Tips for New Business Owners January 19, 2010, by Peter Mirus in Coaching
A reader requested that I provide some thoughts directed at sole proprietors who are just getting started in business. This got me wondering: what sort of advice would I give to someone who was in the process of setting up their first business? Here are some tips.
1. Make sure that you do everything necessary to legally operate your business and to limit your potential liability. Incorporating your business will limit your personal liability. Make sure you secure the additional licenses required for your type of business (if any). Secure insurance policies as necessary.
2. Define what accomplishment/success means for you in your business. Create clearly stated goals based on this definition. Create a business plan that outlines how you plan to meet your goals and achieve success.
3. Create a goals for your personal time management, create a schedule, and do your best to stick to it. Many new business fail because the owner is unable to properly manage his/her own time.
4. Don’t figure out your bookkeeping after you get started on your business. Learn how to keep your books properly, and get the system set up before you get busy. Many small business are uncertain of their current financial status due to ineffective bookkeeping. This inhibits confident decision-making. In addition, poor tax planning can be murderous to a business.
5. Many new businesses fail, for a large variety of reasons. Particularly if others are dependent on you, your business plan should include risk assessment and an exit strategy. If you don’t have an exit strategy, then you haven’t defined the line past which “enough is enough" and you need to cut your losses and move on.
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