Opening a small business takes a tremendous amount of knowledge, fortitude and hard work. Unfortunately, a sizable number of businesses go under in their first year, regardless of how ambitious their respective proprietors are. While there’s no surefire way to ensure the long-term solvency of your business, there are a number of steps you can take towards maximizing your chances of success. To this end, all first-time business owners should make a point of avoiding the following missteps.
Choosing the Wrong Office Space
As any long-time business owner can attest, location is among the most important factors in determining success. This is particularly true in the case of businesses that are built around foot traffic and in-person customer interactions. So, before committing to a specific office space, make sure to conduct some research into its location.
How much foot traffic does this area receive? How long does it usually take fledgling businesses to become established here? How affordable is the rent? These are just a few of the questions you’ll need to consider when shopping around for the right office space. Entrepreneurs in the Grand Canyon State are sure to appreciate the abundance of attractive office space for lease in Tempe.
Failing to Properly Screen Job Applicants
Thoroughly screening job applicants is important for a variety of reasons. For starters, in the absence of proper screening, you’re liable to hire people who are completely unqualified for their respective positions. This stands to create considerable problems for your staff and patrons and compromise the level of service your business provides. Failing to carry out the screening process also heightens your odds of hiring people who pose a danger to themselves, patrons and other employees.
So, before committing to hire an applicant, make sure to conduct a background check. Should you discover that an applicant has been convicted of crimes that could prove harmful to your business, moving on to other candidates may be the best course of action. Similarly, if you find that an applicant has left previous jobs under less-than-ideal circumstances, you may want to abstain from taking a chance on them.
You should also make sure to contact any references an applicant provides – especially previous employers. Since many people provide prospective employers with references under the assumption that they won’t contact them, getting in touch with references can be a great way to weed out dishonest applicants.
Regarding Marketing as an Afterthought
No fledgling business owner can afford to overlook the importance of good marketing. Without effective marketing strategies, you’re going to have a very hard time bringing the existence of your business to the attention of local consumers. So, if you’ve placed marketing on the backburner, now would be the time to start treating it with due importance.
For maximum effectiveness, consider working with a highly-rated marketing agency – especially if you have little to no experience promoting a business. Seasoned marketers will assist you in developing a wide variety of effective promotional strategies that are targeted to the audience(s) you wish to reach. They’ll also help you implement these strategies and tweak them as needed.
Utilizing Ineffective Promotional Outlets
When marketing your business, it is imperative that you focus your efforts – and financial resources – on outlets that are likely to connect with your target audience. For instance, business owners who want to capture the interest of older consumers should consider purchasing ad space in local newspapers and print publications, as well as commercial spots on local radio and television outlets. By the same token, business owners looking to catch the attention of younger demographics would do well to focus on search engine optimization (SEO), social media and other digital marketing endeavors.
Although owning a successful small business can prove immensely rewarding, this should never be taken to mean that achieving success is easy. In fact, if you’re looking to ensure the long-term solvency of your first business, there’s simply no way around putting in a fair amount of work. The absence of effort and enthusiasm is practically guaranteed to be felt by you, your staff and your patrons, so if you aren’t prepared to roll up your sleeves, business ownership may not be the right path to travel down. However, those who are willing to put forth the proper amount of effort should take care to avoid the mistakes outlined above.