When you first start a business, it's important to know what to do, and knowing what not to do is even more important. Because every step in the wrong direction and every minute you spend doing the wrong thing will only take you further and further away from your goals.
Worse yet, you'll get frustrated, you'll give up, and you'll blame entrepreneurship (and avoid it for the rest of your life) when in reality, it's just because you have a bad strategy .
In this article, G Office will help you avoid this trap by sharing the best tips we've gleaned from smart and successful people (and the lessons we've learned the hard way) for starting a self-employment or own business.
No matter what industry you are in: food, fashion, coding, daycare, consulting, etc. or how “experienced” you are, we are confident that these tips will be of great help to you. much.
Don't sweat the details
Years ago, Andy met someone who was trying to build a website and they told Andy they were busy blogging, writing a business plan, designing business cards, signing freelance contracts ( even though there are no employees), and a variety of other jobs. material.
Then they asked him if I had those in my business and he said I didn't. “You really should,” they replied.
Andy just laughed.
Because none of that affects his success.
Maybe at some point, those things might matter. But when you're just starting out, it's the small details that you shouldn't get bogged down in.
It's like people worrying about having a great SEO strategy… when they only have 17 website visitors per month. (And 16 of them are just bots.)
Instead, remember the 80/20 Rule: Focusing on 20% will get you 80% (or more) results.
When starting out, you should just focus on finding your customers, getting people to buy, and making a profit.
“If you can do that, you are doing better than most “wannabe” startups. Avoid time-wasting tasks that allow you to “play business” but don’t actually impact your bottom line… when you eliminate these useless tasks that add no real business value, You'll have more time to focus on the areas that matter..."
RAMIT SETHI
After all, you can build a very profitable business without a website, business cards, or even a lawyer-approved contract.
Remember, don't “play business” (i.e. play a make-believe game where you feel like you're running a business, but you're not doing anything). Let's focus on what's really important.
Ask for money
This is a problem we see all too often: Someone will have a business idea and everyone will respond, “Wow, that's a great idea! Wonderful sound! You should really do it! Then that person will be super excited because now, it seems like their business idea has a lot of potential.
We hate to burst your bubble, but all those compliments are completely worthless. Remember that "Judge by actions, not words." You can't take what people say on faith. Many people will say those things because you are their friend and they want to soothe your feelings or make you feel like they are supporting your dreams.
But even if they say they are “very interested” in your product or service, that still means nothing.
The only way to really know if your business idea has potential is to ask for money and receive it directly. Until that happens, their “interest” is not validated. Until that happens, your idea is not validated.
But once that happens, you can be confident that your idea has real potential and not fake potential.
“This step is very important. A lot of your ideas will seem great in theory, but you'll never know if they work until you actually test your target market's willingness to pay. I… Validation is absolutely necessary to save time and money, which will ultimately allow you to test as many of your ideas as possible.”
NOAH KAGAN
Ideas are priceless
Having ideas is great. But ideas are a dime a dozen.
People have hundreds and hundreds of ideas but very few of them will actually work.
We had a lot of ideas that we really liked, but when we tested them, they didn't work, but that's okay. Because, for us, every “no” brings us closer to “yes”; every bad idea is bringing me closer to a successful idea.
Also, make sure you don't fall in love with your ideas. Many people are truly passionate about their business, but that prevents them from being rational, unbiased, and honest with themselves.
“Entrepreneurs can easily become passionate about their ideas. They have a strong emotional attachment to a vision they have of what this idea could be in the future. They come up with a new product, service, process, or experience, and they can imagine in vivid color how wildly successful it will be. They fell in love before they hit the market with it. This is a huge danger. Then, these beloved entrepreneurs skip an incredibly important step when introducing any new idea to market: Test your idea with check writers who actually like the product. yours is enough to pay you.”
DAN SULLIVAN
The harsh truth is that most of your business ideas will fail, so don't dwell on them. Instead, take a scientific approach and test them as quickly and cost-effectively as possible. (More on that later.)
For example, when I was 23 years old, I started a clothing company with a friend. But instead of going all out, buying tons of inventory, attending multiple events, etc., I did a small batch to gauge interest.
In the end, it didn't work out, but I only lost my initial small investment, from there I was able to move on to my next idea.
It's all about balance: Passion leads to ideas and purpose, but objectivity leads to wise decisions and good judgment.
Surround yourself with the right people
How many of us are surrounded by people who tell us things like:
“95% businesses fail within 5 years”.
"Starting a business is a very difficult journey."
“Your idea is too risky.”
“Following your dreams is selfish.”
“But what if you fail? What if it breaks? What if you are struck by lightning? What if I get robbed?…”
Worse yet, how many of us, after years of listening to people like that, begin to think exactly the same way?
When you're working towards a big goal like starting your own business, you have to surround yourself with people who are aligned with your dreams. Make friends with people who can see your vision and support you as you move forward, not people who create endless (and unnecessary) worry and anxiety.
Remember: People often express their feelings toward you, so don't listen to the noise.
To change your business life, take time to change your “social” life. Look at the five people you spend the most time with. Do they push you forward in life or do they hold you back?
Be honest with yourself.
If you're not spending time with the right people, it will impact your ability to grow your business. It may not seem like it, because they are not your customers or employees, but the psychological influence your social circle has on you cannot be underestimated.
Start small and experiment
Years ago, we had a personal training client who wanted to start a business for physicians. He spent more than $30,000 hiring developers to build a website.
At the time of launching the website, he realized that no one wanted to buy anything and the whole plan failed. His failure proved a very important lesson.
Sure, you've heard plenty of stories about people who put a second mortgage on their house and went all-in on some big crazy idea and made it happen, but that's the exception. for rules. If that's how you want to do it, fine; But for us, it's too risky.
Although we often think of entrepreneurs as blatant risk-takers, interestingly, many entrepreneurs are actually risk-averse. What they actually do is conduct research and testing to stack the odds in their favor and then they take the calculated risk.
So before you go crazy and buy tons of supplies and inventory, put down hundreds of thousands of dollars, quit your job, etc., we recommend another strategy.
Start much, much smaller and test whether your idea works or not. If you can make a profit or if you're creating a buzz, that's a good sign that you can take the next step and scale bigger.
But if that doesn't happen and you discover your idea fails, you can cut your losses on that small test run and move on to the next idea. The only thing you lose might be a few hundred dollars and a few weeks of your time.
Here's an interesting side note: When our client was building his website and told us about his progress, we made a lot of suggestions that he should test idea before spending so much money on a website that he didn't even know would work. Are not. But those suggestions just went in one ear and out the other, so I couldn't do anything else.
(And why doesn't he want to hear it? Maybe because, as I wrote before, he loves his idea and he doesn't want to hear "no" for an answer.)
No matter what your idea is, always find a way to test its feasibility with a minimal investment. Even if you want to open a restaurant, what's the smallest way you can test it? How about doing a pop-up event? How about catering an event? That way, you can test your menu and see what people think before borrowing money and building a real brick-and-mortar.
Starting from today
We saved the best for last. This is the most important lesson you can learn if you want to start a successful business.
Stop thinking about it and start taking action.
Too many people try to console you, soothe your emotions, and give you a digital hug, but none of that will help you make your first dollar.
Instead, I'll tell you the harsh and honest truth:
Stop bullshitting around and just do it.
We met a lot of people who wanted to start a business. However, one thing that unites them all is that they never do that.
It was just some dream they kept talking about, but never realized.
They wait until the perfect moment or until they are finally “ready”—but it never happens. Like I said, ideas are a dime a dozen. Everyone has ideas.
But only a very few people actually turn their ideas into reality.
Even if you have an idea that can sell for millions, it's still just a thought in your head until you actually do something with it.
Another similar problem is when people get so caught up in making sure everything is perfect before starting their business that they delay making progress (or “fail”).
They worry about whether their emails are perfect, whether their images are perfect, whether their website is perfect, or whatever. But it is a self-defeating pursuit. (And again, working tirelessly on a website that no one yet considers “playing business.”)
I'd rather send an email with typos than never send an email at all.
A few years ago, when I was starting to work on a business idea, someone I knew was a “worry-monger” and told me I should wait until I had done X, Y, and Z. .
But none of what they say matters. What matters is action.
If I keep waiting for all the stars to align and all my tactics to be perfect perfect email perfect SEO strategy perfect website etc then I will keep waiting. (Worse, I'll probably come up with more and more things I need to get done in the meantime.)
Avoid this hamster wheel.
If you have an idea, just go for it. Take the first step.
Even if that means texting your friends and asking them if they want to buy, that's okay.
You have to start somewhere.
You don't have to have everything figured out right now. You just move on to the next step and from there, you can learn what you need to move on to the next step (etc).
I hope this helps.
