So you finally came to that point in life when you realized that working for someone else is for the birds. You’re hyped up about the chance to pursue your passions your way, and manage your own work hours. Hello entrepreneurship! You’re now a small business owner on the rise — well a small business owner at least.
If you truly want to be on the rise, there are several things you need to do in order to get your business established and moving. With that, here are 3 things that your small business can’t go without.
A Strong Business Plan
It’s going to be kinda hard to grow a business without a plan. That’s just common sense. What does a business plan look like? That’s up to you. You can write out a 10-page plan that details every aspect of small business, or you can have one page that lays out your mission and goals. It’s your choice. The key point is knowing where you want your business to go.
A Good Marketing Strategy
If at some point in your business you plan to see significant income, you may want to spend some significant time on developing a marketing strategy. What will you do on social media? What traditional marketing will you explore? Billboards, commercials, magazine ads? It doesn’t matter what you do, just make sure it’s a well thought out strategy because this will be the make or break of your business.
Customer Focus
All the marketing and planning in the world can’t make up for horrible customer service. But excellent customer service can have people beating down your door. Just look at Chick-fil-a. They are open less than every other fast food chain, but they ALWAYS have a ton of customers. Why? Because Chick-fil-a employees treat you better than family. By staying focused on your customers and clients, and making decisions with them in mind, your business will flourish.
BONUS: Cash Management
One of the quickest ways to kill your business is poor money management. You can have all the customers and clients in the world, but if you can’t manage your money, you’ll always be in the negative.
The life of an entrepreneur can be amazing, but it will require some planning and plenty of hard work to get off the ground. As long as you’re not afraid of the grind, you’ll be alright.