Setting up your own business can be both terrifying and exhilarating. On the one hand, you will leave the stability and security of being an employee. But on the other hand, you will finally be able to pursue your passion and enjoy the freedom of being your own boss.
For many people, the benefits of having a startup in New Zealand outweigh the risks as shown in the steady increase of start-up companies in the past decade.
Start-Up Challenges
If you’re among those people who got bitten by the entrepreneurial bug and started your own business before the pandemic, you are probably affected, in some way or another, by global economic inflation. Before you took the entrepreneurship leap, you must have mentally prepared for the many challenges of becoming a full-time entrepreneur, but no one could fully prepare for the downturn of the economy.
Entrepreneur Brett Hyman, when he started his company NVE Experience Agency, shared some tips on how you can successfully grow your business without getting business loans or investors and in this article, we are going to add to his tips to cushion the adverse impact of the pandemic and the inflation, and to help entrepreneurs future-proof your businesses.
Tips for Success
Overall, Hyman’s tips highlight how important it is for entrepreneurs to devote time, energy, and resources to the right things, namely: skilled staff, loyal customers, and themselves.
By establishing clear goals and surrounding yourself with the right team and having a solid business plan, you’ll be able to consistently offer top-quality products and services, which is essential for long-term success. Also, learning to treat your customers right before venturing out and obtaining new ones will help you secure a foundation of loyal customers that you can rely on.
And lastly, taking the time to rest and recharge is crucial if you are to survive the first few years of running your own business. Plus, it will help give you a fresh perspective so you can be a better and more effective leader.
In addition to Hyman’s tips to succeed in business, our team at Slater Byrne Recoveries also suggest the following:
- Penetrate new markets by developing new products or offering them at a slightly higher price. You can also expand your market by reaching out to potential customers or a new geographic area.
- Improve your products to help you reduce your cost if that is the problem you are currently facing, without sacrificing the quality that your customers have been accustomed to. Customer feedback can help you in improving your product. You may also consider discontinuing certain products if they are not as saleable as you thought them to be.
- With recent supply-chain challenges, create long-term supplier contracts for materials that are prone to price hikes to receive a consistent amount of supply at the same price for a longer period.
- Improve your digital marketing roadmap – either by putting up an official website or social media sites – to boost brand awareness and reach out to new audiences, which could be converted into new customers. Doubling your marketing efforts during this time may lead you to reap the benefits later at a time when the economy is better.
- Network to business communities especially trade organizations in an industry where your business belongs so you can lobby in bigger numbers for support. Collaboration with other like-minded businesses is also a win-win situation. One example of a great collaboration project is that of Whittaker’s and Wellington brewery Garage Project.
Inflation Not a Doom for Startups
Startups, which enjoyed a decade of outsize growth, were not spared as rising interest rates rose and the worsening economy resulted in a deep plunge in investments this year. But inflation should not be your doom even when you badly need the funding to continue pursuing the vision that sparked the startup.
You only need to have a healthy and realistic attitude towards your startup’s financials and a good understanding of the risks of inflation so that you can make the right adjustments that can keep you operating. If unpreventable, you can always cut business costs without jeopardizing your startup’s vision. The bottom line is to be smart and savvy with your financials at this time to maintain a positive cash flow that will help your business to ride the tides of inflation.