Nine top tips for new business owners:
1: Motivation/Discipline.
The hardest part of all is the motivation to carry out your actions. Motivate yourself to be productive, associate yourself with those who inspire you, use tools such as hypnotherapy/mediation, watch motivational videos etc.
Force yourself to go to sleep at a decent hour to make it easier to arise in the morning and make a conscious effort to wake with your alarm clock as opposed to hitting the snooze.
2: Focus.
Focus on the task at hand and focus on your primary business activity. It’s very easy to become side-tracked with other business opportunities/ideas, however, in order for your business to flourish, you must not spread your time/energy too thinly (ie accountants Melbourne should focus on accounting / tax returns instead on financial planning etc).
3: Fitness/health.
By maintaining a healthy lifestyle and exercising regularly, one will be able to focus with more intensity and for longer periods of time. The effects of stress and burnout will be minimised and productivity will be maximised.
4: Budgeting.
Expensive cars, first class flights, fancy offices, expensive lunches will all drain your bank account faster than you realise. Spend money where it counts such as on wages/bonuses, systems, procedural manuals, education, equipment, advertising etal. Your staff are your most important asset, by spending more on your staff and less on luxuries, your business will be much more profitable and successful.
5: Specialise.
Although being a jack of all trades may make you a decent living, the cream is in specialisation. Specialisation means less competition, ease of implementing systems, higher entry barrier to others, easier to scale, higher charge out rates etc. The other advantage is the ability to add greater value to your clients/customers which brings me to my next topic.
6: Adding value.
Your income will grow in line with the value which you are adding to your clients (assuming an efficient business model). The more value one adds to their clients, the more remuneration clients are willing to pay. Don’t focus on taking money from clients, focus on adding value to your clients and the remuneration will follow.
7: KISS.
Keep it simple stupid.
The age old saying rings true, keep it simple but nail the basics. Streamline and systemize the process to make sure your business runs efficiently and your time is spent on value adding activities as opposed to menial administrative tasks.
8: Know your worth (service industry’s).
Undercutting your competitors is the fastest way to mediocrity, and will ensure you are lost in the crowd (also defeats the purpose of your business). Your aim is to run efficiently and provide one of the most efficient/highest quality services in your field but charge accordingly.
9: Know your niche:
No-one can know everything about everything. Know your niche and know it well. Embrace the fact that you are do not know everything, and bring in others/outsource any tasks/subjects which are not in your niche, otherwise you will be performing a mediocre job and only able to charge out mediocre rates.
For further clarification please contact your local Accounting firm.
