It’s a known reality that Year One is the most crucial moment on a business. It’s usually the hardest year because it’s full of unknowns and basically, as the owner, you have to start from scratch and make decisions that don’t have any real guarantee.
It’s essentially walking on an unknown path where some steps can cause you to lose things, while some may result in a positive outcome. Commercial property brokers in Victoria have stories for days that tell you about a certain business that succeeded because of a certain move.
Simply put, the first year in business is an unknown, but that doesn’t mean you cannot prepare for it or take precautions. We want all of you to succeed on your endeavours so from us to you, here is a handy survival guide for a small business in Year One.
List Your Short Term Goals
Although long-term goals are important, short-term goals are importanter! (heh) But seriously, setting up short term goals will be beneficial to your business because these short term goals usually deal with the current situation and how you, as the owner, act on it.
And when we say set-up short-term goals, we also mean accomplishing them as soon as possible.
Hire Motivated Employees
Nothing perks up a business owner more than being surrounded by motivated employees.
Not only do these employees work their butts off for your business, they will also serve as inspiration and motivators for you. Being a leader and seeing your team determined will make you want to work, work and work.
Organise
Organisation is so important for Year One.
We all know that the first year in business can be quite chaotic, so what you can do is at least organise what you can organise. You may feel things are falling apart and when you’e surrounded by disorder, it can certainly looks like it.
So our advice? Organise. Compile papers in a one convenient cabinet. Arrange those folders, have a neat seat-plan for your office or even organise your digital files in your computer.
Bonus perk: When you need something, you can easily find it because IT’S ORGANISED.
Have a Safety Net
One of the many mistakes of starting business owners is not knowing when they need help.
Before trouble appears, it best to have a ready remedy for it. Get help even before you need it. Maybe hire a manager that can act as your conscience or second mind or a secretary that will help you organise.
NOTE: When we mean help, we don’t mean letting that person do everything. She’s not a wizard and she can’t instantly fix a mess – she’s there to just assist you, the business owner.
To conclude, things like making quick and sound decisions are already a given when it comes to being an entrepreneur. This survival guide aims to serve as a “cheat sheet” for you as we already said it time and time again that Year One is a big unknown, but you can be prepared.
