Setting up a small business for success

Published: 2:15pm, 10 Apr 2014

Want to start your own business? Small businesses are the backbone of many local communities and an entrepreneur’s success can depend on both short- and long-term strategies that can seek growth opportunities and endure a changing market. Thoroughness, starting from the planning phase, to the execution, marketing, and expansion processes is essential. Although there aren’t any hard and fast rules for how to run a small business, there are certainly some best practices and proven tips and tricks that have made a difference for others.

It’s important to have a detailed and clear business plan from the outset. Define what the product or service is and the function that it plays in your potential customer’s world. Understand your target market and why your product or service will sell well. Determine how much you think it will cost to start your business, and identify where and how you will seek funding. If you have no idea where to start with a business plan, try the career center at your school or university. If you aren’t enrolled in school, there are a myriad of business books and how-to guides that will help you in the endeavor. Finally, if your business is already running, consider rewriting or revisiting your business plan annually to keep up with the market.

Although marketing is extremely important, consider some cost-efficient direct marketing technologies that are making it easier to grow a small business. Traditionally, a business-to-consumer model indicates that marketing budgets are necessary to sell a product or service. Partnerships with other companies that can help distribute or promote your business often simplify the sales process. Social media is opening up outlets to enable companies to develop one-on-one relationships with customers, but keep in mind that you need to have a strategy or goal. Although it is a great achievement to have thousands of Twitter followers, what do you ultimately hope to achieve? Perhaps it is exposure or brand management; either way, your social media plan should align with that goal.

Just as in a large company, your people are your biggest asset. Payroll is one of the largest expenditures for any business, and smart hiring can ensure that you have the right employees. Strong team members will be able to uphold your vision and execute your plan to work toward achieving any goals you have set for the business. Additionally, great employees will bring new ideas and perspective into the company, providing avenues for growth and expansion.

It certainly is no easy undertaking to launch and run a small business, but that doesn’t mean the journey has to be taken alone. With a solid, well-maintained business plan, smart marketing, growth strategy, and the right people, an entrepreneur can be sure that they are doing all they can to ensure their business’s health.

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