There is nothing that guarantees the success of a business. However, it is helpful to know a few tips that can help you reduce the odds of that failure. We usually only think of the bigger things like having capital, a business plan, heaps of clients but discount less noticeable things that would have given a lot of business owners the motivation to keep going. Here are some of these things.
1. Don’t compete with others.
Let me start by saying that you should never copy other people. Don’t start a business because somebody else has started it and seems to be doing well. Start a business because there is a problem you feel convicted to solve. Now other people may already be doing it. Most of us have not innovated something completely new to be in business. However, there needs to be something different about that way you do it that speaks to the customer you are solving that problem for. Many people are not aware about what this is and never spend time trying to find it. Start getting feedback and information from your clients on this from the word go and you will save yourself a lot of time. Along the way you may also find that people start copying you. Don’t get distracted. Stay on course.
2. A customer in hand is worth more than the hundred you don’t yet have.
We get too focused on counting the money. You have finally closed the sale yet you spend more time worrying about how many more sales you need to pay the bills instead of delivering a quality product or service. You are not in the business of sales you are in the business of providing a solution. Don’t ignore who is in front of you because they can become your biggest mouth piece or even give you an idea you had not thought of. Provide excellence even when you have no idea how it will work out. Whether it’s one, ten or one hundred customers, the show must go on.
3. Have a support group.
You are going to go through some things that only people who are running a business can understand. Find these people. Meet with them, cry, have coffee and then move on. It is really uplifting to discover that there is nothing wrong with you. That other people have gone through this and many times have a way of looking at your particular challenge in a way that you can’t because you are in it.
4. Have some personal savings or emergency money that is not for the business.
Many people underestimate how long it may take for the business to start making any many let alone money that you can personally draw on. Last year many businesses owners shut shop because they could not sustain themselves during the political season. Plan to save up some money that can pay for your basic expenses like food, rent, school fees etc. for a couple of months. You cannot help your business if you are hungry and you are likely to make some bad financial decisions under that kind of pressure.
5. Build a strong relationship with your suppliers.
These relationships have made and broken many businesses. Suppliers are usually your earliest and can be the most important source of credit. Getting two weeks or a month to pay can make all the difference. It will enable you to sell the product or service and then pay your supplier back. Do not abuse the relationship. When you get paid pay them. Remember that supermarkets have not closed down because there were no customers but because for a myriad of reasons, suppliers stopped supplying.
6. Your business will go as far as you learn.
Many businesses have collapsed because people refused to learn the lessons. Don’t do the same thing expecting a different result. Every failure is just a lesson you need to learn. Learn from other people’s experiences, learn from a book. Learn from a course or seminar. Learn from a conversation or even just personal reflection. If you are not learning, you are not growing.
Last but never least. Just keep that faith and keep the reasons you are doing this in front of you as much as possible.
For more information on the Centonomy Entrepreneurship program, get in touch with her on waceken@centonomy.com|Facebook/WacekeNduati| Twitter@cekenduati