Starting A Small Business
Are You Starting a Small Business?
Here Is What You Need To Know To Succeed!
Did you know that over half of small businesses fail within the first year they are started? If you can get your small business past that hurdle, did you know that another half of those business between years 1 and 5 will end up failing as well?
The good news is that you don’t have to be just another statistic on the road to bankruptcy with your small business. After all, small businesses account for over three quarters of the employment that occurs around the world.
Your successful business may not make you rich, but it can make it so that you love what you do every single day. Here’s what you need to do to make sure that your small business becomes a success:
Make Sure You’ve Got Your Insurance Ready Before You Open You Doors
One of the fastest ways to a bankruptcy as a small business is by not having the right amount of insurance. Imagine opening your doors to your very first customer and they slip and fall on your wet floor, breaking their arm in the process. Guess what? You’re liable.
And without the right amount of insurance covering your business, you’ll find that your capital that you intended to use to pay for things like inventory, salary, and those office supplies everyone seems to need is instead going toward the medical bills of that customer that you just had slip and fall.
What you’re going to need is general liability insurance. Your insurance agent can tell you what will be appropriate for your business, but be sure to have this conversation before you open the doors… or you are going to be paying for it for a long, long time afterwards.
Did You Test Out Your Market Before Starting Your Business?
Most businesses these days need local, regional, and global customers supporting them in order to succeed. In order to make that happen, as a small business owner, you need to make sure that your local community is going to support your business before you open your doors for business.
You might have the best internet marketing scheme around and have great global customers, but without local customers supporting your foundation, you’ll have lean times that will eat up your capital fast.
You can make sure that your local community is going to support your new business by one of these tried and true methods:
- – community surveys will give you instant results as you go door to door asking consumers what they would like to see in your new business venture,
- – mailing surveys has more upfront cost to it, but less of a negative reaction than bothering someone at the dinner table,
- – having a conversation with potential customers in a shopping area also nets some benefits,
- – and always be sure to talk with your local Chamber of Commerce, because they would know if businesses like yours have come and gone in the past already.
Do You Have the Financing To Make This Happen?
Many small businesses open their doors expecting instant monetary success, but the truth of the matter is that revenues coming in tend to be more of a slow build than a fast burn. In order for you to be able to insure that you can stay in business until your venture takes off with the general public, you will need at least three full years of financing in a capital account.
This would include all your rental or lease expenses, inventory expenses, equipment expenses, office supplies, salaries, and an emergency fund for the stuff that always seems to happen. By having all of your capital covered, you can focus on the marketing and influence that it is going to take to get your product or service out to the market in general.
Without that level of capital you can certainly still succeed, but the less capital you have up front, the more risk you take in not being able to make your business work long term. Why build on a sandy foundation when you can build on a solid one? Starting up a small business can be a very rewarding experience if it is done correctly.
By insuring you have the right amount of capital up front, along with your insurance and the support of your local marketing, you’ll have a firm foundation to be able to build your business on the ground up. By following this startup advice, you’ll have the best chance at beating the statistics and become one of the nation’s small business success stories.
