Tips for starting a business

Now, I am not suggesting that I know everything, I have the belief that, regardless of age or experience, you can always learn something new; I love to surround myself by people who can teach me things.

Starting your own business can seem a daunting thought, but you just have to remember that you can do this. The main thing that you need is confidence; I will, for the benefit of this, assume you have the business idea already. 

The first thing you’re always told is to make sure that you have all your ducks in a row. Yes, that’s important, but, you need to also not talk yourself out of it. Prepare of course, but there will always be a reason why now isn’t a good time. Change is always difficult, especially if you have a lot on the line already but, you need to realise when you’re just finding excuses to put it off because you’re scared. Don’t look for reasons why you shouldn’t start a business but look for the reasons why you should! Now I’m not saying you shouldn’t be sensible, plan and research everything and know what steps to take, but, don’t talk yourself out of a good idea; it’s easily done. 

You need to know what your business is about and I don’t just mean what it does for you, but what it does for your clients? What are they going to get out of it? If, like me, you’re into construction, then you could have an answer similar to mine. I love construction, this is where my passion lies, which is a good start, but I also want to be able to help with the future of construction in terms of the ecological aspect. I want to be able to provide energy efficient homes across the board and make them accessible and understood by everyone. I want eco builds to become seen as the ‘norm’ and I want my clients to have a taste of what construction can achieve. You can see from that, that what I want to achieve and what actually do marry up well. It is simple and you should keep it that way but deciding where you want this business to take you helps to define your audience. 

Keep an eye on the pennies, they will likely get spent quickly. There are quite a few set up fees in a business, but don’t let this stop you. Throw yourself into the business, build it up in every way possible and take chances, educated chances, but don’t get distracted. You do need to be able to earn money while you set up; get used to living on the bread line but don’t expect to stay there. Businesses, in the first few years, don’t always make money, in fact some of them are in negative equity. Keep your eyes on the prize. To be able to get to the top, you have to start at the bottom. 

You need to know your worth and to be able to sell yourself. If you wouldn’t buy through you, then you can’t expect anyone else to. Practice your sales pitch, you’re going to need this to get anywhere. Whatever your business, someone will need to be buying, whether it is the general public or other companies. You must work to sell your ‘product’ Promote yourself, promote your business and products and don’t worry about what other people think. “Those who matter don’t mind, and those who mind don’t matter”