Ten Best Practices Every Early-Stage Entrepreneur Should Know About

How to Avoid Blind Spots So Your Business Can Thrive

Starting a business is exciting. One is full of hopes and dreams to become wealthy and flourish until?the honeymoon phase wears off. Now what? Here is what you need to know about starting a business that I wish someone had told me early on. The following topics seem less popular, probably because new entrepreneurs prefer to focus on buzzword content like "how to build sales funnels" and "how to go from zero to 100k in 30 days". But before you disappear in the weeds, come up to the treetops with me to view the entire forest. Here are the ten often-overlooked best practices every small business owner needs to know about:

1/ Plan Out Your Finances For One Full Year

A good rule of thumb is to think that growing a business will take?twice as long ?and be twice as hard as you thought. One year may seem like an eternity, but if you can grow a thriving business from scratch in twelve months, I'd say you're doing something right. The key is to figure out how you will?survive during those months ?when money can be non-existent or considerably fluctuate. Where will your bread and butter income come from? Here is a quick overview if you don't know what I'm referring to. Responsible financial planning may mean keeping your day job or getting a consulting job to cover your base costs. Remember to stay humble and realistic and keep your ego in check. There may be temporary setbacks or sacrifices necessary for you to grow. It is essential to keep your expenses as low as possible, at least temporarily, while you are working towards increasing your client base and revenue. Reinvest as much as possible back into your business. If you need more support with this, check out?https://academy.fromzero2six.com/monetize ?or apply to work 1:1 with me here: https://businessgrowth.kristamollion.com/interest .

2/ Build An Audience Growth Strategy That Grows With Your Business

How are you going to grow your lead base? There are many ways: organic or paid social media, podcast, email, hosting events, or starting a free community. Whatever you decide, do it from the very beginning. Get help from the pros like business coaches or marketing strategists. Trust me when I say you will always regret not doing it sooner because growth takes time, directly affecting your sales. If you need help with this, I run Profitable Solopreneur Community for content strategy and growing brand authority.

3/ Protect Yourself Legally

"Business is business," but this means different things to different people. You must be thoughtfully prepared to do business when you go into business. That means reading contracts, drafting up your bullet-proof ones, having a business lawyer, and having a confidentiality clause or non-disclosure agreement. It also means never placing unwavering faith in one person to solve all of your problems nor be 100% reliable. Instead, you want to protect yourself first and adjust your expectations to assume that you will meet dishonest and unreliable people along the way. I have a?video ?you may have helpful to avoid scams.

4/ Hire Help for Everything Outside Your Core Expertise

Many new entrepreneurs try to DIY their business, which is a mistake! Get help from trusted experts from Day One. When you hire experts and assistants, you can focus on your zone of genius and let qualified professionals do the rest for you. You will achieve your goals twice as fast this way. Here is a?video ?about hiring help for your business. Take the time to hire carefully and understand what you will be getting as a product or service.

5/ Learn How to Manage and Motivate People

Management is a skill, not a given, so when you become a business owner, you will need to train how to oversee, delegate, and get the most out of your people. It is straightforward to demotivate people. When you hire, you must consider the seniority of the people you are working with. You can't expect the same autonomy and quality from an offshore gig freelancer as you would from a reputable local agency. And you don't always get what you pay for. It's often not a 'bad vendor' but your lack of managerial skills because you hired the wrong people for the job, didn't communicate well, or had false expectations. Management isn't easy, and it is a job in itself! In this?video , I will give you some tips.

6/ Prepare for a Strong Work Ethic and Significant Time Commitment

There is a misconception that when you are independent, you work less. While you have more freedom, that does not mean you work fewer hours than someone employed. You must invest a lot more time than a full-time job initially. The goal is to work more now to work less later. But if you don't prepare to put in the hours, maybe you should set your expectations lower or opt to become an affiliate for another business owner instead of trying to grow your own business. One must also discuss these plans with one's significant other, if you have one, and get them on board to support you while you are in the early stages.

6/ Set the Right Priorities at Each Stage to Stay Disciplined

Your time is stretched thin, and so is your attention. If you aren't laser-focused about your priorities, you run the risk of chasing too much at once, and the result will be not accomplishing your business goals. There is so much to do, especially in the early startup stage, yet non-experienced business owners don't know what or how to prioritize. Good goal setting and daily time management come in handy. Inside From Zero 2 Six Academy , we cover in-depth?both of these essential topics.

7/ Don't Skip Business Setup Processes

I'm regularly surprised when I coach small business owners to discover they operate with basics like a business plan or sales brochure. I think you can get away with anything for a short time, but ultimately, skipping steps doesn't build a strong company foundation as one should. Check out my detailed?checklist ?and?video ?of all the things to do in the first 30 days. Even if you are well past that mark, you may find valuable points overlooked.

8/ Invest in Proper Sales Training

Even if you end up hiring salespeople, first and foremost, a business owner or president is the face of the company, and with that role comes certain sales obligations. You'll need to understand human psychology, negotiation, persuasion, and charm. A business owner is always selling. Sales is a skill, not something you can pick up as you go along. Would you please attend my Sales Workshop or take some sales coaching training elsewhere if you want more guidance? In the meantime, don't make these?sales mistakes .

9/ Develop Consistent Branding (Visual Identity and Messaging)

Whenever someone hires me for business and marketing strategy, I do a detailed income assessment to fully understand which areas they are doing well and need help. Surprisingly, I almost always find inconsistencies or incomplete business profiles. Your brand consists of both visual identity and messaging. The goal is to communicate the same message across all channels, so your audience knows whom they are dealing with. You don't need to invest in a fancy logo or expensive website, but you should hire a marketing consultant to help you produce compelling brand assets. It is easier said than done! Crafting the perfect brand slogan and unique value offer is complex, and hardly any business owner gets it right without help.

10/ Nurture Your Relationships (Be a Giver and Not an Ego-Driven Entrepreneur)

This topic needs its' own separate article (coming soon for sure!) because most business owners are only thinking of themselves. It is me, me, me. Their concerns are to sell, grow their following, charge more, and increase their metrics everywhere. Don't neglect the very principle of business: to deliver value to others. People buy from people. If you sell an affordable consumer product, the customer may not care much about the brand. Still, for the small business owners, I work with, from high-ticket coaching to accounting services to software brands, the sales cycle will be longer and more relationship-driven.

I hope you found these tips valuable. I'd love to hear your experiences with growing your business. You can always contact me via?Linkedin ?or?Twitter .

I'm Krista, a marketing expert and business coach. I built an 8-figure digital agency in San Francisco with zero funding and a lot of trial and error, and now I help others build their online businesses. If you enjoyed this article, please consider joining my mailing list here .