The majority of businesses that fail do so within their first year of existence, yet, even those who fail within the first three or five years sometimes do so due to an early mistake that has finally made enough damage. In other words, making a more successful entrepreneurial business is something that you need to start working on from the very start. Still, in order to get there, you first need to make it through this initial rough patch, and here are six tips to help you do this as an Entrepreneur.
1. Refine your idea
The first thing you need to do in order to survive the first year of being an entrepreneur is ensuring that your business idea is indeed realistic and there are three things you need to do in order to ensure this. First, you need to validate your business idea. Second, you need to check if there’s a market need for your product. Finally, what you need to do is put all of this in writing in the form of a business plan. Your goals, objectives, mission, vision and keys to success, all need to be included here, as well as the market analysis, executive summary, etc.
2. Budget and fundraising
When it comes to the issue of logistics, you’ll have to start thinking about your finances. What this means is that you need to make a budget by analyzing your financial needs and then proceed to plan out your fundraising strategy. About 38 percent of all startups and small businesses are financed by money borrowed from family and friends, yet, there are other methods that are just as common. Going to a bank or a credit union for a loan, finding a peer-to-peer lending platform or even opting for a method such as crowdsourcing are just some of the options that you have available.
3. Determine your legal business structure
Another vital thing you need to figure out is an appropriate business structure for your enterprise. There are several important things that this will determine your business, ranging from your level of control over the company, all the way to your regulatory obligation. In the case where things go south, this will also help you determine the level of personal liability that will incur. Lastly, the business structure is something that will determine the scheme according to which you’ll pay your taxes. In other words, when it comes to determining the future course of your business, this is one of those decisions that will be with you every step of the way.
4. Build your team
Perhaps the most vital step in your efforts to get an early start lies in making a team that can cope with all the needs of the market. In order to make your job easier, you can choose to outsource specialized tasks and focus on hiring those who are supposed to perform core tasks in your business. For instance, finding reputable work injury lawyers to collaborate with can be a massive plus to the security of your enterprise but you shouldn’t stop there. Outsourcing your HR, IT and customer support are also common business practices.
5. Take necessary safety measures
When it comes to the issue of safety measures, what you need is to understand is that your business is endangered from all sides. Getting adequate work equipment and PPE is just the surface layer of all there is to the security of your business. Other than this, a good training program can mitigate the majority of these problems. Namely, you also need to have a contingency plan if the accident does occur, which can be found in the form of a quality insurance policy and a great legal team (which is something that we’ve already discussed). Other than this, if you feel the need to provide your clients with some additional assurance, you can always go for surety bonds.
6. Grow your business
The last thing you need to hear is the fact that unexpected success (or at least one that you’re not prepared for), can be just as dangerous as failure. This is why you need to adopt both scalable and flexible business models and solutions for your enterprise. The best idea would be to go for models that you can both upscale and downscale according to your needs. Needless to say, this can especially be a game-changer in industries that have the peak of the season and a slow off-season.
In Conclusion
In the end, surviving the first year as an entrepreneur depends on so many things and it’s sometimes hard to predict what will be the toughest challenge for your enterprise. Still, by learning from negative experiences of others, you can have a much easier time at predicting and anticipating these challenges. This will give you an edge, a head start, when it comes to resolving them.
