It’s no secret that several new business startups fail.
But do you want to know why many of those business fail?
It’s not because the businesses were not financially sound or because they didn’t have a large enough customer base. Rather, it’s because the people running those businesses failed to do several necessary actions and duties that are simply needed for any business to be successful.
Here are four things you need to do as a small business owner that most other new business owners don’t:
#1 – Set Aside A Business Emergency Fund
You know the importance of having an emergency fund in your personal life, right? The kind of fund where you have three to five months of business expenses set aside.
But you will also need to have a business emergency fund as well. Remember to keep your personal finances separate from your business finances, which means that your business emergency fund and your personal one cannot be the same thing.
As a rule, have a minimum of two months of operating expenses in total set aside in an emergency fund under your business name, and which you will not touch under any circumstances.
#2 – Listen To Your Employees
Your employees probably know more than you think. If there’s any one way that is guaranteed to improve your business efficiency, it’s listening to employee feedback and applying what they tell you.
Your employees can really tell you a lot of good information about their productivity, customer relationships, and so on. If productivity has been slacking lately, berating your employees is only going to make things worse.
Instead, speak with your employees one on one. Take their feedback and apply it. Are there ways you could simplify manufacturing and shipping products? Do they feel taking frequent short brakes would boost their efficiency?
These are the kinds of questions that you can ask.
#3 – Put Yourself Out There
If you’re an introvert or are more reserved, this one will probably scare you. Nonetheless, it is fully necessary.
You just really need to put yourself out there at business conventions and networking events in order to spread the word about your business and to network and forge connections.
You see, the businesses that are thriving today do so because they have repeat customers and massive name recognition. This holds true for both global corporations such as Amazon, and for smaller businesses in individuals towns that thrive with the local population.
But at the early stage in your business, you lack both name recognition and repeat customers, and therefore you cannot rely on word of mouth.
Instead, you need to build word of mouth on your own. You can accomplish this by becoming a part of your community and not being afraid to approach others.
Go to business conventions and networking events either in your area or elsewhere (if applicable) and meet people who can help you. Sponsor sports teams for the youth in the area. Be open and talk to people at coffee shops.
You get the idea. The more open you are about the business, the more initial customers you are going to have.
#4 – Don’t Go All In
Last but not least, do not go all in with your new business where everything is on the line. You need to have a backup option.
Having an emergency fund is certainly one backup option, but you also need an option that will still generate income for you. The answer here is to keep your day job while you are still working on your business.
If you cannot work fulltime and run your new business at the same time, then you should at least work part time. This is because you still need to generate consistent revenue in order to help pay for expenses. If you go all in, you’re simply taking too big of a risk.
What You Need To Do As A New Small Business Owner
Starting a new business is never going to be easy no matter what. But the reason why so many other businesses fail is because they fail to do the above four things.
You have several duties that you will need to undertake, and the four duties that we have covered here today will easily be among the most essential.
