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In the United States alone, there are over 30 million small businesses, employing tens of millions of people. These small businesses help to drive the economies of nations around the world and are a crucial part of the business ecosystem.
If you’re thinking of starting a company, you may be expecting it to be full of hard work. While hard work is a big part of business, some aspects of business are easier than you might think.
In this guide, we’ll give you some key tips for starting a business, the right way. Are you ready to learn more? Then read on.
1. Start Your Business While You’re Still Employed
When starting a company, don’t quit your day job right away. Most businesses can’t expect to make a profit in their first year. If you’re drawing a salary from the business, that eats into your profitability and your ability to keep your business alive.
Until your business is starting to thrive, you shouldn’t quit your day job. You need to have a stable income that doesn’t impact your business’ finances too severely and the best way to do that is to work two jobs for a while. It won’t be forever but it can help you a great deal.
2. Be Sure of Your Expenses
You need to have every single predicted expense on paper. Going into business without any knowledge of how much it’s going to cost is a one-way ticket to failing to launch or failing within your first year.
You should include startup costs, the costs of your premises, employee costs, insurance, and cost of petrol. If you’re drawing a salary from your business, you’ll also need to include things like mortgage or rent payments, healthcare costs, food, and more.
When you’ve got an estimated figure, you should then triple or quadruple it. Business costs can spiral and you need to be sure that you could survive a worst-case scenario.
3. Spread the Word
Your business probably won’t make it too far without marketing. This doesn’t mean that you need to invest a small fortune into ads or buy an ad on national TV. You will need to market it, though; no matter how good your product or service it is, it can’t do the marketing for you.
We’d recommend that first and foremost, you tell friends, relatives, and colleagues about your business and ask them to do the same. Then you need to start hitting up potential clients and being a salesperson.
If this sounds intimidating to you, we understand. If you’re not too outspoken, it can be difficult to start selling yourself but it’s an essential skill of any entrepreneur. Practice is key.
4. Work Within the Law
Do you know the laws in your area for small businesses? You need to ensure that you’re operating within the law. Make sure that you’ve got any licenses, insurance that you need.
Keep meticulous accounts of your business to ensure that when tax season hits, you’ll be able to file your return easily. If you’re hiring somebody, make sure that you’re also following the law here. If you’re in doubt, contact a local government office and ask them what the requirements are.
If you don’t follow the law, your business won’t get very far and you could get hit with a big fine.
5. Don’t Mix Personal and Business Accounts
When you open up a business account, it can be tempting to take money from it when you need a little extra. Yet part of getting a handle on your finances is knowing that you mustn’t dip into your business account for anything other than business expenses.
Taking money out of your business account also complicates tax returns, something that is already very complicated if you have to do it yourself.
It flows the other way too: if you mix business and personal banking, you don’t look as professional to clients. For instance, if someone asks whom they should make a cheque out to, you should always use your business account. Asking a customer to make a cheque out to your personal account doesn’t look businesslike.
Having a business account also helps you build up business credit, which will be a big help further down the line.
6. Write a Business Plan When Starting a Company
It’s imperative that you write a business plan when you’re starting your company. The business plan needs to include a huge range of information including:
- Your finances
- Your projected growth
- Competitor analysis
- Market research
- Your main objective
- How you plan to make a profit
Writing a business plan can help you cement your goals and help you reach them. It’s also a virtual requirement for applying for business loans or seeking investment. If you’ve not got a business plan, many people will think that you don’t have much of a business to speak of.
Create a business plan before starting your company: this is essential.
7. Seek Advice When You Need it
Many people feel that being an entrepreneur means flying solo, always. This couldn’t be further from the truth. While it is your name above the metaphorical (or real) door, you need to have someone to turn to at times.
This could be a friend or a family member who you trust and who you can discuss your goals with. However, if you want a more experienced mentor, get in touch with figures you know in your industry and ask them if they’d be happy to mentor you.
It’s crucial that if you need a question answered, that you get it answered. Seek advice if you need to, there’s no shame in it.
Work at it
Starting a company is hard but it’s far from impossible, even if this economic climate. Who knows how far your business will go? If you’d like to find out more about entrepreneurial resources, take a look here!
Adam Jacobs is the Managing Director of Bubblegum Casting, the longest-running agency specialising in babies, children and teen talent in Australia. Bubblegum Casting works with some of Australia’s biggest brands, media properties and agencies to secure talented children to work in Television, Film and Modelling roles. 
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