collaborative post // Running a small business is not easy. It takes a huge amount of time, effort, and creativity to set up and run a business with very little help in those early years. It’s all too easy to get overtired and make a stupid mistake that will cost your company.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at a few things your small business should never do if you want to survive and thrive in the long term:
Spend lots of money
Yes, starting a business means investing in a business, but if you start spending too much too soon; if you start buying all kinds of extras you don’t really need before your business has gotten off the ground, you are likely to get into financial trouble sooner, rather than later. Start off by spending only the minimum you need for your business to function and don’t start throwing the cash around until you are actually making a profit.
Skip the insurance
When money is tight, it can be tempting to lower your expenses by skipping the insurance policy, but insurance for small business owners is vital. If someone was to say, slip and fall in your store, you could end up being sued for thousands, and without insurance, it could cause your company to fold.
Insurance might not exactly be cheap, but it’s better than the alternative, so don’t make the mistake of skipping it altogether and look for better deals instead.
Trying to make things perfect
There are few perfect businesses out there, and most of them are not brand-new small businesses. So, it is futile to try and make your business perfect, especially when it will affect your health and wellbeing and cost you more money than you need to spend. Yes, do your best to make your business as good as it can be, but forget about perfection, it will only keep you awake at night.
Not focusing on social media
As a small business, social media is one of the best tools you have at your disposal. It can help you reach out to people and find your target audience faster than almost anything else, so even if your business is a brick-and-mortar affair, make sure you have a strong social media presence and post regularly or you will end up regretting it.
Relying too much on debt
Yes, you may need to take out a business loan to get your small business off the ground, but you should not get into lots and lots of debt in these early years. As mentioned above, spending the minimum you can get by on is always a better solution and if you can find non-debt ways to fund your company, it will always be safer for you and your business to do so.
It’s not always easy to do the right thing, especially when you have never run a small business before, but if you can avoid making the above mistakes, you will be off to a great start.
