What’d I Wish I Known Before Starting My Own Business

 

When you first began your business, you probably hoped for a fun time full of growth and money being made. But once you were in the trenches of business ownership, you realized that you had a lot to learn in order to successfully run your business.

Maybe nobody in your family was an entrepreneur. You most likely worked a traditional job the majority of your life. Whatever your background, the concept of entrepreneurship was foreign to you. You had to adjust quickly if you wanted your business to succeed.

There are some things many of us wish we knew before starting our businesses. We could have saved ourselves money, time, and frustration. We were so eager to start our businesses, that we rushed the process, and paid the price for it.

The journey of entrepreneurship is not a smooth process. Sometimes it is best to learn painful lessons early in our journey, so that we are quickly taught that entrepreneurship requires patience, a strong strategy, and the ability to pivot when our plans go awry.

If you are just starting out on your entrepreneurial journey, don’t think that you have made the wrong decision if you are experiencing stumbling blocks. Many of the entrepreneur success stories you hear today came into fruition despite experiencing setbacks. Experiencing difficulties will only help to make you a more knowledgeable and resourceful entrepreneur.

Related: A Beginner’s Guide for Incorporating Tech Start-ups in Singapore

Nurturing professional relationships and building your own support system

As an entrepreneur, you will tend to feel like you are operating in a word completely different from your family and friends. While they are worried about work, bills and the latest reality tv show, you are solely focused on making your business successful. When you have no one else who shares your experiences, it can get quite lonely.

It is important for you to know other entrepreneurs so that you have a source to share experiences, gain feedback from, and learn valuable information regarding entrepreneurship. You will feel better and actually become more productive and effective when you surround yourself with those who understand your journey.

How do you find other entrepreneurs?

• Go to networking events dedicated to entrepreneurs and small businesses
• Join business/ entrepreneur associations and organizations
• Join a mastermind group
• Start your own networking group on Meetup

Whatever path you decide to take, just make sure that you are placing yourself in the company of other entrepreneurs. You will benefit tremendously from doing so.

Related: Singapore Company Registration + Entrepreneur Pass

Why “doing it all yourself” can be a dangerous choice for entrepreneurs

Just because you are your own boss, it doesn’t mean that you must do everything by yourself. When you first start off as an entrepreneur, you will be required to wear many hats. You are the CEO, the marketer, the salesman, the administrator, the accountant – you are in charge of every process within your business.

As you expand, it becomes time to relinquish many of those roles. If you continue to wear all hats, not only will your business suffer, your own personal health will suffer. You won’t have time to focus on growth related task for your business because you are completely tied up with handling so many tasks. Your health will start to deteriorate because you never give yourself any time to rest and recover – you are constantly working straining yourself.

As a business owner, your role is to oversee your business’s growth and delegate tasks to others to complete. Don’t stunt your business’s ability to grow because you want to manage every aspect of it. Do you want a high six figure, seven figure business or do you want to remain barely scratching the surface of your potential?

Related: Why Your Startup Should Consider Coworking

The difference between your gifts and your passions, and how it affects your business

What are the skills that you have that allow you to accomplish a task with little effort being expended?

Whatever those skill set are, that is what you should focus on building a business around. Having a business that revolves around your skills enables you to get more done and flourish – quickly growing from a startup phase to a fully functioning business.

While it is ok to follow your passions, how long will it take your passions to payoff in regards to a successful business? Just because you are passionate about something, it doesn’t mean that the marketplace holds the same regards. Also, when it comes to passion, people tend to not think of theirs in a business manner, and they completely disregard forming a solid business strategy around their passion.

Your business should be built around your specific skills. Once that business is built, and able to stand on its own, then you can move towards your business of passion. Think in terms of creating a great stream of income first. When you produce the financial ability to experiment with different opportunities, your passion can then be explored.

Related: Common Mistakes to Avoid while Incorporating a Start-up in Singapore

Advice on overcoming your anxieties around selling, money, and the value of your business

Selling is a big issue for many entrepreneurs. They get into business to make money, but they are afraid to ask people for money.  It is a strange rationale to have considering people start a business to produce more money than they currently make, but it is a real fear that is common amongst new entrepreneurs.

You must understand that we live in a supply and demand world. If people want something they will purchase it. Your business is no different from any of the other big businesses you purchase from yourself. Therefore, you must realize that selling is your main objective as a business.

You don’t have to look at it as selling though. Instead you can view the exchange of money for your products or services as an exchange of value. People are paying you for the value you provide in their lives.

Therefore, you must understand the value your business provides. Once you understand your value, you will have no problem with charging people for the your time or for the products you invested time and money into.

Related: 5 Ways to Stay Afloat When Business is Slow

How peer pressure can be a powerful tool for growth

Peer pressure is the ability to assert influence over someone else, dictating their thoughts and resulting actions. Peer pressure can either be a good thing or a bad thing, that is why it is important to wisely choose the group of people that you surround yourself with.

I am sure that you have heard the saying, You are the  average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. This statement is very true. Average people only hang around with average people. They are hardly in the same vicinities of successful people. This is because successful people are always on the go and reaching for higher levels to ascend. They don’t really have the time to just sit around and waste time, there are goals that must be accomplished.

When it comes to being an entrepreneur, you should only find yourself in the company of those who motivate and inspire you. Seek out people who are more successful than you and those who are working just as hard to grow their businesses as you are. Anything less than ambitious and successful will only drag you down.

Related: How to Create the Right Culture in Your Startup

Tips for maximizing your time spent working

Great time management is required in order to build a successful business. You have so many things to accomplish in what seems like so little time, so you must know how to get a great deal of things done in an allocated amount of time.

Don’t operate with that mindset of, I can just get to it later. No you can’t! This is the behavior of average people. The more you put things off, the more you have to get done, which means it is less likely to get done.

You must practice discipline and operate with accountability if you want to make the most out of your time. Without both, you will waste a lot of time, while others are getting further ahead because they are more focused on getting things done.

Tips on how to be more productive:

• Plan out your day of work and activities
• Do your most important tasks for the day first
• Give yourself specific time constraints to work within
• Eliminate all distractions while working
• Schedule time to rest in between working

What I wish I had known before starting my business, and more

Traveling along this journey called entrepreneurship has taught me many things. While there has been ups and downs, can say that the lessons learned has made me a better entrepreneur. Without experiencing challenges, I know I would not be the entrepreneur I am today.  The challenges that I have experienced have taught me how to be more resourceful, more strategic, and also have made more ambitious.

What I wish had known before starting my business is that success is produced by a process of consistent actions. You can’t work hard one and take off for the rest of the week and expect to produce successful results. It just doesn’t work like that. Success is built upon momentum, and momentum is only built and grown by consistency.

If I had been consistent early on, I would have been successful much earlier, rather than later in my entrepreneurial journey. But I had to realize that others around me were producing success because they were completely focused on their short-term goals and long-term vision, I wasn’t. I wanted success but I wasn’t willing to dedicate all my time and energy into producing the success I desired.

Once I understood what would be required of me to be successful, I started to see better results that built upon one another. As I began producing more results it led to me climbing the entrepreneurial ladder of success. I stopped talking about success and wishing for success, and instead went to work building my business. I learned that actions speak louder than words, so I shut up and started producing.

Related: Why Do Some Startups Fail Within 2 Years?

What do you wish you had known before starting your business?

None of us are perfect so I know you. have made some mistakes that you later learned could have been avoided as you gained experience as an entrepreneur.

As you have learned from your mistakes, become a mentor for new entrepreneurs. Even if you can’t dedicate one on one time, you can provide advice via a blog, social media, a podcast, YouTube videos, or writing articles on business websites. Do your part in helping new entrepreneurs avoid the same mistakes you made.

For new entrepreneurs, soak up as much free knowledge that you can. Successful entrepreneurs are always willing to give out advice, it I’d just up to you to comprehend their advice and apply it to your process. Don’t be so headstrong that you operate with the mindset to prove everybody wrong by doing it your way. You are only sabotaging yourself and your business.

You will most certainly make mistakes when building a business, it is a part of the process, but you want to avoid common mistakes that are always warned about. Cut your learning curve in half so that you can reach the destination of success much quicker, rather than being slowed down my mistake after mistake.

Related Reading » Company Registration in Singapore

How can Singapore Company Incorporation help?

If you wish to incorporate an online business, Singapore Company Incorporation offers a range of services to assist you. Do visit our Company Incorporation page for more information or contact us.

Contact Us

34 Success Tips for New Business Owners

 

As a new business owner, you can become overwhelmed with the process of developing and operating a business. This is not like being an employee when you are told what to do and when to accomplish your tasks. You are the one who is in charge of yourself and the success or failure of your business. You are accountable for your actions, so you have no one else to blame for your shortcomings but yourself.

When starting a new business, you will need to make sure that you are focused on your core business goals, implement the correct systems, and operate with strategically effective actions. All three of these components are needed because operating a business demands so much from you. The only way you will succeed is by detailed and thorough preparations.

Provided are 34 tips for new business owners. Follow these tips if you want to ensure you develop a business that is successful.

1) Create a business plan with a specific goal

It is not a good idea to create a business plan that is filled with generic information. You need to create a business plan that specifically states your goals and how they will be achieved. For example, instead of vaguely planning to make a profit in your first year, set definite and specific targets. For example, you could aim for $500,000 in revenue and $150,000 in profit within the first year of operations. This specific target will be something concrete to work towards. You can measure success or failure according to how close you are to achieving it and make the necessary changes of direction when things do not seem to be going well.

2) Keep your day job until your business gains traction

Do not follow your emotions and give up a stable, paying job to operate a business that has no paying customers full-time. While you are building your business, keep your job so that you have money coming in to support not only your business costs, but also your personal life. You should only quit your job when your business can cover your monthly expenses for the foreseeable future,or you have saved up enough money to cover your expenses for at least a year.

3) Think BIG

It makes no sense to start a business that only gets you by. A business should be started to provide you with a lifestyle full of abundance and wealth. The only way this is accomplished is by pursuing big goals that produce big results. You have to challenge yourself to be the best in your industry, so that you attract big opportunities and high-paying clients.

4) Have a backup plan

As much as you would like to control the entirety of your business, the reality is that you cannot. There will be times when you lose a client, are faced with unexpected circumstances, and do not make the sale. This is why you never should only have one option that you are dependent on. You need to always have backup options in place so that you can continue moving forward without losing a step.

Related Article: 22 qualities of great business leaders

5) Plan for capital

You need to know how much money will be needed to develop and operate your business. It can be a very frustrating experience when you run out of money – halting your business’s progression. Therefore, you need to have your capital in place and know how you will get it in order for your business to sustain and grow.

6) Plan for success

Success will not just be served to you on a silver platter., You will have to work for it. In order to be successful though, you will need to develop a plan that outlines how your strategy will work to accomplish your goals. You will need to identify the people who are needed, the activities you must do, and the financial milestones you must reach. When your plan covers all sectors of your business, you increase your chances of succeeding.

7) Form an advisory board

You will not know everything as a business owner and should not be expected to know everything. This is why you need to have an advisory board of people whom you can consult before making a decision. Your advisory board needs to be filled with experienced business people who can guide you towards making your business successful.

8) Find a mentor

Mentors are people who are very successful business owners who are willing to share their knowledge and experiences with you. These are individuals who have earned success but have made some mistakes along the way. The knowledge that they impart to you will cut your learning curve in half and help you create successful habits that lead to sound business practices. Find mentors for every stage of your growth. You never become too successful to learn from others who have preceded you.

9) Create a powerful support system

Entrepreneurship can be a very challenging and demanding venture. There will be times when you will feel overcome with frustrations trying to turn your business into a success. During these times, you will need people whom you can turn to for advice and support. These individuals can be family and friends, but it would be beneficial if your support group was made up of other entrepreneurs too. They understand your challenges and know how to provide sound advice that can help your business overcome its challenges.

10) Invest in hiring the right people

The employees that work for you are a representation of your business. Any mistakes they make will cast a negative perception upon your business. Therefore, you need to only hire individuals who possess the same business values you possess. Also, hire people who possess the skillsets you need to operate a successful business. You do not have the ability to do everything yourself and should not be trying to do so.  Find the right people to delegate tasks to.

11) Do not engage with naysayers

People will try to discount your dreams because they are afraid to take risks themselves. They will tell you how you are making the wrong decision. They will say you need to take the safe route and get a job. They may even say you are stupid and will never succeed. Keep away from these people. They will be the same people asking you for a favor when your business turns into a success.

12) Do not skip over strategy

You need to know what your objective is before you start doing anything. Many entrepreneurs mess up by doing what they feel is best, without actually knowing what is the best move to make. You need to understand your marketplace, the competition, and your customers so that your actions are developed from strategic insight and not assumptions.

13) Be flexible

You cannot be so rigid that you are unwilling to change direction when your original plan does not work. Sometimes your improvised course of action will provide you better results than your initial plan would have. Therefore, you have to be willing to make changes when it is necessary

14) Meetings should be no longer than 45 minutes

Your time is very important. You should be focusing on actions, not spending time discussing vague ideas. Quickly go over the points that need to be discussed and then move towards taking action. The more time you waste in meetings, the less work you are able to get done.

15) Keep moving forward

It does not matter if you face setbacks or your business is not growing at the rate you would like. You must continue working because consistent progression eventually leads to results being produced. Analyze the actions you are taking and switch things up to see if you get different results.

16) Do not overthink

You cannot allow fear to hold you back from meeting your goals. There will be many obstacles and challenges that can discourage you from pursuing your goals. Use these challenges as motivation, instead of validation as to why you should give up. The most successful entrepreneurs all faced challenges on their way to the top.

17) Technology is your friend

Use technology to grow your business. Instead of trying to do everything yourself, technology now allows for you to automate your processes. This allows for you to get more done and reach more people while focusing on your core competencies and other important tasks that require your time. Technology is an asset that can make your small business operate on a large scale.

18) Go mobile

78% of mobile users made a purchase as a result of an online local search. Therefore, you need to have a website that is optimized for mobile users. You do not want to miss online sales due to bad mobile user experience of your website.

19) Build your personal brand

In today’s world, customers want to do business with people they know beyond surface level biodata on business websites. This is why a lot of influencers are using social media to show people the personal side of their lives, and how they work to be successful. YouTube and Instagram are two of the best social media platforms for you to build your personal brand. Use these social media platforms to engage with your customers and build a stronger brand with a wider reach.

Related Reading » Social Media Strategies For Your Company

20) Consistently market and brand your business

Marketing is something that should not be done off and on. Your marketing needs to be an ongoing effort so that you are keeping your sales pipeline full with leads that can be converted into customers. If your pipeline is empty, then you are not marketing enough. Sporadic marketing will lead to you being anxious because you are wondering where your next customer will come from. You never want to have this type of feeling, which is why you need to invest in your marketing.

21) Your branding needs to be cohesive

What you do online needs to be done offline. Your branding needs to be consistent so that people associate it with your business’s identity and values no matter what format it is being presented in. Therefore, your logos need to remain the same along with the colors you use. Do not use one tag line on your website and a different one on your printed marketing materials. Keep everything consistent so that no confusion is created.

22) Never skip a conversation

In business, the more contacts you have means the more opportunities you are presented with. You should engage others when they engage with you because you never know who they know, or the opportunities they possess themselves. Therefore, you need to be open to communicating with everyone you meet — they could lead to your next big opportunity.

23) Network to develop your net worth

As an entrepreneur, your network needs to be full of other ambitious entrepreneurs who are focused on success. They are out meeting just as many people as you are. You all can share contacts with each other that help each individual’s business prosper. This is why you need to work on building your network every single day. An opportunity always exists – you just need the right bridge to lead you to that opportunity.

24) Send handwritten notes

Handwritten notes go long way when sent to clients, prospects, and employees. They show that you took the time to express your gratitude for their business or work. These warm expressions are more effective than an email because unlike an email which is deleted and forgotten, they may be remembered and cherished for a long time.

25) Encourage your team to grow

You need to let your team pursue challenges and make mistakes if you want them to grow and become successful. Never get mad when mistakes are made. You need to allow your team to discover how to succeed on their own so they will become more self-sufficient – not needing your guidance every step of the way.

26) Use rejection as motivation

You are going to be told ‘No’ quite often so you need to learn how to use this rejection as motivation. People rejecting your proposal is basically rejecting your business. This should be used as motivation to improve your business so that people cannot find any reason to tell you ‘No’ in future meetings. Take the time to eliminate your weaknesses and reinforce your strengths.

27) Trust your instincts

When you feel as if the person you are dealing with is untrustworthy, or the proposed deal is not right for you, ditch them. You do not want to neglect your instincts and then regret having to deal with an issue you should never have gotten yourself into.

28) Stop selling and start serving

When trying to make a sale, do not try to force your business on people. You come across as pushy and unaware of the buyer’s needs. Instead, you need to focus on the value that your product or service provides. When you effectively communicate how your offer solves the customer’s problem, they will be pushing you to make the sale.

29) Understand your customer’s needs

When you understand your customer’s need, you create products and services that will be demanded. You need to know exactly what problems your customers are having and create the best solutions to eradicate those problems. Understand the lifestyle or business success they want to achieve and provide them with the tools to accomplish their goals.

30) Stay in contact with your customers

Your customers’ needs will change over time and you need to be aware of these changes. Ask them probing questions that will get them to open up about what they want in a provider. This allows you to provide the tailored services they need, instead of losing your customers to more innovative competitors who take the time to keep in touch with and sincerely listen to their customers.

31) Stay committed to education

Even though you may be an expert in what you do, it does not mean that you cannot be open to learning more. Your industry will always be changing, and you need to stay on top of these changes so you can continue to provide the best value to your customers. You also need to learn about different aspects of your business you lack knowledge in. You do not necessarily want to be an expert in everything, but you do want to have a working knowledge about each aspect of your business.

32) Be willing to fight

You will be facing an uphill battle when building your new business. Your competition will already be established in the marketplace, and customers will overlook your business because it has no presence in the marketplace. You will need to block out all of these challenges and focus on creating the best business possible. When you are focused on providing value to your customers, the hard work that you do will lead you towards developing a successful business that is recognized by your customers and competition.

33) Be your biggest critic

You need to be the one who points out all of your weaknesses before your customers get a chance to. You want to be very honest with yourself so that you know where you need to make changes in order to improve the performance of your business. This allows you to be a great seller because you thoroughly know the ins and outs of your business and are prepared for all the difficult questions that may come your way.

34) Follow through on your promises

Your word means everything in business. If you tell somebody that you will do something, make sure that you get it done. When you do not keep your promises, you are seen as a person who is unreliable and cannot be trusted. You do not want this kind of reputation because it will make it hard for you to keep contacts and further grow your business.

Read More » How to Sell Effectively and Become a Leader

---

Focus on achieving success. Leave the rest to us.

Singapore Company Incorporation is the leading force in company registration in Singapore. With a gamut of services including Work Visas & Relocation, Accounting & Taxation, Business Licenses, Company Secretary and Trademark Registration, we are well-positioned to support your business.

Let Us Help You