Now that you’ve signed the lease and have started hiring employees for your small business, you can finally start thinking about the daily tasks that you need to accomplish to make the days run smoothly. Since you’re still green at running a company, you might not know some of the best business tips yet. What are some of the better tidbits that you can glean early on when you’re trying to figure out day-to-day operations?
Hire An Accountant
You think that you can manage your finances on your own, but understand that your business bank account is a different animal than your personal one. You will need to factor in things like tax documents, employee pay stubs and business fees that you might not have realized existed. When you hire an accountant to take care of it all, the only thing that you will need to worry about next is making sure that you are the best CEO you can be.
Taking care of employee pay can be a mess unto itself. If you can’t find an accountant in time before pay day, try using a pay stub template. A template is a safe route since it’s great with math and can easily do complex calculations without being too difficult to operate.
Be An Online Presence
In the early days of advertising, a newspaper ad or magazine spread was enough to get the public’s attention. Today’s consumers are no longer looking at print ads, but instead on the internet. 90% of consumers research a company and check its website before deciding to do business with it, while 97% search online for local businesses. Take advantage of the widest audience possible by being active on social media and regularly updating your website with fresh, interesting content to keep the public engaged.
Network With Other Businesses
Get to know other businesses in the same niche as yours, even if it’s not exactly the same kind of business. For example, if you’re a florist, reach out to local fertilizer companies and develop a good working relationship with them. When you network, you are getting your name out and are encouraging other businesses to remember you in the future. This is a great way to build great local connections and collaborate for events in the future.
Keep Your Eyes On The Prize
It’s easy to get so excited about your new endeavor that you want to quit your day job and work on it exclusively, only to quickly dry up your savings and watch your business go up in flames. Although you want to be the best you can be, don’t fall into this trap. Hang onto your day job long enough to ensure you are making a steady income and enough revenue in your side business to keep you afloat.
Similarly, don’t decide that just because your current business is doing well that you need to reach out and try a bunch of other new projects. Remember, one of the reasons that your small business is successful right now is because you are focusing all your spare time and energy on it. When you try this strategy with many projects, you are spreading yourself too thin and are strengthening the odds of failure. Stick to one thing at a time and develop your brand successfully.
Develop And Stick To A Budget
It seems like money is the deciding factor when people are deciding whether or not to go into business for themselves, and for good reason — the whole reason you want to be your own boss is to make money doing what you enjoy. With this in mind, you must develop a budget that makes sense for your company and stick to it rigidly. This is incredibly difficult, especially since the whole “it takes money to make money” thing can be discouraging. If you need to, speak to a financial specialist to help you find a plan that can help you.
Remember To Advertise
We already covered the importance of marketing, but don’t think that word-of-mouth advertising is dead. In fact, one of the best ways to get your name out there is to be a little bit loudmouthed about it. This might be a little embarrassing and shameless, but it’s what needs to be done. Step out of your comfort zone and dare to be bold. Put yourself out there to people you speak to, other business owners and family members and friends. Stop thinking that you’re not good enough or too small to get a decent following — you’re worth it!
Congratulations on deciding to pursue your dream. Following some good tips for newbie entrepreneurs can be scary, but they are worth following for the health of your business.
