For the most part, people running their own small business are practitioners of their chosen vocation. They feel comfortable doing their own thing and are more often then not, extremely good at it.
Many are small family run concerns that have over the years, built up an excellent customer base. Their hard work, determination and commitment is eventually paying dividends.
In todays modern super fast, no time for anything world, anything that saves time is seized with great gusto. Supermarkets have now taken it upon themselves to offer such an extensive range of goods that shoppers virtually don’t need to go anywhere else.
It is sadly the same with industry, there are the giants who corner their particular market making it very difficult for anyone else to get their foot in the door. Being so large and powerful means that they have been there, done that, got the tie and seen off all comers along the way.
Many people over the years have followed their dream to be their own boss, and started up their own business. This in itself is admirable, it takes a certain type of person to have the confidence and self belief that they can go it alone.
It is a big old world out there, and there are a million and one things that can go wrong if you are not careful. The little guy tends to find it harder to break into a market when they are just starting out.
Many people dream of starting their own business. Even just the idea of it paints an idyllic picture, where you can finally choose your own career path, and follow it to success.
This isn’t unrealistic – if you make the right choices you can achieve a fantastic level of success, however you might define it. But if you imagine it’s going to be easy, you will be in for a rude awakening when you discover you’re not making money as quickly as you may have imagined.
Maybe you’re in that situation now. Looking through bills, statements and invoices, you might well be wondering where all your money is going, and how you can avoid losing money quarter after quarter.
As a small business owner, one of the things you have to think about is the premises out of which you operate.
While some businesses rent their office, shop, or wherever, others own it outright. Generally businesses transition from renting to buying once they reach a certain size, but is that right for everyone? And at what point does a small business become big enough to take this particular step?
If you’re currently renting your premises, it could be that that’s the best deal for you right now. If you’re thinking of your future however and want more security and long-term benefits than renting affords, then you may want to think about buying your own office, warehouse, retail unit or whatever kind of property it may be, to own outright.
Remember The Milk Widget (Photo credit: Johan Larsson)
Running a small business doesn’t have to mean being chained to your desk, or even carrying your laptop everywhere you go.
It all depends on what it is you do, of course, but you might be surprised to find just how much of the day to day work you can carry out on a smartphone.
You probably wouldn’t rely entirely on the phone. There’s no point in needlessly restricting yourself, and you should invest in the tools you need. But with the right apps, you can carry out a certain amount of work on the bus, in a queue, at home or in bed.
And while the line between work and leisure time should remain clear, you might find you can clear your schedule for more of your core business by getting admin and organisational tasks out of the way whenever you have a few minutes spare.
biscuit cutters (Photo credit: hunting.glee)
There are a lot of questions surrounding the design and presence of your startup’s website, and those questions should be at the forefront of your mind as you go about getting your business up and running.
Website templates are available fairly cheaply – the idea is you just provide the content and stick it into a pre-packaged design. It’s certainly an option that works for some, but we reckon you’ll attain more success in your business if you actually hire a professional web designer.
‘Dilbert’ cartoon, copyright Scott Adams
Startups have reputations of being versatile and free from constraints on employees and the way they work. They’re often thought of as the more fun companies to work for.
And when we think of what we call ‘corporate culture’ – and a lot of different practices and values fall under that name – we generally don’t think of small businesses.
Having said that, a worrying number of startups have policies on the books that actually prove counter-productive – and they probably haven’t even thought about how things could be different.
Empty Market Stalls (Photo credit: daniel.d.slee)
Few things in business are harder than having no customers. It’s especially difficult when you don’t know what it is you’re doing wrong.
It takes a lot of moving parts to make a business thrive, and the fault could lie with any one of them. Broadly though, bosses of backsliding businesses find the problem or series of problems lies in one of two areas.
“moo business cards” (Photo credit: osde8info)
The next steps on the seemingly never ending path to launching your own company are, just like the others, extremely important. Location is probably a good place to start as this really can make or break your fledgling enterprise with surprising speed.
If for example your venture is into the retail market, you want your premises to be in an area where as many people as possible people can see it. Hidden away in a little side street or up an alley means that it may be difficult to find and therefore lose potential customers, walk by traffic.
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