The Next Step
OK you have decided to start your own business and you are wondering how to make it a success. There are some vital questions to ask yourself and some vital steps to take.
Do you have the right stuff?
Can you identify with these character traits?
- Generates ideas
- Identify opportunities
- Well motivated/has drive and determination
- Has vision
- Sets goals
- Innovates - offers something that's different
- Solves problems
- Takes calculated risks
- Hard worker
If you can see yourself in this description you probably have the right mix to make a business work.
What skills will I need ?
Running your own business means you need to wear many hats. It's not good enough to be a good tradesman, artist, inventor etc. You will need to gain skills and tackle roles that might be very different from those you are currently used to.
Roles within your own company:
- Sales Person
- Accountant
- Marketing
- Administrator
- Manager
- Worker
Although you may not have these skills SASDA can help you understand the basics and put you on the path to being more confident in handling these roles effectively.
What personal skills should I have to tackle these roles?
You do need some basic character traits to manage and run your business effectively. If you spot one that you are missing you should seriously consider how you are going to tackle it!
- Good communicator - on the phone, in front of new people?
- Motivated and confident - you will get many disappointments, can you cope?
- Organised - No one is perfect, but it helps to keep things in order.
- Disciplined - If your not, things will slip!
- Problem solver - you are going to find a lot of problems, will you panic?
- Proactive - It's no use waiting for something to happen, you have to make it happen.
- Interpersonal skills - Are you good with people?
- Diplomat - suppliers, workers, customers and banks will push you to the limit!
Reasons why businesses fail
You have your business idea and have looked through the list of skills and roles required and you fit the model of the ideal business person. So, with all these things in place, you are ready for success and all that comes with it? No, not yet, there are a number of other things that can destroy your hopes.
- Lack of business skills & experience, particularly sales!
- Under financed- cost of starting up
- Failure to recognise warning signs (or ignoring them).
- Overtrading-taking on too much, too early.
- Poor management & admin - not prioritising or being organised.
- Lack of financial control - Cash flow and credit control.
- Excessive wages - Taking too much out.
- Poor location - remember location, location, location.
- Poor pricing policy - Too expensive or too cheap.
How do I avoid these pit falls?
The first thing to do is to get some expert advice by calling SASDA. We will help you make sense of the world of business and avoid making costly mistakes. It is well known that the best businesses succeed because they take advantage of any help that is available to them and continue to do so, despite the fact that they may have a turnover of several millions or billions of pounds!
We will review your business plans and ideas in a relaxed, informal and friendly environment and help you get started in the right direction and maintain this support for however long you need us... and it's all completely FREE!!!
Contact Andrew Maxwell or David White right now, you can make an informal first appointment for a general chat at our offices.
RSS News Feed
Follow us on Twitter
