Are you ready to launch your business? Starting a business isn’t as easy as telling people that you’re working for yourself. In fact, eight out of ten new businesses fail according to Bloomberg. That’s an 80% rate of failure.
If you’re planning to go into business, it is essential that you are prepared. Being prepared is about more than knowing your industry. It’s about more than a business plan. It’s about understanding the essential qualities of highly successful start-ups. When you have knowledge of these essential qualities, you can implement them into your start-up to help diminish the chance of failure.
The Ability to Understand and Accept Feedback
One person’s feedback is another person’s criticism. If someone doesn’t want to do business with you, take their reasons into consideration. Realize that it may not be a reflection of how you’ve chosen to run your business as it is of an indicator of what clients need in your industry. In short, don’t take criticism, feedback, and rejection as a personal indicator of your worth. Use what people tell you, both good and bad, to refine the policies and procedures of your start-up. The vital information you get from others can help you meet the needs and desires of future clients.
Hire the Right People
You may be solo for now, but there may come a time when you are ready to bring on your first employee. You must hire the right people. The right people have more than skill. They have vision and passion. You must hire people who can communicate well with you and that want to see your business grow.
Have a Vision
The best way to grow your start-up? Have a vision of what you want to accomplish. Your business is more than profit. What is it that you want to see your business do? What problems do you want to solve? Who do you want to help? Your vision will help you refine the way that you do business, your services, and your target market.
Quality, Quality, Quality
Generally, the way we all look at business is that more clients equates to more money. Do you know what’s more important that quantity? Quality. Don’t spread yourself too thin or expand too fast. Quality should be the name of the game.
So, just why is quality important and how does it affect your profit? It costs money to acquire clients. It doesn’t matter if you’re paying for advertisements or if you’re going door to door. Your time is money. It’s harder to sell (quantity) to new people. There’s a lot involved when it comes to converting someone to a paying client. Existing clients are much easier to continue to service. You can sell new services to an existing client much easier than you can sell to prospective clients. This is because your current clients are already familiar with what you offer.
That means that they know if you are providing them with quality service. Quality service breeds loyalty. Loyalty and quality will mean more referrals for your business. This type of growth is superior because you have happy clients. If you’re only pushing quantity, you’re likely to lose clients because they’re not getting their needs met.
Discipline
You must be disciplined. Discipline is the act of doing many of the same things day in and day out…even if you’re tired, busy, or feel burned out. It’s highly unlikely that one day you’ll wake up and suddenly be rich because of your business. If you want your start-up to succeed, you must be disciplined in your actions. That means making the calls even if you’re tired of being told no. It means following-up with prospects and clients.
You Need a Business Plan
A business plan may seem unnecessary. However, it is an integral part of your start-up. If you need funding, your potential investors or financial institution will want to see your business plan. It’s about more than funding, though. Your business plan is also your springboard. It’s not a rigid document. It can be changed to suit the needs and vision of your start-up. Don’t neglect this important part of business formation.
Surround Yourself With Success
If you want to be successful, surround yourself with successful people. Find others in your industry (even if they aren’t your area) that you can talk with about business. You’ll learn first-hand how a successful business operates. You’ll have someone that can help you through the tough times. Encouragement is really important to your success.
Ready, Set, Grow!
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