
Introducing your first business is a wondrous adventure and probably one of the most exciting things you would ever do in your life. While it is a most overwhelming experience, it is also the time when you are submerged in a sensation of fear and anxiety. It is truly a challenge to take the risk and try your hand at business, mainly because we all know that not all journeys are successful.
Stats reveal that approximately 66% of the businesses with employees are expected to live for a minimum of two years, while about 50% thrive for the first five years. When you begin this journey, you will bump into an innumerable number of conflicting advice. However, you need to stay focused on your ideas and keep up with the hard work.
At your first experience as an entrepreneur, there are endless tasks at hand such as the management of financial, legal, employee and customer-related problems. During this vital time, remembering these 5 simple lessons can help you fight the challenges of this business world.
1. Stay focused on the task at hand
When you are into business for the very first time, you would want to seize every opportunity that comes in your direction. Remember that every opportunity is not meant for you. Running behind multiple things will shift your focus from the primary task at hand.
Your aim must be to excel at one, or at most, two tasks. In the struggle to gather a number of things, you will drop not only your productivity but also your efficiency. Do not invest your time and resources in multiple ventures with a though that at least one out of them will succeed and help you generate profit.
2. Don’t waver from illustrating your product
You, the creator of your business, are also the creator of your product. You will have all the insights about your product and so you must be able to describe it and your business in detail, whenever the need arises.
A thorough and detailed proposal must be kept ready to pitch to your prospective buyers or any interested parties. The cost proposed must be such that it includes all the startup expenses along with the ongoing expenses.
3. Importance of a professional network
When doing business for the first time, building up a firm professional community is the groundwork for taking the business to great heights. Being associated with a variety of people will give you access to their unique skills and help you gauge new aspects of your business.
Investing time and effort into building up the network can also lead to strong connections which in the future can turn into partnerships or collaborations and can broaden your opportunities.
4. Preserve your online heritage
In this digital era, having an online presence of your business is a must. Digital presence does not just involve a website that contains the name and contact details of your company but will also contain all the social platforms on which people find and interact with you.
The internet provides you a 24-hour presence, this means that customers can find you at any time in the day and from any location. It’s extremely important to keep track of all your digital activities to ensure future growth and evaluate your development. Web archiving is your saviour here. And don’t just rely upon traditional archiving tools to track your digital activities. Look for the other third party alternatives for web archiving and keep this your daily habit.
5. Take that first step
Trying a new thing is always a scary prospect. Taking the first step is indeed difficult, especially when you are not so sure that you are moving towards success or failure. But if you won’t move, you won’t lead in any direction.
After conceiving the idea and working on it, you may feel that your product is still not ready. You might be afraid of the response of the consumer. But, remember that after launching your product out in the market, you will be able to receive and consider customer feedback. Then, you can work on it to further and improve your product to make it market-friendly.
Don’t forget that this is your first step and you are human, so mistakes are bound to happen on the way ahead. However, if you eventually don’t want to withdraw at this initial stage like countless other startups due to lack of funds, then you must manage your resources with utmost precaution. Try not to spend extravagantly on things like big offices or luxurious cars.