How to Succeed in Your Own Business
So you want to start your own business! You have a product that you know will be a big seller. But where do you start? What kind of skills do you need to make your business stand out from other similar businesses? Do you have the time and patience to spend on your new venture? This article touches on just a few of the skills you need when starting your own business.
Skill - financial savvy
The first skill you need to even think about starting a business is financial savvy. You have to know things like; How much does it cost to make your product? This includes personnel, insurance, building, electric, etc. How much will it cost to buy or rent a property to sell your goods? Are you selling online? If so, you need a computer, internet, website, electricity, not to mention time. How much money do you have in the bank to carry you through while you are making product but not selling yet? Can you make it work?
Skill - people skills
After you've gotten past all the financial hurdles and have opened your shop for business, you have to have people skills. Stores with nasty clerks or owners rarely get return business. A customer knows within a minute of walking into a new store whether they will go there again or not. If they are greeted by a smiling clerk, they're more likely to come back if you have an item they want. Those same customers are great for word of mouth advertising. Read - "free advertising". You will have to know everything about your product so that you can answer all customers questions. You should have a set return policy, clearly stated, in your store. Stand behind your product but happily accept returns and exchanges.
Skill - advertising
In order to get more business into your store, you have to be able to advertise and you need a realistic budget to do so. Some types of businesses like pet-sitting or house cleaning can print up their own cheap flyers and put them on local bulletin boards. Other businesses like restaurants and motels may advertise in magazines and newspapers around the country, on the radio and on TV. You have to have the advertising knowledge to know cost vs. target audience, which is best for your business.
Skill - human resource laws
If you hire people to work for you, you must know the federal and local laws regarding employees. For example, if you hire a teenager, do you know how many hours a week the teen is allowed to work and what hours? If you have an employee who develops a health issue and has to be out of work, do you know the law regarding the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). You had better know them or hire someone who does. Laws regarding employment issues are very strict and, if not followed to the letter, can get a business owner in a lot of trouble.
In conclusion, these are just a few things to think about before starting your own business. There are so many variances and so many minute things that fit into these general skills categories. Sometimes the best thing to do is to speak to other people who have started their own businesses from the ground up to find out what hurdles they had to overcome. Someone who's been in the same position at one time can be a wealth of knowledge for you.
