5 Things Not to Do Running a Small Business

Thanks for these wise words!

1. Don't rush into partnerships.

I think that in any business venture, one should think about who he or she will be partnering with. Even friends who became business partners can have arguments and might ruin the friendship. But of course, it's nice to build a business with a friend because you know that person well.

2. Don’t get discouraged.

Businesses will have their ups and downs and it's important to stick it through the tough times.

3. Don’t forget why you wanted to start a business in the first place.

That dream, your inspiration, your motivation, that's what's going to help you push through even when the times are tough.

4. Don't try to do everything yourself.

A business is not a one man operation, it's a community. It thrives on the people, from the staff to the highest person in the business.

5. Don't stop evolving.

Research about how you can make your business better. You should be able to find what's the newest trends and machines that can help you grow as a business. Always have seminars and team building for your staff as well.

 

Thanks for sharing. Yes, the connections we create in our businesses (customer, business partner, support from others) are essential to the long-term wellbeing of the business and ourselves. Nothing happens in isolation, we are affected by others as we affect them too.

 

I think that the try not to do everything yourself is a big one for a lot of start ups. The frame of mind that it takes to be an entrepreneur is one that focuses heavily on your own abilities and your own confidence. That is a good thing, for the most part, but I think that it can get some people into a lot of trouble. Recognizing that everyone needs help at some point is a critical idea for many people.

 

This is a great post. Thanks for sharing!

I am very much interested in running a small online clothing store in the future. I will keep these tips in mind if ever I would venture in entrepreneurship.

 

I don't know. These are general advices appliable in any aspect of the life. In my humble experience of copywriter, these kind of articles are made by writers who don't have any good ideas and decide to write something general (maybe adding some story in the front line, take most of the personal finance articles on businessinsider for example) just to complete a task.

 

Great advice sir! This post will be a great guide to those who wants to start their own business. Starting a business is really hard at first, but as you gain more experience, improvement and progress will always come to you.

 

Partnership is difficult especially if the business is sitll unstable and you sitll don't know how to manage the whole business. I have this rule that I will never work with friends or put up a business with them. It will just complicate things. I think this is very important"Don’t forget why you wanted to start a business in the first place." I f you always keep this in mind, you'll never go astray and will put your whole heart into that business.

 

Thе numbеr оnе rеаsоn smаll businеssеs gо bаnkrupt is lасk оfсаsh, nоt lасk оf prоfits. Yоu nееd tо dо gооd саsh plаnning, аnd rеаlly undеrstаnd thе lеvеrs in yоur businеss thаt саn аffесt yоur саsh. Dо yоu buy invеntоry? Hоw muсh shоuld yоu hаvе оn hаnd? Dо yоu соllесt pаymеnts frоm сliеnts? Hоw lоng dоеs it tаkе thеm tо pаy yоu? Dо yоu hаvе lоаns yоu nееd tо pаy bасk? Dо yоu dеpеnd оn suppliеs thаt vаry in priсе duе tо mаrkеt соnditiоns (fuеl fоr instаnсе)? Thеrе аrе а sеriеs оf “lеvеrs” in yоur businеss thаt will аffесt yоur саsh pоsitiоn. Yоu NЕЕD tо undеrstаnd thоsе lеvеrs.

 

Thank you for the advice. I need to remind myself about #3: Don’t forget why you wanted to start a business in the first place pretty much everyday. You learn as a business owner that you can't control everything and you need to keep your confidence in balance with outcomes you sometimes can't control. You can also apply these to everyday life, as well.

 

I will add a number 6: don't sell yourself cheap no matter how desperate for income you are on the initial stages of your business.

You are going to be very vulnerable during the part where you are kick starting your business, so, more often than not, a few people will come with very tempting proposals that are going to look like the perfect solution to your current issues. Be very careful while considering those proposals and don't fall into the temptation of accepting the ones that are going to be unfavorable to you in the long run because you are running low on cash flow and the future looks grim right now.

Don't sell yourself for less than you're worth, don't go around selling you products at a loss just to see them moving, things will become better, and if they don't, you are better off not losing any money because you pulled out of the business than actually losing money while offering your services for too cheap.

 

Great advice on all five of them, but I'd like to add a minor exception to number 4.

A small enough business can be run by a single person. A small cart vendor can run their business on their own without much help.

Of course if you want to expand, you need to hire more workers and you most definitely need to consult experts of stuff like accounting and taxes.

 

Running a small business is like walking a tight rope. You have to balance your expenditure with the needs of the business. First, you need to pay yourself a salary. This should be reasonable so that you live within your expenses. You should reinvest a fixed proportion of your income back to the business. You should also be the manager since a budding entreprise requires a hands on approach.

 

Paying yourself is never first, paying all business expenses always comes first. Paying yourself always comes last.

 

Don't enter into contracts until you've read them completely. They can be a lot to read or even boring to go through, but it's better to do that first and know what you're signing than to be legally bound by it and wish you had later.

 

That's very true and I think for around the first 6 months I never took a penny out of my business and sometimes even now depending on how the month is looking I won't take a salary.

In the beginning I was lucky enough to have savings from a previous job to fall back on, but if anybody thinks that they're going to open up a business and be rich, I think they're in for a shock, especially in the first few years anyway!

 

Great advice, everyone! I would have to say 'Do not get into partnerships'! I have seen many and none of them worked out well in the end. Lost friendships, family relationships, and money.

I see so many people start a business and expect to profit immediately! That is not usually going to happen! If a business fails in the first year, I think they must not have understood this.

 

You do need to be really careful with whom you enter into partnerships with. First off, you should really consider if you actually even need to be in a partnership at all. I teamed up with a few people to launch a small online school back in the early 2000's. What was a huge problem though, was that the founder of the company also chose several of his friends - who happened to be siblings of each other - to become part of the owners as well. As you can imagine, it was non-stop nepotism with them, and they were constantly voting in their favor at the expense of everyone else, on every issue we brought up. It turned into an "us vs. them" situation constantly.

As for doing everything yourself - I have mixed feelings about this. I think with some people, especially those new to running their own business, they try to outsource and delegate everything that needs to be done, and end up spending a lot of money unnecessarily up front. I think you need to kind of meet this issue half way - do as much as you can yourself, and only invest money into what you truly need others to do for you. I think to some extent you do need to be hands on with as much as possible, so you get a greater understanding of each aspect of running your business. For example, maybe you set up your first AdWords account yourself and dabble in it, to better understand how the platform functions, before paying someone to manage that ad spend for you. Or install and publish your first few posts to Wordpress, before paying someone else to do this for you.

 

Great advice!

Here's mine:

1. Don't quit after 3 months, try 6 if you have the money.
2. Account for all your spending.
3. Take time to train your employees.
4. Don't micromanage, train your employees to be leaders.
5. Working with family or friends will have its ups and downs.

 

I particularly adhere to number 2 - don't get discouraged. I am currently employed in a bank owned by the richest man in the Philippines. He started as a mere shoe salesman. And part of his speech in the Christmas party is to think positive and treat failure as a challenge. In other words, don't easily get discouraged. If Mr. Henry Sy did not push himself to go on for every failure then he might just be a shoe salesman until now.