How to beat the Up-Hill battle of Starting a Business!

Usually a business starts as an idea. As the idea matures the “business” can take the form of a service or a product. Once that service or product is perfected, you begin offering it to your acquaintances and friends, who after having tried what you’re offering, will then recommend you to others.

This is very much an uphill battle, but to be successful it is imperative to make it to the top. Unfortunately, many small businesses really never quite make it, or worse they may make it part of the way only to get stuck.

But, how can you avoid getting stuck? In this article, we are going to take a look at a few areas that are imperative to improve on so as to keep sufficient momentum and have a successful business.

The “Perfect” Product

Even though your initial idea is great and ingenious, that doesn’t mean that its “perfect”, per se. In fact, this is probably one of the tedious and nerve racking steps of opening a business, but no matter how good your product or service is the day your open your doors, it can be better and it is important to keep that fact in mind.

So, what can you do? One thing is to periodically make sure to get feedback from your clients, so that they tell you the good, the bad and the ugly about your company and the service or products you sell. Then make sure that you implement the improvements that were suggested by your paying customers/clients and maintain the same level of excellence that you have always had.

Ideal Client

As everyone knows, that first client is – mission critical! By no means is it a simple task either, many business owners know very well that most likely to get your first client you’ll have to bend over backwards to do so.

Just don’t let that euphoria go to your head. Your initial clients are very important in giving that initial feedback with which you’ll be able to grow your business.

They will also set the pattern for you on how you initialize and close client engagement. Also, within that first handful of clients that you’ll get it will be important to identify common denominators between them so that you can identify your ideal client and the channels that you have to access them.

So what can you do? As a recommendation, try to document as best as possible the ways that you were able to reach and acquire those new clients. For example, don’t ever feel uncomfortable asking about how someone heard about your business, or about why they chose you. This type of information is critical to have and consistently update.

Doing the Books

Unfortunately, many business owners worry about their accounting only between the months of March and April. This is definitely a BAD IDEA!

Why? Because it doesn’t matter how many clients you have or how good your product is, if you don’t know how financially sound your business is – failure is a certainty. What’s worse is that many times business owners fall into this mistake and don’t even realize it! Sometimes, they only realize it when it’s too late.

What are some points that need to be taken care of?

• How much does your service or product cost you?
• Are you overselling or underselling?
• What does your cash flow look like?

All of these questions represent to business owners the vitals of their business that need to be periodically checked up on.

Now if you don’t know the answers to these questions then be careful, because you can easily become less competitive by unnecessarily overcharging your clients, not profitable by not managing your costs or worse you could be self-financing your business if you’re not keeping tabs on cash flow.

If you haven’t already, try putting into practice a few of these aforementioned tips, or at the least keep them in mind in the upcoming months. Keep track of your cash flow and make sure that your accounting is accurate enough to assist you in having this information at hand.

Since 1995 we have provided accounting and tax services to our clients. If you would like assistance in any of these areas or would like us to help you grow your business, then feel free to contact us HERE, no obligations.