Each year about 440,000 new businesses start-up in the UK and yet each year and yet so many (around 60%) will close their doors within 18 months and walk away from what was their dream. So, why does it go wrong for so many? Well, the two biggest reasons are lack of cash and believe it or not, lack of motivation – the business owner no longer wants to carry on running their business. Bearing that in mind then, here’s my top 10 tips for staying in business.
1 ) Never, ever give up. Running a business is hard work and no-one tells you that before you open your doors. You’ll face dozens of hurdles before you make a success of it. But as my husband points out “if it was easy, everyone would do it”. So, make sure that you jump those hurdles and never give up even if you fall down each time.
2) Watch your cash flow. There’s a simple rule for running a business – if you can’t afford it, you can’t have it. Think about whether you REALLY need whatever item you’re after. If you do, look for cheaper alternatives – borrow it from a friend; look on e-bay; go to an auction and my favourite solution – think of a way to get what you want without spending any money.
3) Tweak your business – sometimes the key to success in business is just to tweak what you’re doing. We run low-cost workshops for small business owners and sending out one workshop at a time wasn’t really working. Then we tweaked this and started sending out four workshops at a time, which worked a treat. Instead of giving up completely or starting again, what can you tweak to make something work for you?
4) Don’t worry about getting things perfect – I have seen many small business owners put off doing something because they are concerned that it’s not perfect. The big news – things rarely are perfect. Just do it! You can always change it later. And remember, just because you don’t think it’s perfect doesn’t mean that other people think the same way.
5) Sort out those prices – if you are not making any money, you either need more customers or you need to put your prices up. I’ve seen several business owners who are absolutely swamped with work, but are not making enough to make ends meet. If this is you, raise your prices now!
6) Be a student of your business – get to know your customers, competitors and market backwards. Ask your customers what they want and make sure you give it to them. Starting up your own business is almost like starting your own University where you control the subjects.
7) Do some marketing – one of the biggest reasons that small businesses don’t have all the customers they need and want is that they’re not doing any marketing. Maybe they’ve done some in the past and found it hasn’t worked so become frustrated with marketing; maybe they’re not sure what to do. Whatever the reason, if you want more customers you need to do marketing. Read books, talk to me, go on seminars – do whatever you need to do to kick-start your marketing, but please make sure you do some.
8) Take advantage of the opportunities – I really do believe that part of running a successful business is luck and by luck I mean identifying opportunities when they present themselves and taking hold of them. That means if you see something and think “Oh I must do that”, doing it rather than letting the opportunity pass you by.
9) When it all gets too much – have a break. Sounds stupid right? Well, chances are that the more frustrated and annoyed you get with something, the more it will go wrong. Having a break means that it’s more likely that you’ll be able to see a better solution to the problem.
10) Be passionate about what you do – if you’re really passionate about your business, it will show in your eyes. There’s nothing more attractive to potential customers as seeing that coming across. On the other hand if you’re down in the dumps about your business, this will come across too and can provide a big turn-off. What would you rather be associated with?
Good luck in your business, go for it and let me know how you get on.
My top 10 tips for staying in business - To learn more about this author, visit Helen Dowling's Website.
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