Entrepreneur Tips

Tips Every Entrepreneur Needs

Starting a company requires hard work, energy, and hours devoted to making it happen. As an entrepreneur, you know you are ready to do it all, but you should also know that you do not have to do it alone or in a vacuum. Keep reading for some guidance on best practices for helping your new business get where you want it to be.

Hire a Qualified Marketing Agency

This step is crucial. There is a virtual multitude of things you can do to market your new company. After trying a few tactics, you should assess their relative metrics to learn how well they performed before moving on to new sectors or marketing endeavours. 

As an example: Knowing the statistics of how many people stayed on one page and for how long may be too much for you to handle at the inception of your company. As you are just beginning your business venture to succeed, you probably do not employ any staff who have the time or expertise to handle this undertaking. 

Enter: A professional marketing agency. They are skilled in all things related to advertising and marketing your company to get your brand in front of consumers’ eyes. Marketing agencies offer a variety of valuable tools that will aid in your brand’s exposure and relevance, including:

• Google Ads Management
• Search Engine Optimization or SEO
• Onsite copywriters and designers
• Campaign strategy
• YouTube engagement
• Inviting and creative ads
• Social Media ads

Set Up and Keep Boundaries

When you start a business, there are long hours and interruptions in your time. While some of that is to be expected, setting up a clear delineation between professional and personal space and time is essential for sustaining your focus, business goals, and achieving growth while still maintaining your personal life.

Use tools such as automatic Out of Office replies which detail when you will next be available. Schedule office hours at specific times and post that to your website. Turn on an automatic email response and add your hours to your signature block, social media feeds, and voicemail message. Do your best to use that time to make phone calls and stick to that schedule.

On the reverse side, talk with your family and friends to request that they respect your work time. Assure them that you will be available outside of work hours for life as usual. If you have a partner, the lines may blur because life still happens even when you are working, but have the conversation to ensure you are on the same page regarding expectations. Everyone will feel more accepting and comfortable when they know what is happening instead of making assumptions.

Outline Your Goals

As a business leader, you need to show the world why they should put their hard-earned money into your hands in exchange for your product or service. To do that, you want to be clear and intentional in outlining your business goals.

Choose a time when you do your best thinking, such as before everyone else is in the office or on your morning run (no, you are not supposed to cross the line between work and home, but you are an entrepreneur!) Ask yourself these questions to help clarify and hone your core goals:

• Why did you start your company in the first place? 
• What did you hope to achieve at that time? 
• What do you want to achieve now? (If there has been a change in outcome or mindset between this and the last question, address that.)
• What do you want consumers to experience when they have your product in their hands (or have utilized your services)?
• Do you have a timeframe in which you intend to achieve a specific target profit?

Once you have your goals framed, write them down to solidify your intentions. Revisit them routinely and make changes accordingly. Remember, making changes to your goals does not mean giving up. It means that you are adaptive and capable of finding new ways to keep your company moving forward. 

Learn From the Setbacks and Mistakes

In business, as in life mistakes will be made. It is inevitable. Chalk it up to miscommunication, misunderstanding, or even being in a different time zone than the potential supplier with whom you are about to have a Zoom call. Mistakes happen, but how you deal with them matters even more. Own up to the incident and move on to do better.

Watch this video to learn a valuable tip for how to deal with a mistake when you make a personal affront towards a professional connection.

Listen to Your Team

Your staff are your teammates. They want to see you accomplish your goals for success so they can do likewise. And, people generally want to help others do better. They are the proverbial boots on the ground who routinely interact with consumers. They possess inside knowledge of what you want them to do and what works. 

Talk to your team and invite them to be open about making suggestions for how to make the business better. Ask them for their valuable input regarding the processes they are involved in and the ones they may observe. Make your workplace open and inviting so they can feel comfortable coming to you and offering their input.

When your employees come to you with ways to better the company, take the time to listen. Ask follow-up questions and possibly learn that the status quo may no longer be the best practice. If you implement any form of their input, always give them credit for the idea. Perhaps you can even request that they spearhead a new initiative to make their suggested change happen. 

Making smart moves as an entrepreneur will get you where you want to be at a faster rate. Effective marketing matters in this busy world with everyone competing for the same finite number of potential customers. Be deliberate in your intentions, and make the changes you want to see. The world moves at a rapid pace. You need to keep up.