Top 5 Things Startups Forget About When Starting A Business

You’ve just had an epiphany and you’re convinced that the next big business idea is inside your head. You’ve identified a problem, found a brilliant solution for it, and now you’re ready to launch in the ruthless jungle that the business world is.

What you need to keep in mind is that you’re embarking on a journey that might last your lifetime. And so getting a healthy start and establishing a few good basic practices can make your journey enjoyable right from the beginning.

So, here are 5 things you need to remember when starting a business!

1. Find budget-friendly lawyers.

Starting a business, drafting contracts, and protecting your brand all involve paperwork and the law. Therefore, having good, budget-friendly lawyers at your side right from the beginning is a good idea.

This approach might sound a bit pessimistic, but one tiny legal mistake can potentially stop your company right in its tracks. There are many business lawyers offering commercial law services online during the pandemic — one example is LegalVision NZ Business Lawyers. 

So before you step into the business world, make sure you know your law and have lawyers that don’t throw off your budget!

2. It’s about the customer, not the product. 

When you start a business, you’re so excited that it’s easy to forget your customers.

You might have the most amazing product ever, but it won’t bear fruit if no-one will want to buy it. So as you progress through your entrepreneurial journey, make sure your customers are always there in your mind.

Two great ways of building a customer-oriented company is to conduct thorough market research and provide customers with ample opportunities to give you feedback.

An intensive study of the market will help you appreciate the true demand of your product and alert you to any emerging trends that might warrant a change in your business strategy.

And in today’s digital age, it’s extremely easy to set up a website that will allow for customer feedback. Make sure to get the best website you can afford, and keep up with the customer feedback — being too proud for feedback is a sure-fire way of damaging your company!

3. Compete but more importantly, collaborate. 

As an entrepreneur, you probably have a type A personality and you’re always looking to compete with other companies in your niche.

While healthy competition is a great way to keep your company driven, excessive competition can put you at more of a disadvantage. You should look at other entrepreneurs in your niche as resources to increase your niche knowledge and business expertise.

They will always know something you won’t and networking in business is always helpful anyway. So make sure you establish meaningful relationships with others in your industry and keep the competition healthy!

4. Overestimate expenditures by at least ten percent. 

Inability to handle finances is a textbook cause of start-up failure. If you’re not a finance person, make sure you include people from a finance background in your team.

And when planning out your expenditures for running the company and salaries, it’s a good idea to always overestimate the cost by 10% at least. The business landscape is never entirely stable and if an emergency occurs, you can find yourself in deep waters and it will be difficult to stay afloat.

5. Tell people about your business. 

Pretty basic, right? Unfortunately, failing to develop and execute an effective marketing strategy is another classic cause for start-up failure.

Now, you don’t have to hire world-class copywriters and marketing professionals in order to succeed, but you do need to make sure marketing is on your agenda — a lot of new companies neglect it completely.

Although you might become famous in the future, nobody knows about your business right now. So, build your presence on all major social media platforms and start interacting with potential customers as well as other businesses.

One great digital marketing strategy that’s fairly simple to execute is to post SEO-optimized blog content on your website. You can conduct an analysis about the questions being asked related to your business and aim to answer them in the content you post on your website.

This will provide value to your readers, help you establish yourself as an expert in your industry (which will help you gain customers’ trust more easily), and of course assist you in reaching out to potential customers effectively!