5 things I should have focused on while starting my small business

5 things I should have focused on more when I started my small business

The purpose of this article is for me to reflect on my mistakes as an entrepreneur and for everyone reading to not make these mistakes in the future. I will be sharing some real life examples which helped me come to these conclusions.

1.??????Post Purchase Communication

Post Purchase Communication allows business owners to understand where they went wrong/right with their product/service. For a small business, it involves sending customers a feedback form, dropping them a message to ask them how everything was and giving them a special discount code that they can avail on their next purchase. The point of this is to retain the customer by providing them value in the form of discounts and taking into consideration their feedback.

This is something that gave me a lot to think about and helped me understand how some people work. Sometimes, my notebooks would reach my customers spoilt, with the binding bent and what not. Many didn’t tell me themselves about this until I dropped them a message asking them if everything was fine or not. Only after my message would they give me their feedback and had I not reached out to them, I would have never known and improved on it from my end.

?I’ll be honest, I still don’t do a lot of post purchase communication but it’s something that I, and all brands should do.

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2.??????Budgeting

Money….finances…numbers….don’t mind me just listing down some things that scare me about running a business. Hands down this is the one thing that I always avoid and have never been good at. I used to be that person who used to be scared to check her bank account after a long night in uni. Don’t be that person guys.

?After watching a couple of YouTube videos on how important budgeting is and how it can actually help you reach your business targets, I almost punched myself in the face for not properly managing my finances before. I learned that you should always account for every dollar that comes into your business and every dollar that goes out. This way you can allocate money to different departments such as Marketing, Staff, Restocking Inventory etc and also gain better understanding of your expenses (which can be reduced if accounted for) and income (which can be increased by setting targets)

?A couple of YouTube videos should do the trick for you.

3.??????The Speed of Executing Plans

You might have the greatest plan in the world which could literally change the face of earth, but how many steps a day are you taking towards executing a plan? By when do you think your plans will come to life? Coming up with a good idea is the first step towards success but the next step and the steps after this are so crucial.

?If you have a fabulous idea that has not been introduced in the market yet, and you’re sure that it will take your industry by storm then sit down and make a proper plan. How many days will it take? What resources does it require? Do I have all the resources? How do I acquire all the resources I need? And so many more steps that you will face on your own.

I am working on speeding up the process of my plans as we speak.

4.??????Pricing

Again, numbers. Did I mention earlier that I hate doing this? But you gotta do what you gotta do right? Sadly…..

Pricing is one of the main deciding factors for the consumer and it makes or breaks your sales. I believe if you market your brand/product a certain way you can charge premium for low cost products however you have to be REALLY good and have the right connections/resources to make your product reach its target audience.

?I would suggest doing a competitor analysis which includes studying prices of competitors too. I did not do this when I started my business and was only focused on doubling/tripling my profits because the business world was new to me. In the start a lot of friends and family ordered from me to support my business and didn’t mind paying a premium price for my notebooks. Eventually, there came a point where I wasn’t satisfied with the sales per week I was getting so I decided to SLASH my prices. By slash, I mean literally slash by 50% and announced it on social media which received a lot of praises from my audience.

Now my sales per week have increased which is incredibly satisfying, knowing that I made the right decision to slash my prices. Would strongly suggest looking at your competitor’s pricing, understanding your audience’s purchasing power, and marketing your product in a certain way. Luckily, a lot of people messaged me regarding my pricing which was kind of an eye opener for me.

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5.??????Delegating (to the right people)

“If you don’t delegate, your small business will always remain a small business” – Mahima Lahrani, 2021. Okay I just made that up but feel free to use it anytime you are giving business advice to someone.

?You cannot do everything on your own. Like a baby, a businesses’ DNA is what shapes it when it grows. As hard as trusting someone completely to get the job right sounds, it needs to be done. Because you will always be a little less well versed in some departments of a business, it could be finances, marketing, HR, logistics, etc. For that, you need to hire someone who is best at their stream and let them take over to figure everything out for your business.

?Interviews are the best way to get to know a potential candidate, it could be a formal or a completely informal interview. Whatever helps you and them to get to know the other person better. One thing I would suggest is that hire someone who is passionate about your brand and its values, you can always teach them skills later. But you cannot teach them to be passionate about your brand.

?That’s it! I hope you liked reading my mistakes and I hope you learn a lesson or two for when you start your own small business.

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Goodluck & have a great day!

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