Regardless of the type of business venture you’re launching, whether you’re opening a retail store, or launching a coaching agency, it’s important to prepare yourself for the risks and perils that await in the modern marketplace. The truth is that the road to entrepreneurial superstardom is laden with obstacles and pitfalls that might ruin your chances of growing a successful brand, which is why taking all of the necessary precautions during the planning phase should be your number one priority.
Nowadays, potential dangers surround a new business from all sides – from financial difficulties to bad press, to poor online marketing tactics and negative reviews – and one slip-up can cost you dearly down the road. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the five precautions you need to take in order to protect your small business.
Master the art of PR and branding
The pillars of every successful coaching business, or any business venture for that matter, are good PR and a strong brand identity. Without this foundation, you cannot hope to build a trustworthy image your clients and customers will love, and you cannot hope to build a brand personality that will withstand the toughest of trials.
This is why you need to be careful what you say, and how you say it. Remember that the key elements of good PR are honesty, detail, and timely communication. Likewise, you want to use your brand’s image to tell a compelling story and build a strong relationship with the market. You can achieve this by creating a set of unique visuals and investing in content marketing to spread the word of your brand and connect with your audience.
Protect your brand legally
You don’t necessarily need to have an in-house legal department, but that doesn’t mean that your brand shouldn’t have experienced and competent legal advisors on standby. To stop any legal attack on your company dead in its tracks, you want to tend to the problem of finding legal representation for your business in the preliminary stages of launching a company.
No matter if it’s a global business venture or a small coaching business where you will be working with two or three clients at a time, a competent attorney and legal advisor can mean the difference between a bright future and a turbulent time where the future of your company is in constant jeopardy. When crisis does strike, you also want to have a strong contingency plan at hand.
Have a solid contingency plan
Working with people is not easy, and sooner or later, you’re going to run across a client with whom you just won’t be able to click. What might ensue is a series of disputes and perhaps even legal actions taken up against your company, so you need to be completely prepared to counter this challenge, and perhaps even prevent it in the first place. You can find legal binding contract templates online and have your clients sign them as soon as you start working together to protect yourself from potential legal issues that might occur in the future.
Before you start worrying, keep in mind that bad press doesn’t have to spell disaster for your company, and numerous businesses have managed to leverage good PR and quality of service to reclaim the favor of their customers and the local markets. Following the same recipe, your contingency plan should encompass a strong PR strategy, and sound legal representation. To complement your efforts, be sure to time your marketing strategy just right in order to reach the hearts and minds of your demographic and instill a positive image in the industry.
Obtain the right insurance plan
Every business needs insurance. The basic coverage for any company with a physical office is a liability insurance – this will protect you in case a customer gets injured in your place of business. On the other hand, specialized businesses such as coaching agencies should obtain errors and omissions coverage in order to protect their name against negative client feedback and claims.
Should a customer accuse you of insufficient or inadequate service, or that you haven’t lived up to your end of the contract, your coverage will pay for court costs and settlements. Keep in mind that these costs will be covered up to the amount specified in the insurance policy.
Invest in stellar cybersecurity
We live in a digital age, and businesses of every kind are slowly but surely transitioning into the online marketplace, coaching agencies included. With geographical borders eliminated by technological advancements and agencies becoming global enterprises, the time is now to take the matter of cybersecurity seriously.
Now that you’re working with people online, you will need a safe place to store sensitive data such as names, addresses, contact information, and most importantly, their financial information. Keep in mind that one security breach could spell disaster for the future of your brand, so it’s important that your website is managed by a professional team or a skillful cybersecurity individual in order to protect your name and your livelihood.
The modern business environment is rich with lucrative opportunities. What’s more, with the coming of the digital era, every aspiring entrepreneur can easily kick-start their own business and enter a global marketplace. However, there is a need to protect your company if you are to ensure a successful future, so be sure to implement these five tactics before launch day arrives.
