The process of starting your own small business is anything but an easy task. There are many things to think of like how do I start marketing my brand and how do I stand out from the crowd?
We’re here to help you with part two of our three-part series: 19 small business owners give their best piece of advice for those starting out. Catch up on part one of the series here. Explore some valuable tips on how your business can save valuable time and money for the long run, and importance of perseverance and how maintaining consistency is vital to your businesses survival.
Your next step to success starts here…
7. Get yourself a virtual assistant
When you are starting out, you are everything from accounts to business development.
Get yourself a virtual assistant for the menial tasks such as email & calendar management, bookkeeping to creating and sending out your e-Xmas card. This will free you up for the more important stuff. Even if it’s only 5 to 10 hours a week, it makes a huge difference.
But give them clear briefs/procedures, remember, “You’re only as good as the brief you’ve been given”.
Advice From Rey Yesilnacar
Rey is a digital pioneer with 15 years experience. She has extensive experience in search engine; direct and further digital marketing functions and brings a comprehensive array of business management skills. Her search marketing consultancy was born from a new crossroads, industry frustration and an Audrey Hepburn quote. “ As you grow older, you realize you have two hands, one for helping others, and one for helping yourself.”.
8. Be prepared to learn new things
We launched 18 months ago – and thankfully are still going strong.
There is lots of advice to give to a new business – but I have settled on one.
Be prepared to learn new things!
You may have a great idea, have financial support and a good team (or you may not) but no matter who you are, you need to be open to learning lots of new things. Learn something every day.
You need to learn (or delegate):
- Accounting
- Marketing
- Sales
- SEO and websites
- Handling stress
- Dealing with disappointment
- Finding info and suppliers
- How to read a contract
- How to balance home life
- Keeping your relationships strong and not working 24 hours a day
To be honest – I feel like I am constantly learning new things and it can be exhausting!
Advice From Aodhán MacCathmhaoil
Aodhán is the sales and marketing manager at waster.com.au who help small and medium businesses reduce costs and boost recycling.
9. Persevere for two years
You need two years’ worth of perseverance and a hearty work ethic to establish yourself.
When I was starting out, I sought the advice of an established career coach/psychologist. He asked, “could you persevere for two years?” I made the decision I would commit to giving it absolutely everything for two years.
This really helped me push through some early shaky patches. Five years on and we have supported national clients like Qantas, Rio Tinto, Macquarie, IAG, Loreal, Lorna Jane, AnyTime Fitness and wow there were times when I nearly buckled, but I gave it everything for two years and still do.
Advice From Jane Wundersitz
Jane is the founder and master trainer at WunderTraining. WunderTraining believes that a business is only as happy and successful as its people. Our mission is to empower leaders, teams and individuals to be positively engaged at work, school and life..
10. Get a business coach
When I bought my current business, I wasted a lot of money on a “scattergun” approach to advertising and marketing. I tried everything, from newspaper ads to in-store tv ads, school newsletters, SEO for my website (that was not done well)
Naively I thought everything would work and the money would come rolling in. It doesn’t.
I could have saved myself a fortune if I had spent even 20% of that money on a good business coach first. I have had two great coaches in 5 years, and they taught me about trialling one or two marketing ideas and measuring the results, or the return on investment (ROI) before launching into the next one.
Test and measure. Words to live by.
They have taught me to think about who my ideal client was, and to think about what they read, watched, participated in and found better ways to market my business.
If you don’t have the budget for a business coach yet, look for a business mentor. Your local council, small business groups, your states small business organisations would be able to point you in the right direction.
Of course, a coach can teach you so much more. My advice is to find one who has walked the talk and been in business themselves. Can they provide references from people who have been coached by them and are happy to talk with you before you commit?
Find one who is a good fit for you. It is an investment in yourself as well as your business, and a quality coach can save you time, money, sanity and help you reach your goals faster.
Advice From Sharon Moore
Sharon runs a pet minding business at Pet Carers. Established 2007- 11 Years of Quality, Experienced, Loving Pet Care.
11. Be consistent
My one piece of advice would be, ‘Be consistent’. When you are creating content for your product/service, be sure to ‘show up’ consistently. It’s better to post on social media three times a week than trying to post twice-daily, but only doing it for a week and then taking a month break. Similarly, you are better off publishing one quality blog a month than writing a poorly researched blog every week.
People like regularity.
It makes them feel safe. It makes them feel like they can trust you. You can always add ‘spontaneous’ or ‘bonus’ content for your audience but be sure to start with a solid foundation of consistent, valuable content first.
Advice From Veronica McDermott
Veronica runs a professional copywriting and consultancy service Words My Way. Using her creative curiosity, Veronica help clients transform ideas into enticing and insightful content, ready for the web or print media.
12. Find the WIIFM – What’s In It For Me
In the 1970’s it was estimated that the human brain was being hit with about 500 branded messages a day. Today that’s more like 5000!
It is such a cluttered and overwhelming market that any business needs to get clear on what it wants to be most well known for.
You need to make it really simple and easy for your ideal prospects to instantly understand what you do and how you can help them.
Before you spend a cent on marketing, get clear on your brand identity, your purpose and how you want to make people feel.
And remember, your client is only thinking about one thing…themselves.
Find the WIIFM – What’s In It For Me, and make sure you focus your efforts and invest in the right channels, with the right message or you will end up doing WOFTAM marketing – a waste of flipping time and money.
It doesn’t matter how awesome your product or service is, if you can’t instantly engage and connect with your target audience, you will not be successful.
Advice From Lauren Clemett
Lauren has over 25 years in the marketing communications arena; working within world leading advertising agencies such as Saatchi & Saatchi, Clemenger BBDO, Ogilvy & Mather and Grey Worldwide owning her own agency, Evergreen, focusing on Baby Boomer Marketing and was Brand Manager for AXA, delivering the International Rugby World Sevens Tournament. Check out her website The Ultimate Business Propellor.
Key takeaways
You don’t need to necessarily work harder, just smarter with these simple pieces of advice. We know that your budgets may be small when you’re first starting out, so finding thrifty ways to help you save time and money are always a bonus!
Some of the key takeaways worth noting down include:
- Be Consistent– With your brand and your content creation, producing high-quality material that your customers want to engage with
- Persevere– It can take two years of hard-work and perseverance to establish yourself
- Constantly learn new things– Being open to learning new things is a great way to grow and develop your business.
“The opinions expressed by BizWitty Contributors are their own, not those of BizCover and should not be relied upon in place of appropriate professional advice. Please read our full disclaimer."
