September 28, 2023 | Last Updated on: October 10, 2023
Starting your own business can be a challenging endeavor. Especially if you’re trying to do it all on your own. Thankfully, in today’s world, there’s no reason any entrepreneur should be trying to reinvent the wheel. There are countless thousands of others who have gone before that you can learn from.
Here are Six things every small business wishes they knew when they first started:
Failure is an essential part of starting a business. Talk to any entrepreneur or business owner and they’ll tell you story after story where they tried something and it didn’t work. But did they stop? No! They learned from their failures and moved on. If you’re going to be successful in your venture, you’ll need to learn how to hold things loosely and instead of taking failure personally, learn to embrace it. If you’re afraid to fail, you’ll be too afraid to take a risk. And it’s like they say: No risk, no reward.
You might be the smartest entrepreneur working on the best startup idea in the world. But without a business plan, you and your team are likely to spread yourselves too thin chasing down too many opportunities. A business plan helps keep you and your team on track so that you can all be on the same page working towards the same goals.
When writing your business plan, make sure it aligns with your strategy and is based on insights about your target market, competitors, and competitive advantage. It doesn’t have to be complicated, just write down the information that will be useful as you focus on growing your business.
We recommend Shopify’s “How To Write the Perfect Business Plan in 9 Steps” as a way to get started on your plan and understand what you need to include to feel the most confident moving forward.
Ask anyone on the street for a great business idea and chances are they’ll be able to rattle off several. Most people walk around with inventions in their head that would make our lives easier, better, or more affordable. So what’s the difference between the average person and a successful entrepreneur?
Execution.
It doesn’t matter how great your idea is or how much thought you’ve put into your business plan—if you don’t execute, it’s not worth anything.
So, when you’re faced with a decision about whether you should think about something more, or just go out and do it, try just going out and doing it. If it fails, take those learnings and try again. If it succeeds, keep going!
Data is your best friend! It will help guide your decision making, as you will have evidence as you’re making decisions. Learning tools like Google Analytics and SemRush will not only allow you to analyze your own successes and failures, but also those of the companies you’re competing with.
Data can also be utilized across many different verticals. For example, you want to look at the click rates, bounce rates, and open rates for emails. All of those are considered data. Additionally, you want to look at the conversion rates for customers. That’s also considered data.
Utilizing the information at your disposal is one key thing, but being willing to go above and beyond and seek out additional data will provide you with more insights to improve and grow your company, as well as getting ahead of the competition.
Just remember—data is everywhere. Don’t let it paralyze you. Data is only meaningful if you act on it.
Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of thinking that they’re the only ones working on an innovative idea. Realistically, the same influences and resources that led you to start your business are also driving others to do the same thing—you just might not be aware of them yet.
And remember, there are two types of competition: Direct and indirect. Direct competitors are the companies that are offering similar products and services to the same target consumers. For example, McDonalds and Wendy’s. Indirect competitors are harder to identify. They’re offering products and services that meet the same needs in different ways. For example, those fast food restaurants face indirect competition from grocery stores, meal kit subscriptions, farmers markets, and more.
Understanding both direct and indirect competition can help you avoid surprises and pivot to face new threats to your company.
Many small businesses fail because their owners were really good at creating products or performing services, but they neglected their finances. In every industry, cash ebbs and flows, and there will be opportunities that you need an influx of capital to take advantage of, as well as emergencies that you need more money to solve.
Make sure you understand your finances, and that you’re using a financial platform that you understand, like QuickBooks or Wave. And if you need financing, make sure you understand your options and are working with a lender that is trustworthy.
Starting a small business is never as easy as it sounds. Thankfully, you don’t have to work in a silo and there are resources available if you’re just willing to look.
Set your business up for success by following the steps outlined above, and ensure that you’re learning from other entrepreneurs successes and failures. They’ve paved the way for your business to succeed, and by learning from their mistakes, you can avoid some of your own.
And as you’re considering taking out loans for your small business, consider Biz2Credit. Our team is ready to help you fund your small business as efficiently as possible.
