{"id":553,"date":"2019-08-04T23:31:08","date_gmt":"2019-08-04T23:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/teamasiaconsulting.com\/?p=553"},"modified":"2019-08-04T23:36:20","modified_gmt":"2019-08-04T23:36:20","slug":"553","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teamasiaconsulting.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/04\/553\/","title":{"rendered":"First Year Tips For Small Business Entrepreneurs – My experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Expert<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Number One first year tip – it’s ALL about finding customers and keeping them happy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether you are at the feasibility, seed, or launch stage, you need customers!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If someone is showing interest but is not asking about prices, then you may have a new hobby, which is nice, but not a business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ideas and plans are a dime a dozen. Cashflow is King. A potential customer is proof positive you may have found a genuine demand or gap in the market – but only when they start talking price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A vision means squat without a plan for customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“A customer base equals capital”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attracting investors will be much easier if they can see you are already generating a cashflow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also\n customers will attract people interested in working with you – and \neventually you will need a team to go anywhere significant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having a few customers means you are not dreaming!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t wait for qualifications <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You could be forgiven for thinking that in the 2020’s you will need a string of qualifications and \/ or an MBA before making a move. It’s not the case. Examples abound and if necessary you can hire to cover the gaps. Rather, try to emphasise product, ideas and team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which book learning are we skipping over here? What are some of the nice to have’s you might defer?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the initial stages of a business there are marketing<\/strong> skills – be content with seeing the original gap and creating a product to fit. Then finance<\/strong> skills – skip high finance and stick to the basic organisation of personal and business finance to cover risks, and finally time management<\/strong> skills where the essentials can be mastered quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later in the development phase we have operations – <\/strong>leadership, management, IT, property, culture\/psychology, teamwork, loyalty, communications and regulations – the list goes on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it may seem heresy to some, the fact is there are many successes in business who started young with no management training and this is one of those perennial truths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beware Franchising<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting\n out under the protection of a franchise is a seductive option. Beware! \nWhile it may be a way to start-up with less risk, pay particular \nattention to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7 The franchise sale<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Franchise operators are \nvery good marketers – of their franchises. Be wary that you are not \nsucked in too much by the promises and pictures. Seriously, it’s their \njob to sell you, just make sure they have a viable plan and you can sell\n their product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7 Your independence<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bottom line is that \nyou have decided to become an entrepreneur, for reasons which quite \nlikely include working for yourself, and by signing up with a franchise \nyou have immediately given that independence away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will you be \nhappy working for a head office? How much input to the business do you \nreally have? Have you just bought yourself a job?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a real close look at your marketing plan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How are you going to find and reach customers? Your first job is to run like mad just to find them:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, are you in an active sector and do you have a ready path to market? Where are you sourcing your leads – today?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch\n out for your own psychology. When starting out you may want to just go \nwith the first half decent opportunity you come across. Relax; try to \nlook at things objectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beware of the “1% of the market is \nhuge” syndrome. Yours may be a billion dollar market, but how do you get\n any of it? What do you think the competition is doing right now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any\n idea of the cost of acquisition of a new customer? Will your model \ndevelop repeat customers? If not you will be forever selling, and this \nis not a good place to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most <\/em>forms of marketing except word of mouth are very<\/em> expensive. When starting out there is no doubt the best marketing model is word of mouth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Branding.\n Despite the hype it’s nothing new. Don’t even think about mega-brand \nstyle exposure. A start-up is about a reputation, person to person sales\n and keeping a handful of customers happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the shelf life of your idea? How are you going to protect it in the internet age?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How smart is the business model?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A\n business model is the way we do things – how we find and reach \ncustomers, differentiate the business from the pack, price, sell and \ndeliver our product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there is more. Other desirables include a\n residual structure, one that compounds growth, and which is leveraged \neither in time (employees) or money (loans).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it going to be a dynamic business or a dead end job?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Realistically – are your finances strong enough for the first year or two?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being\n an entrepreneur is a gamble and you must be prepared for the worst if \nit happens. How do you view losing money? Perhaps try investing on small\n bets in the stock market and see how it feels before investing in your \nown ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t get into debt you cannot handle. We should be \nbold but not take risks. Avoid betting your lifestyle, limit the \ninvestment to what you can “afford to lose”, then do everything to make \nsure that does not happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entrepreneurs should always<\/em> have backup plans. Not everything will work by any stretch of imagination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How many hours are you working?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you really planned your diary? How will you fit everything in? Not all of us can survive on 4 hours sleep per night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember the rule – work hard and<\/em> smart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if you do work all hours, what is your effective hourly rate? Planning any time off?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you have a good business partner?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If\n you aspire to anything other than a micro business, you will have to \nthink “team”. The synergy gained outweighs potential downsides. While a \ncommittee of one gets things done, eventually you need others in your \ncorner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you ahead of trends?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No business can ignore trends. Try to have an eye on the picture three to five years ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Number One first year tip – it’s ALL about finding customers and keeping them happy Whether you are at the feasibility, seed, or launch stage, you need customers! If someone is showing interest but is not asking about prices, then you may have a new hobby, which is nice, but not a business. Ideas […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-553","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nFirst Year Tips For Small Business Entrepreneurs - My experience - TAC MOBILE FINANCIAL CONTROL AND BOOKS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/teamasiaconsulting.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/04\/553\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"First Year Tips For Small Business Entrepreneurs - My experience - TAC MOBILE FINANCIAL CONTROL AND BOOKS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Number One first year tip – it’s ALL about finding customers and keeping them happy Whether you are at the feasibility, seed, or launch stage, you need customers! 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