BUSINESS owners can stay in start-up mode for too long. If you keep telling people you’re ‘just a start-up’ you will never take actions for real growth.
You need to move from start-up to grown-up mode and from planning to doing. You want to look back at your start-up phase, whether that be two years or five years, as an important part of your growing business history. You want to say ‘I remember when I had to do everything myself. Now I employ over 100 people.’ This is the mindset to move towards and here are five ways to help you do that:
1. Delegate. When you are in start-up phase, you handle everything. To become a going concern you have to start investing in people to do tasks you can no longer do. Three quarters of all small businesses have no employees, which reinforces the resistance people have to delegating. You have to grow your business. It is a misconception to think employees cost money. A lack of production and failure to grow your business costs far more. When you take on employees, remember the importance of having proper employment contracts in place from the outset.
2. Pick your battles. Don’t sweat the small stuff when it ultimately doesn’t matter. Obsessing over how, for example, your website looks is probably not critical and will evolve as your business evolves, so is likely to change anyway. There are more important things to obsess over such as gaining customers and making money. Don’t, however, overlook the importance of having proper contracts and terms and conditions in place, the expense of preparing these from the outset can save you a lot of money later on.
3. Get attention. The single biggest problem every start-up has is becoming known. Your most important task is to get attention for you and your company. It’s the gateway to all the money you will earn. Get attention. Get critics. Then get admiration. Once you have decided on the look and the brand, think about how to protect that image, so that others do not steal your look or ideas. Advice on proper intellectual property protection from the outset, can be vital, particularly in sectors with a heavy branding or IP bias.
4. Change your sales pitch. Instead of saying ‘I own a small public relations company’ say ‘I own a public relations company like none other that guarantees your company increased sales’. The first statement makes you seem small and insignificant. It makes no claim. The second makes you seem unique, confident and capable of being a money maker. Know how to pitch yourself and your business. Be ready to quickly explain what your company does that is better, faster and of value to the marketplace.
5. Create urgency. If you start a business venture without setting specific timelines for action and achievements, you will be stuck forever with excuses. Being a business owner is a marathon activity with lots of sprints. Win a lot of little races and you will provide your people and company with momentum. Get and give regular up dates so you can see what progress you are making, or not, as the case may be.
Remember: It used to be the big who ate the small. Today, it is the fast who eat the slow. The commercial team at Wilson Browne take particular enjoyment from being with business owners from the beginning of their journey so they can help from the outset to keep the business fast, and then in time bigger but still fast.
For more information contact Wilson Browne Solicitors on 0800 088 6004.
