative
Always look for ways to improve your business. Try different things to make yourself better than your competition. Be open to new ideas and accept that you don’t know everything. Because only then will you be able to grow
Focus on your customers
The customers are what makes your business successful. So don’t neglect them. Ask for their feedback ask what could be done to better yourself. If a customer complains about a certain service or product, don’t let it slide. Today it might be just one, but you never know when that one might turn to a hundred or thousand or even more.
Be open to criticism
Don’t let criticism get a negative hold on you. Use it to make yourself better. Constructive criticism is the best way to improve your game and get ahead of your competitor.
Cultivate trust
Trust is an essential part of all relationships. Whether it be consumer-seller, employer-employee, or between colleagues, if there is trust in the foundation of your relationship with your employees as well as your consumers, it will benefit your business and help you in a time of crisis.
Keep your business afloat in a time of crisis
Give Customer incentives
Things like sales, discounts, offers on your products and services can gain you more customers and improve your sales. In a time of crisis, improving your sales and creating a strong customer base should be your main focus, and giving incentives to the customers is the best way to do so.
Refine your team
Refining your team doesn’t necessarily mean cutting down and letting half of the members go. In certain situations, it could, but refining means rectifying your team’s mistakes and helping all your members to work efficiently and to their full capacity.
Create a better strategy
Oftentimes, a strategically planned event could help you from losing your face in the market. A properly planned strategy to help your business can lead you to a bigger and brighter future.
Reach out to your customers
Knowing why customers don’t prefer your product/service could help you to improve as well as grow your business. Reaching out to your customers, asking for their grievances, and why they didn’t choose your company’s business/service will help you understand what you lack and where you are yet to cover more ground.
Make contact with the market practices & investors
Several businesses often fail because they aren’t ready to change their traditional means and adopt the newer trends of the market. Another reason for the business’s failure could be because they lose investors. In such a case, reach out to the investors to understand why they took their investment back.
Improve your budget
Cut down all the extra and unneeded expenses that your company is doing. Invest in funds and limit personal expenses. This could help the company improve and save you money to put in important places.
Implement an effective growth strategy
The strategy that you implement must be effective and of use in the longer run. There are hundreds of marketing strategies that out there but using one that suits your requirements and suits your style of business is important. By doing so, you ensure that you don’t lose your identity, what you are known for, what you stand for.
What are the most profitable businesses that you could start today?
Health and Beauty Business
In times of the pandemic, health products like sanitizers and soaps have flourished, and since then, carrying sanitizers around has become a necessity. Along with this, beauty products like makeup, face creams, etc., having bacteria-killing properties and are mask-proof, are being used more.
Selling handmade products
Handmade products often generate more revenue compared to machine-made products because of the time and labour that goes behind them. They are also more authentic and have a human touch that is not there in machine-made goods, making them more costly. So if you are a creative person who likes making small things, try selling these products.
Selling digital products
Digital products like coaching classes, short courses, e-books, music, etc., have seen a sudden boom because purchasing these products is risk-free and keeps you safe.
Becoming a freelancer
With the rise in work-from-home culture, freelancing has become a way to earn for thousands. You are being a freelancer means being your boss and working whenever and wherever you want. Freelancing could mean SEO, web designing, app development, etc.
This is time-consuming as it takes time to gain enough followers to turn your likes and comments into cash, but once you cross that threshold, money flow becomes very easy and fast. So if you are doing a part-time job that you don’t particularly enjoy or something, try becoming an influencer.
This again is time-consuming and might not be for everyone because the ability to put your thoughts into words is often difficult for people. But if you can do so, you should try becoming a self-published author.
Finding the Right Business that suits you
Whether you become a web designer or are a tech genius, whether you are into beauty modification or are better at writing should be the deciding factor of what business you start. You must do something that you love doing and are good at. If that factor isn’t present, your business is bound to fail. So before starting a business, make sure that you are going into the field because you like it and not just because of the profits that it presents. Choose wisely and after putting a lot of thought.
