In spite of the current economic climate, start-up businesses have increased in recent years, with 2013 being the year of the start-up. Are you tired of relying on someone else for your wages. More people than ever are becoming entrepreneurs and taking control of their own fate, with new businesses opening every day.
While starting a business can be difficult at any time, the long-term rewards are enormous if you get it right. With determination, great planning and the right people, you can start your own business today.
If you are amongst those who are looking to take control of their future and start their own business, there are a few things to double check when you are a new business, these are three things you should not overlook.
1. Are you hiring the right people?
Many of us adore the idea of setting up a business with friends, but is this the right choice for your business? It is more important than ever to make sure you are hiring the right people for the job who can help your business grow in the long term.
People who are more committed to your vision will most likely stick with with a long time to see the business succeed.
CFO Shamir Karkal gives the following advice: “Hire great people…then get out of their way. You should strive to hire people who are smarter than you and, if you success, they will get irritated when you get in their way. Delegate and keep your eye on the important stuff.”
2. Are you saving money where you can?
Obviously large amounts of money must be sunk into a business to get it started, but it doesn’t mean you need to be out of pocket when you could in fact be saving.
One place many start-up businesses lose money is with meetings with clients across the country that take up valuable time and money. Calculate how much a client is worth to your business and only make plans to travel and meet clients when you know is really worth your limited resources and time.
Conference Genie have discussed the ways in which teleconferencing can help start-ups, with one of the most prominent benefits coming from saving money. Businesses can communicate in the same manner as a face-to-face meeting but save hundreds per time in travel.
You could save money when you telecommute with partners, investors and prospective clients. If some of your employees can work remotely, don’t hesitate to give them the opportunity to deliver notwithstanding where they are working from.
3. Are you listening to the customer?
When you’ve just begun until the day you retire, customer feedback is imperative. As they make the business possible by using your services, it’s essential to ensure you are taking on board all feedback, good and bad.
Vice President Levi Cooperman has said: “Customer feedback has been critical to our success from the beginning. We would occasionally push out features that were a bad user experience and made our service worse, not better, and our users told us right away when something was wrong.”
In a nutshell, once you make a decision to start a new business, find free resources you can use to kick-start it, get the right team that understands your vision, spend less and only when you really need to spend.
Ask yourself if there are free alternatives to what you have to buy for your business and always remember-the customer is king, listen and respond to their feedback and suggestions.