Congratulations – you’ve finally taken the leap and entered the world of entrepreneurship!
Your decision of course was not a haphazard one. It has been the result of thorough research you made on:
- The product or service that you believe will meet the needs and wants of customers in the industry you are entering;
- The potential business from the consumer base you have identified, and will be targeting;
- The competitors already in this field, and an assessment of those who’ve met with successes or failures.
What follows next is knowing how to make your small business succeed. Here are five important keys to nurture your small business to a successful path and long-term future:
- Develop a Marketing Plan
- Making a plan is the first key to success.
- The foundation of good planning is having a clear vision of what you want from this business undertaking.
- You will need to put this down in detail. This means creating and defining the set of goals that will get you there.
- Do your Research.
- Research is not a one-time undertaking. You need to “keep going back to your drawing board” as they say.
- Invest time to better understand and analyze the market and customers that your product will be targeting, and the competition.
- You will then be better able to adopt successful strategies.
- Get Organized.
- Create a system of checklists that will clearly identify your tasks on a daily and periodic basis;
- This system should also be able to monitor stages of accomplishment.
- A well-designed system should provide data that allows you to be “on top of things”, so that you can make wise decisions more efficiently.
- Keep Detailed Records
- Establish a good system of record keeping.
- Always remember that all successful businesses keep detailed records.
- Detailed records will let you know where your business stands.
- This will give you time to respond to and overcome potential challenges.
- Keep two sets of records – physical and digital so you don’t have to worry about losing data.
- Manage finances effectively.
- Cash Flow Management is one important aspect of running a successful small business.
- Every product or service you sell, and the hard work you invest on it must be justified by the profits you gain from the undertaking.
- Always remember that your primary focus in business should be the bottom line.
- Bringing in revenue without the acceptable margin of profits, will ultimately spell trouble.
- It is important to strike the right balance between revenue and costs if you want long-term success.
- One should clearly understand how much money is coming in from sales and other income sources;
- and how much money is going out on expenses such as inventory purchases, utilities, rent, and payroll.
- Following a reasonable budget and regularly monitoring expenses will help ensure that one has enough cash flow available to meet financial obligations.
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When your systems are in place and put into practice, you will be prepared to grow your business from a worker of one (that’s you, the owner), to a business activity with more workers.
Be ready to jump into other important matters to see the success of your small business, such as hiring good people, analyzing your competition, and studying more ways to improve your product or service.
Last but not least, be prepared to face the tough road to success by developing essential work habits. Perseverance, patience, and having a positive mindset are probably the most important of these.