Every business owner and entrepreneur has made a series of mistakes, some more serious than others. These errors will teach you more about running a business than any book or lecture ever could....and its usually something you never forget.
We have collated our top 5 tips for business owners that we have learnt from our own mistakes. Heeding this advice does not mean that your business will never encounter a problem, it just may help with overcoming that problem. After all problems help build a stronger business.
1. Dont fall for your own hot air
Businesses always benefit from a good salesman, but you need to ensure you do not fall for your own sales speak. This means that no matter how good your product or service is, it will never succeed without a push. Don't sit back and think your a winner because you have a good product, you need to get out there and get your business moving.
2. KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid)
Obviously I am not suggesting you are stupid, it just helps for the acronym. However it is a rule which can be applied to so many areas of the business, why not keep it for your ethos. The most important use for this is when you are a start-up, all start-ups are small businesses with a few or less members of staff. Now if you are working on your own, or a team of two...your resources are going to be stretched. You need to know what you do well, and stick to it. Scaling up and adding service come once you are established and have an income
3. Dont expect your financial forecast
Experience has taught us that a financial forecast is a good measure, but it needs flexibility for a small business. When forecasting any financial assumptions for the business, you are a world away from the marketplace and things will often change. We found that attempting to stick to a forecast can be very strenuous. We now recommend that when forecasting for an unknown marketplace, always leave lots of room for leniency and mistake.
4. Plan for growth
It is very rare that you can start a business without funding, and that funding will not typically all come at once. You therefore need to make allowances for the graduation of your business, and the associated costs. No investor or bank will ever part with a blank cheque for you to follow your dreams. You need to make sure that your business plan allows for you to build on a shoestring budget, if you are expecting a large cash injection right off the bat then you have another thing coming.
5. Accept mistakes, then prevent them
No business is perfect, and all businesses will make a mistake. You need to make sure that any mistakes that are encountered, are minimalised. This is mush easier if you make allocations for error, and measures are introduced to ensure it does not happen again. Learning from a mistake is one of the most important factors for a business, just make sure its a controlled mistake.
You can check out the Chipp Thomas blog which has a great page on blogging tools. Alternatively if you are interested in reading around the subject then I would defintely recommend a visit to Squidoo and Hubpages.
We have collated our top 5 tips for business owners that we have learnt from our own mistakes. Heeding this advice does not mean that your business will never encounter a problem, it just may help with overcoming that problem. After all problems help build a stronger business.
1. Dont fall for your own hot air
Businesses always benefit from a good salesman, but you need to ensure you do not fall for your own sales speak. This means that no matter how good your product or service is, it will never succeed without a push. Don't sit back and think your a winner because you have a good product, you need to get out there and get your business moving.
2. KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid)
Obviously I am not suggesting you are stupid, it just helps for the acronym. However it is a rule which can be applied to so many areas of the business, why not keep it for your ethos. The most important use for this is when you are a start-up, all start-ups are small businesses with a few or less members of staff. Now if you are working on your own, or a team of two...your resources are going to be stretched. You need to know what you do well, and stick to it. Scaling up and adding service come once you are established and have an income
3. Dont expect your financial forecast
Experience has taught us that a financial forecast is a good measure, but it needs flexibility for a small business. When forecasting any financial assumptions for the business, you are a world away from the marketplace and things will often change. We found that attempting to stick to a forecast can be very strenuous. We now recommend that when forecasting for an unknown marketplace, always leave lots of room for leniency and mistake.
4. Plan for growth
It is very rare that you can start a business without funding, and that funding will not typically all come at once. You therefore need to make allowances for the graduation of your business, and the associated costs. No investor or bank will ever part with a blank cheque for you to follow your dreams. You need to make sure that your business plan allows for you to build on a shoestring budget, if you are expecting a large cash injection right off the bat then you have another thing coming.
5. Accept mistakes, then prevent them
No business is perfect, and all businesses will make a mistake. You need to make sure that any mistakes that are encountered, are minimalised. This is mush easier if you make allocations for error, and measures are introduced to ensure it does not happen again. Learning from a mistake is one of the most important factors for a business, just make sure its a controlled mistake.
You can check out the Chipp Thomas blog which has a great page on blogging tools. Alternatively if you are interested in reading around the subject then I would defintely recommend a visit to Squidoo and Hubpages.
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