Ahead Of The Game
4 Brilliant Ways To Give Your Business A Head Start On The Competition
Starting a business is hard work, but maintaining a business is even harder. It’s known that most small to medium businesses do not last beyond their first year, and if you make it through it, the years to come are rarely easy. To avoid falling behind, it’s important to make productive decisions as early as possible to ensure you’re always shaping your business for the better. Here are four great ways to give your business a head start on the competition.
Photo by Amy Hirschi on Unsplash
Don’t Waste Money On Rent
When you’re a start-up as a small business or a sole trader who doesn’t need a large production space, spending money on renting or buying a commercial property is never worthwhile. Especially when you can go for the much more cost-effective option of serviced office solutions. These are centrally located office spaces that contain all the amenities you need, including a kitchen, meeting spaces, and even reception services should you need them. You don’t need to sign a lease or long-term contract, meaning you only pay while you need them.
Spend Time Developing Your Team
One thing every business needs to invest in early is their team development. Ensuring that your workforce is strong, skilled, and communicative in your early days gives a secure foundation for your business to thrive and prevents problems like a high staff turn-around rate and time-consuming HR processes.
You don’t need to overdo it with too many meetings or spend a small fortune on frequent after-work events. Simply encouraging open communication and providing training and resources for your employees to hone in on their skills and grow along with your business is a suitable start.
Get Creative With Your Market Research
Researching the market, your competition, and your customer demographics should be an ongoing practice for your business. However, it is of particular importance in your early stages. Take it further than just internet research and a chat with your accountant.
Some creative market research methods to get you more useful insights include:
- Asking business departments of tertiary institutions if they need a case study for their students – this could score you a free feasibility study or a business plan to peruse!
- Using social media to deliver questionnaires or test marketing techniques to your target audience.
- Conduct your own mystery shopping: shop at your competition in order to better understand their services.
Collect as much information as you can on your competitors, even if it isn’t all positive. Learning from the mistakes of others saves you from making the same errors in your own business.
Do Not Rush Your Launch
This may seem counterproductive when talking about jump-starting your business, but there is merit to the advice. A product or business launch will be a great chance for you to showcase your business and kickoff your marketing processes. And you should never start marketing before you’re prepared to start selling to customers.
Launching your product before you are ready will cause your earliest customers to be disappointed before they’ve even had the chance to try your service properly. This can seriously impede your reputation. Remember, business is not a sprint; it is a marathon, so pace yourself.
By keeping these four valuable points in mind, you’ll be able to slowly but surely realize the vision you have for your business while getting ahead of your competitors.
