8 Pieces Of Startup Advice All Entrepreneurs Can Use
Starting a business comes with lots of challenges. Sometimes advice is needed. Here are 8 pieces of startup advice all entrepreneurs can use.
As a new entrepreneur plunging head first into unfamiliar waters, you’re often given loads of unsolicited startup advice.
As eager as you are to soak up every little bit of startup advice that gets thrown your way, not all of it will be advice that you should follow.
With only half of new startups surviving five years or more, it’s critical to decipher the sound advice that will further your business and the misplaced advice that can lead you astray.
Here are 10 pieces of startup advice all entrepreneurs can use.
1) The Most Important Startup Advice: Customers Come First
Your customers are your most valuable asset to your business, but not just because they purchase from you.
Once you begin to conduct market research and get to know your customers, you’ll start to get inside their heads and be able to provide them with exactly what their longing for.
Many businesses also resort to word-of-mouth referrals, so imperative to foster an excellent rapport with your customers from day one.
In this digital age, online reviews are everything, and reputation is everything.
Which is why focusing on your customers and customer service should always be your top priority.
2) Narrow Down And Focus On Your Target Audience
A common misconception among entrepreneurs is that they need to appeal to everyone to make money and be successful. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
In fact, you don’t want your products or services to attract everyone.
Finding and honing in on your target audience is one of the best pieces of startup advice you’ll find.
The products or services you sell should always address your target audience’s main pain points. This is how you’ll better serve them, and this is how you’ll ensure your startup is a success.
3) Establish and Build a Social Media Presence
It’s important to humanize your brand, and with every business under the sun on social media, it’s imperative that you jump on that band wagon too.
Social media is a vital component that will ensure your business thrives.
What can social media do for your startup business?
- Scope out competitors
- Build relationships and connections with your customers
- Get inside your target audience’s head and conduct free market research
- Help you get more leads and conversions
4) Take Advantage of All The Help You Can Get
Starting a business can be a daunting task. Certainly, if you attempt to go at it alone.
Freelancers, contract workers, and consultants are a major asset to any startup company. Whether you hire a freelancer or a contract worker, you’re going to save yourself countless hours and likely money too.
You may want to even consider a co-founder.
Because let’s face it – you have enough on your plate.
If you want to be successful in your startup, take advantage of all the help you can get.
5) Find a Mentor
Who’s better to show you the ropes of your new startup business than someone who’s been there? You can’t beat experience.
80% of CEOs of different companies stated they received some type of mentorship in a 2013 survey.
Having a mentor also helps you network. It gives you and your business more connections to people in the same niche, which can greatly benefit your business in the long run.
6) Concentrate On Marketing
You’ve created a stunning new product or service, but if nobody is there to see it, what’s the point?
That’s where a marketing strategy will prove invaluable to your business.
There are numerous routes you can take, even if you’re bootstrapping it and don’t have much of a marketing budget.
Having a website is a great start combined with content marketing. Publishing mind-blowing content is far more effective than any traditional marketing tactic or pushy sales pitch. You should also concentrate on SEO efforts for your business’s website. This can bring tremendous traffic to your website, which means more leads and more customers.
You should also concentrate on SEO efforts for your business’s website. This can bring tremendous traffic to your website, which means more leads and more customers.
7) Don’t Start Broke
You may be thinking that the whole point of your start up is to make money, but having a cushion to fall on, especially during the beginning stages is vital.
At the very least you’ll need to hire freelancers or contract workers, but more than likely you’ll need employees. You’ll need to be able to pay them. And you need to be able to pay for bills in the meantime.
You also don’t know what issues will arise, so it’s always smart to have some money put aside.
8) Give It Time
Starting and building a business is exhausting at times, and also takes a lot of hard work and determination. I’m sure this comes as no surprise.
But one tidbit of startup advice you should always remember is to give it time.
If you’re not seeing the kinds of results you’ve been hoping for, don’t give up. All it means is what you’re currently doing isn’t working. So it’s time for a new strategy or to change something.
As an entrepreneur, you’ll be tempted to give up. But let that or the ”scary” statistics you read about startup companies frighten you.
Final Thoughts
Launching a business will be exhilarating yet downright scary at times. Which is why it’s imperative to learn as much as you can before you take the leap. And even after you do, the learning never stops.
Finding a mentor and establishing a social media presence will go a long way in helping your business succeed. As will focusing on a solid marketing strategy and taking all the help you can get.
But the best startup advice I can give you is to focus on honing in on your target audience and connecting and engaging with your customers. They are the livelihood of your business.
Don’t forget your customers while you’re busy building your empire!
If you have any questions at all please don’t hesitate to contact me.
