10 Tips for Entrepreneurs

A New Year, a new opportunity to be entrepreneurial.  

If you’ve been considering starting your own business and are unsure how to bring your vision to life, then look no further. We’ve put together our top 10 tips for entrepreneurs. From financial advice, to educating yourself and communicating your vision, we talk you through the necessary steps for your journey.

1. Have a solution, not just a vision

Perhaps the easy part of a new business venture is having an idea, but a product or service should solve a problem for someone, fulfilling a need – even if it is one they perhaps didn’t realise they had. It’s great to have a passion for something and believe in what you’re selling, but unless there is a desire for it in the market, or at least that you can create demand, then your venture might be very short lived. Market research can be invaluable in this regard, identifying the needs and demands of your audience and then developing solutions to suit.

The ideal scenario is to identify a niche product or service in the market. To discover a service, product of feature that nobody else has thought of, or hasn’t nailed effectively, will give you a great chance at success. You should obsess about your niche and own that space, giving the audience every reason to trust in your business and know your solution is the best fit for their requirements.

2. Network, network, network

Connecting with people is an invaluable aid in developing and sustaining a business.Shared workspaces provide the ideal environment for like minded business professionals to grow – learning from the experiences of others around them and sharing skills and knowledge to help develop their own business and that of others.

When you are in the initial stages of getting your business off the ground, connections will help to keep it afloat. Once established, those initial helpers will turn into powerful allies. Soon, you will be in the position to share your expertise with another start-up, perpetuating the chain of positivity and success.

3. Take advice, even your own

When in the early stages of developing your idea, listen to the opinions of everyone – friends, family, business professionals – even yourself! It’s important to be a ‘sponge’ in this initial phase. Write notes on these opinions, do your research online and use these resources to start to develop a detailed plan for your venture.

Encourage honesty from the people you speak with – you may know from their body language how they really feel! Press them on what it is they like and/or dislike about your idea. The collective opinion you gather from peers and others is likely to be a reflection on your customers’ reactions, so don’t under estimate the opinions of others. Resist the urge to fall in love with your idea and plough on regardless of what the market needs and wants.

Perhaps most valuable will be the advice from experts and veteran business owners. These people will know first hand what works and what doesn’t. The most successful entrepreneurs will learn from the mistakes of others.

4. Do your sums but don’t over-think the financials…

If you’re starting a business, you’re going to have to get used to taking a financial hit in the shorter term. As the old maxim goes, you have to speculate to accumulate – ie. you can’t make money without spending some!

You need to do your financials – factor in all your business expenditure such as premises, supplies, marketing and staff salaries (if applicable)to gain as accurate a figure as you can. Don’t forget to factor in your personal budget when thinking of your business costs. Look at your current expenditure and ensure you’ll have enough funds to cover the essentials (mortgage, utilities etc.), even if you have to let other expenses slide in the short term (holidays, nights out etc.).

Once you have a grasp on all your expenses, start to create a business budget. At first you may need to gain some outside capital to help make ends meet, such as a small business loan. Don’t forget to explore funding opportunities too from Invest NI, local councils and other institutions.

A part-time role, or staying in your current employment as long as feasible, will help with the cashflow in the early days. It will also help create and sustain a networking outlet, which will be invaluable (see point 2).

5. Make every day a school day

Passion is perhaps the single more important ingredient for any successful business venture, but you must balance this passion with wisdom. Passion will provide the drive for your venture, but wisdom will ensure you are pointed in the right direction. Let your passion press the accelerator but ensure it’s your mind that has control of the steering wheel.

This wisdom will take hard work, time and effort to achieve, but its effect could be the difference between a flash-in-the-pan idea and a sustainable business venture. Entrepreneurship is all about solving problems and learning throughout the process and indeed you should make it your mission to learn something new every day.

6. Take calculated risks

Every business will incur an element of risk, and yes there may be failures along the way.  However, failure will not preclude you from ultimately succeeding and in fact is often a necessary step in the start-up process.  The best entrepreneurs in the world have not let a fear of failure prevent them from developing what they believe to be a great idea into a business venture.  Some of those risks won’t work out, but the ones that do will be the ones that define you.

7. Tell people about your business!

When you’re new to the world of business, it can be intimidating sharing your ideas. One challenge faced by many business owners is that they don’t know how to sell themselves and their ideas.

If you’re worried what people think of you or your ideas or if you fear failure then you need to get over that pretty quickly.  Have faith in your idea and be positive about it.  This positivity is important in sending out the right messages not just to potential clients, but also to potential investors and other industry professionals, and will help you be taken seriously in the business world.

You may be naturally introverted and not a fan of public speaking, but if you’re going to make a success of your business you need to put yourself out there.  Take yourself out of your comfort zone and literally ‘fake it ‘till you make it’ and you’ll reap the rewards.  Be ready always to speak with confidence about your business, even if it makes you uncomfortable.  From networking with clients to negotiating supplier agreements, you’ll need to be able to communicate effectively and confidently.

8. Know the law

With all the excitement of starting a business, some entrepreneurs can get carried away and forget their legal obligations as business owners.  You need to become familiar with your legal obligations when opening a business and avoid penalties that could result from failure to follow government regulations.

Register your business, address your tax liabilities and get yourself a reliable accountant who can advise on your financial undertakings.  If you plan to hire staff then you’ll need to read up on employment laws and/or seek advice from a HR professional.

Don’t let the legal jargon intimidate you, but do take the time to address your obligations at an early stage to avoid any pitfalls at a later date.

9. Keep it simple!

If you have an idea and are ready to run with it – great! Try not to let your concept develop into something over complicated. Chances are you will end up with something expensive and elaborate that nobody wants to buy.

Try to start small and keep a narrow focus. Test your initial ideas and create a product or service that fulfils promises to customers and exceeds their expectations.

You may have ideas for features and additional services that will enhance your product, but leave these for the next stage – always leave room to develop and grow your product or service.  As a small business you don’t need all the trappings of a huge corporation so don’t over complicate things and smother your business in its infancy.

10. Take care of you

If your business has been started by you, and you are at the centre of it, then you are the most important person in your business.  It sounds obvious, but some hard working business people forget how important they are in the mix and sacrifice their own health and wellbeing for the sake of their business.

Your business will thrive if you do and nothing is as precious in the mix than your own health.  Hard work is important but running yourself into the ground will only impact negatively on your business and could ultimately derail the whole venture.  Eat healthily, try and get enough sleep and incorporate exercise into your routine to alleviate stress.  By looking after your own health, you’ll have the strength to achieve your goals and your business will flourish as a result.