The first few months of your new business can be equally exhilarating and nerve racking. A lot of the time, you are part confident and part scared shitless. This is not surprising as statistics show that only 75% of new businesses ever make it past the first year. And with millions of businesses starting up every year, it is obvious that the odds are not exactly stacked in your favor. However, there are a few things you can do to even the odds up a bit. Read on for some tips on how to survive the first few months of your new start-up.
Remind yourself why you started out in the first place –
Very few people can gather the confidence needed to walk away from the security of a paying job and start up a business. It takes a lot of guts to do that. These same guts can keep you going even when you hit a rough patch in the early months of your business. The secret is to constantly remind yourself exactly why you chose to go into business. Let everything you do revolve around this singular purpose. This will carry you whenever you begin to doubt your sanity.
Surround yourself with the right people –
It takes having the right kind of people around you to succeed. This includes your employees and those you see advice from. No matter how much you know, there will come a time in the early days of your business when you will encounter things that baffle you. This is where you will experience the importance of having a mentor. People who have gone ahead of you in the industry once passed through what you are passing through; don’t be ashamed to ask for assistance.
Keep your expenses low –
One of the major problems startup face is the lack of enough capital. In fact, as you journey further in your business, you will realize that you can never have too much money. It is therefore vital that you keep you expenses as low as possible so that you don’t get insolvent. There will be certain things you will have to do without during the early days of your business. If you can comfortably run your business out of a 12 by 12 room, then you have no need for something bigger. However, as much as you are trying to reduce expenses, it should not affect your business offerings.
Make the right partners –
“No man is an island” should be the maxim for new entrepreneurs and startups. The truth is that in the early days of your business, and even as the business continues to grow, you will need the right kind of partnership that encourages scalability. For instance, partnering with similar businesses will help you enjoy economies of scale. Similarly, you also need the partnership that provides adequate coverage for your fledging startup in the event of that you hit one of the many potholes you are bound to hit as you journey in business.
Make customer king –
The purpose of starting a business is not necessarily to make a great product or to create an empire; it is to offer value to your customers. These are the people that would make your business grow. As long as you focus on providing customer satisfaction, you will have the satisfaction is surviving the first few months of your startup business.