Once upon a time you were extremely passionate about your dreams, and you chose to be amongst those who left no stones unturned when it came to shaping your dreams into a reality. Well, great job you did there.
But, now what? Are you contemplating your decision of taking this path for you? Have you started feeling and thinking that you perhaps shouldn’t have made the decision of being your own boss? Believe me, you are not the one sailing through these irksome thoughts.
The purpose of this article is to bring your passion back in the business that you once upon a day had it so indefinitely. Read through these following tips and practice them mindfully.
1) Analyse your business model
Many a times, startups fail due to its non-effective business model. Entrepreneurs get too excited about winning new customers through expensive marketing channels. However, what really happens is that their cost of acquiring the customers is too high as compared to the lifetime value of the customers.
You have to act smart in deciding your marketing tactics. Just by flaunting your products and services through pricey mediums does not fetch you great business; instead, think of creative and cost-effective ways to win customers. As, for instance, many studies have shown that people in Australia and all over the globe are likely to use an online business directory to search businesses online. Moreover, listing the business also aids in improving the SEO ranking of your business. Many people search for products and services on search engines such as Google, however, inevitably most of them end up being on a local business directory.
2) Setting the money goals
Even if you distinctly follow Henry Ford’s advice, “A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business”, it is still advisable to make money because money inadvertently assists in keeping you burden free and optimistic in your startup journey.
Since now the business model is shaped properly and proven to acquire customers at a reasonable cost, it can be clearly anticipated that the business can show profits. Usually one feels heavy financial burden in the business simply because the management fails to achieve its next milestone before the existing money runs out.
So make sure that the financial goals are always achieved at the right times.
3) Getting the product/service right
We are not talking about you offering a bad quality product to your customers but, perhaps you are not offering those products that your target audience needs to suffice their requirements. It is imperative to develop and offer only those products that meet the needs of the market that you are catering to. There is no point in selling products that is unneeded in the respective markets.
Remember to validate your product and service ideas with your customers before, during the development, and after. You may have to both revise and customize your products and services depending on the feedback given by the customers or you may have to literally dispose of the product.
Research your offerings comprehensively.
4) Own up to your mistakes
If we believe the data of social psychologist Fiona Lee, customers have shown more trust and liking towards companies that accept strategic failures over those who do not accept flaws in their ventures, and instead, blame everything else in the world than themselves for the mistakes. Her studies in this area have got down to the conclusion that buyers respect companies that admit faults and try to fix the problem, rather than the ones who play ‘blame game’.
5) Stay honest
Every night when you go to bed, introspect! Were you genuine in your thoughts and actions during the day? Don’t get me wrong, I am not asking you to have saintly thoughts every day but on moderate levels, do you feel you are a genuine person?
The reason behind having an answer to this question is because your goodness will be felt by your customers through your actions and behaviour.
The late Maya Angelou had said “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, “people will forget what you did but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Closing Thoughts
Running a startup is undoubtedly quite challenging and terrifying sometimes. But, learn to deal with the uncertainties and fluctuations that the nature of business brings. You are more likely than others to feel heavy and incorrigible, and so, get the pieces of your brain right and do what actually helps in keeping the business going strong.
About the author:
This article was written by Ella Rich. She is an advertising expert who writes about internet marketing, social media strategies and how to build buinsess successfully using local australian business directories. You can connect with her on ellarichMBC.
