Top Tips
My 10 Top Tips for Business Start Up Success
I started out in business at the age of 24 with nothing much more than an idea and a telephone! Over the years I've worked with many start up businesses, as well as developing my own, and here are the key things that I've learned it's really essential to get right from day one if you want your business to have the best chance of becoming a success.
Do It On Your Own
On the face of it, it's so much less scary to start up in business with your husband, your best friend or perhaps a work colleague. However, beware that the stress of starting a business will soon take a huge toll on your relationship. You will soon find that more time and energy is spent complaining about your partner and how frustrated you have become with them than is actually spent on progressing the business.
If you must go into business with a partner a) ensure you have a watertight partnership agreement which states how you will address all issues should things go wrong, and b) be really clear from the outset whose responsibilities lie where, and if there are actions whose responsibility it is to perform them - and by what date.
Follow Your Passion
So many people go into business with the idea that they just want to make money. Frequently these people are doomed to failure. Successful business is much more about giving rather than taking - giving great products, fantastic services, unforgettable experiences. If you give people great value then they will buy into your business. There is no bigger turnoff than a business just trying to make a fast buck - and even if you fall victim to one, you can be sure you'll never spend money with them again.
Dare to be Different
It's so tempting to start out in business by looking at what everyone else is doing and trying to do things the same. However, the safe middle territory in almost every sector is already crowded with established players - meaning you will find it incredibly difficult to break through. So by all means look at what everyone else is doing - and then ask yourself whether you could do it in a dramatically different and innovative new way? It is almost always better to wow a small niche of customers with a brilliant product than try to be all things to all people.
Strong Brands Sell
In virtually all marketing situations you have less than 10 seconds to stop a potential customer in their tracks and respond to your offering. A strong attention grabbing brand - which has the potential to become instantly recognisable - is the quickest, fastest way to build your business and guarantee success. So it is vital that you spend time at the start of your process asking yourself what your brand values are, what the character and personality of your brand will be - and then ensuring consistency in the image you portray at every single customer touch point.
Focus on Sales Sales Sales
It's very easy at the start of a business to get caught up in administration and infrastructure - desks, chairs, offices, letterhead, staff, signage. However, spending money requires very little talent and is the easiest thing in the world to do. It's far more difficult to make it. So you will help your prospects of success greatly if you focus all your time on sales sales sales. When a business has sales almost every other aspect of the business can easily be sorted out - whether it's finance or accounting or logistics. But without sales you don't have the business!
Find Creative Ways to Raise Finance
So many people came into the Dragons' Den asking for seed funding who didn't actually need any investment at all! There are almost always much more creative and effective ways to finance your business than by giving away a huge slice of equity upfront. Even if you only have a concept or a prototype it's still possible to go out and get a deal off the back of it - which you can then trade finance. And frequently you'll be able to find entrepreneurial suppliers who will give you early support or long credit terms to help you on your way. Banks are probably the worst places to seek support as they are probably the most risk averse of financial institutions. But there are a whole raft of other specialist lenders out there hungry for your business. The key thing you need to demonstrate is that you have contracts and deals with proven value. Which, again, is where sales come in. Outsource all your key support services until you have revenue streams to bring them in-house; start your business on a shoestring from home if you can and keep your overhead as low as possible - until the cash starts flowing to justify any extra expenditure.
Your Customers Are Your Biggest Marketing Department
At Red Letter Days, no matter how much advertising we did and no matter how much money we threw at various forms of marketing, even in the years when we had TV ad campaigns running, over 80% of our business consistently came from customer recommendations and word of mouth. Your customers are your cheapest form of marketing. Which means, if you consistently over-deliver and delight them, you are virtually guaranteed future success.
Defend Your Energy
Prepare yourself for the fact that at the start of your business journey you will be rejected, let down and disappointed at some point on virtually every single day. This can be incredibly draining and wearing if you allow it to be! Managing your own motivation and staying positive despite what ever the world throws at you is your best strategy for success. Remember, people can only get to you if you allow them to. Take your rejections, learn from them, don't harbour grudges and quickly move on.
Keep Adapting
It's extremely rare for a business to get its success formula right from day one. That means you need to keep adapting and developing your product and service offer with all the feedback you receive. Keep your business nimble and avoid over-investing in any large amounts of stock or brand collateral at the beginning of your journey. Things can quickly become obsolete as you find out what works and what doesn't. The moment you get to the stage where your product/service offer is almost exactly aligned to your customers needs your business is sure to take off in a big way. But realise that sometimes that process can take two years or more!
Never Say Die!
Above all else, the one key characteristic of successful entrepreneurs was that they just kept going despite all the problems and barriers in their way. Persistence and determination are key to success. Most business failures happen simply because the founder decides to give up. By the way, persistence is not the same as relentlessly trying to push a formula that just isn't working. Persistence is being 100% honest with yourself throughout the journey, recognising what isn't working, rectifying it, relentlessly improving and honing everything - until it all comes together.