During the recession you would be forgiven for thinking about starting a business. Firstly, where do you get started? And secondly, will you be able to sustain the business if the recession continues?
Simply put there are ways of making your new business work even when you start it during a recession. A startling figure of 50% of businesses lasting a year is a shocking one, but is this down to failure of the planning?
This definitely cannot be true in all cases.
Start Small whilst Thinking Big
While many who are starting a business during the recession may be thinking that they will be the next Alan Sugar or Richard Branson the reality is that it takes a lot of hard work to create a business such as theirs, years, not months.
Starting out small and working on the business is a must in the first year of your business. Don’t think that you can conquer the world and take on larger competitors. For example if you are starting an online clothing shop then don’t think that you will be able to compete with the like of Topshop or Asos.
Setting different goals
If you think about the business differently this can be a good thing. We all know that setting a goal of selling two units a day may be a very achievable one and as such you need to create some that you know you will hit and some that you will have to work hard to achieve. If your business gets off it’s feet and you start to sell two units a day then aim for ten units.
Revisit your goals on a regular basis so that you can measure how the business is doing and identify any areas that you may be able to work on to help the business grow.
Organisation is a Must
If you are starting a business you know how hard it is to create a business plan and be organised for the bank meetings to try and obtain any funding that you may require but once this has been done many people forget the organisational skills that are needed.
Keep records of everything so that you know where money and stock is going and coming from. If the business relies on stock levels set minimums and make sure that you are sticking to them, there is nothing worse than not having a product that someone wants as they will go to a competitor and purchase it from them rather than you.
Getting out There
This is not just in the form of advertising, as this can get expensive for any start up business, but get you face into the local area (or online). Attend relevant events and help people understand what your business is doing.
Forums and groups on popular sites can help you get your knowledge and information out there. Word of mouth is a strong advertisement in itself and as such if you answer a question or help someone then they will recommend you to friends, relatives and colleagues.
If you have a website then using this to help pass information on to potential customers is good too.
No one wants a business to fail. However, as the high streets are becoming more and more barren with empty shops, budding entrepreneurs do need all the support they can get, especially in startup funding. For such purpose, the Government and James Caan have start-up loans for young entrepreneurs made available. These loans help to fund start-up businesses. Not only funding, they also offer mentoring from those already in the industry.
If you are looking to start your own business, then good luck…