8 Tips and Tricks for Starting Your Own Business

The current business landscape is inspiring. People of all ages and occupations – from recent college graduates to single parents – can now start their own businesses with minimal fuss.

The second you have your ‘light-bulb moment’ where you realize you want to be your own boss and have independence, you can start putting a plan into action!

Don’t forget, though, that you can’t do everything alone. Along the way, you’re going to need a helping hand.

So, keep reading for 10 of the best tips and tricks on how to start (and run) your own business.

1. Choose a profitable (and exciting) industry

Firstly, it’s important to address your choice of industry.

Your choice of industry will make or break your business. The key is to avoid downward spiraling, unpopular industries. Instead, you need to enter an industry (or industries) that are profitable and exciting. This way, you’ll have a much better shot at being successful and making some serious dough!

For example, right now, the massage industry is growing fast. This is hardly surprising, as people have become more health-conscious than ever before. Before you jump into this exciting industry, however, it’s important to know how to start a massage business so you are more likely to succeed.

2. Find business partners

As mentioned above, being a success in the world of business is difficult to do alone.

Steve Jobs had Steve Wozniak when Apple was first founded. Bill Gates had Paul Allen at Microsoft. Ben Cohen had Jerry Greenfield at the legendary Ben & Jerry’s. You get the idea.

Therefore, it’s a good idea to start a business with a partner; or at least some form of mentor. This way, the pressure is automatically relieved, as problems can be shared, more ideas can be created, and you’ll always have someone to turn to.

3. Work hard – otherwise, you’ll be relying on luck

In the current day and age, many entrepreneurs believe they can ‘make it’ without having to work hard. This is untrue. You need to work hard consistently if you truly want to sell your products and services. Otherwise, you’ll be relying purely on luck.

However, working hard doesn’t mean running yourself into the ground seven days a week. You need to find the right work-life balance.

4. Put the customer experience above everything

Breaking news announcement: modern customers are demanding. In fact, they’re super demanding!

Over the past 10 years, it’s fair to say there’s been a shift in power between companies and customers. Now, it’s customers who hold the power.

Customers want 24/7 customer service, favorable return policies, creative products, and constant updates. Failure to give them this will result in them jumping ship to the next available brand!

So, you need to put the customer experience above everything. Essentially, you need to care for and nurture their needs. For example, if you’re a fast-food business, customers want their food served up fast – not half an hour later. No matter what industry you’re in, the customer experience must always come first and you must work extremely hard to keep them pleased!

5. Assess competitors and offer something they don’t

If you open a massage business in a busy area with two other massage therapy practices within your radius, that means they’re direct competitors. Therefore, you need to assess them (from pricing to services) to see what you can offer that they don’t. This might be a loyalty or subscription-based program (such as what Taco Bell is currently offering), or half-price massages every Friday.

By differentiating yourself from competitors, customers will flock to you.

6. Establish a strong presence on social media

Social media platforms – from Facebook to Twitter - are key tools for striving businesses.

They provide the opportunity to:

●  Market and promote your products

●  Make announcements

●  Communicate with customers

●  Build your brand and audience

●  Generate leads

●  Boost website traffic

Therefore, it’s essential that you make a business account on all the major social media platforms.

7. Embrace the hard times

Starting and running a business is never easy – far from it. There are plenty of hard times along the way, particularly during the early days when you’re trying to get your business off the ground. Make sure to embrace these hard times, as every business goes through them.

8. Lastly, never lose your vision

Every business has its own unique vision: what’s yours?

It might be something simple, such as to ‘make customers happy,’ or it could be something more profit-orientated, such as to make a certain amount of money each year.

Never lose your vision – it will guide you and keep you on track.