Owning and managing a small business isn't easy, don't let anyone fool you.
But there are a number of things that would have made my life that little bit easier when I was starting out. This is what I wish I knew back when I was starting my business 15 years ago.
Hopefully, it can help you as you embark on your small business journey.
We're often so busy setting up our business, getting the infrastructure in place, the offices, the hardware, and the software that we forget about marketing ourselves.
Set aside a good amount of your set-up capital for this, and then add it as a continuing expense. Driving traffic – whether that be foot traffic or online traffic – to your business is critical. No one will know you exist if you don't.
I wish I had sites like this one when I was starting out. I especially wish I could have accessed all the templates I need for a small price, as we have here. I would have bought them all in it would have saved me hours and hours. Even now, I look for templates online before I produce one.
Never fear losing an employee.
I spent countless years worrying and cajoling and nurturing my employees only to have them leave eventually anyway.
Everyone is replaceable. It's true.
It took me 15 years to work it out.
If you are constantly in fear of losing your employees you can very well jeopardize your business by keeping an employee that doesn't want to be there anyway, or by shifting your business focus to suit the type of work they want to do.
Don't get me wrong; I have some employees I would bend over backward for, but I'll no longer try to keep any of them at all costs.
It's the thing that gets me through my tasks.
In the beginning, I spent too much time on tasks that had little impact on my business, meaning I had no time left for the tasks that would have a huge impact on my business (like marketing and sales!).
I spent too much time on tasks that had little impact on my business, meaning I had no time left for the tasks that would have a huge impact on my business (like marketing and sales!).
I apply the 55% rule to tasks – get them done better than average but don't tweak them until they're perfect.
I have to be far more flexible in all aspects of my life now that I have a family.
Having one life, doing things as they need to be done, works for me and I get less stressed about it all.
