9 Steps to a Successful Start-Up

9 points to ponder about your new start-up business...

Okay, so you have a great idea for a new business, you have some savings with which to start it and you have a few customers in mind. Before you go any further, take a look at the following few steps you would be wise to take.

1. Validate Your Market
Before you start building your product or designing/refining your service, speak to your potential customers. Ask them questions. Find out what they need and adapt what you offer to meet those needs. That way you know you are offering something that will sell. And remember, the best form of market validation is sales because they prove that your offering is what the customers want.

2. Get Advice
Most small businesses can't afford to hire the expertise they need to succeed, especially initially. If you can, try to get the advice of one or more experienced business persons who you trust. If you can find people who have been in your industry and have run their own business, all the better. They might be family or friends or ex-colleagues. You can hire the services of a professional mentor but they don't come cheaply, so you might have to forego that luxury for a while. These advisors are invaluable as a source of objective advice and can help guide you when you need it most - even if you think you don't need the guidance. If you can, set up a regular meeting with them, once a week or once or twice a month, and tell them what you are doing and what you are planning. Write down what they say and review it later. Their input should help you make wise decisions and set realistic targets and goals.

3. It's All in the Plan, Stan!
Planning and setting targets and goals are essential. Set aside some time every morning to plan your day and learn to practice sound time management skills. On Mondays, set time aside to set goals for the week and then set aside time on Friday to review the week and find out what targets weren't achieved and why. Do the same for each month and for the year. The plans we draw up are like maps for us to follow as we navigate through each day, week, month and year. We need them just as much as we would need a map to find our way through a foreign city.

4. He Who Sells, Wins!
Not many people enjoy selling. That's a fact. However, if you want to be successful, you have to sell. You, the business owner, must get your hands dirty, get down in the trenches and sell. So many entrepreneurs and small business owners think that the business will just come to them if they slap an ad in the Yellow Pages. Not true, most of the time. Selling is something that must become a habit; you should sell wherever you are; in a queue at the supermarket, waiting to pick your kids up from school, in an elevator ... everywhere. Perhaps the person you introduce to your product will never be in the market for the 12-ton marine diesel engines you sell - but they might tell someone who is. You never know.
If you are lucky enough to be able to hire staff, you should still be involved in sales, especially in the beginning, even if you have a sales force. Why? Simply put, because it gets you face-to-face with your customers - and that is key. So many business owners lose touch with the very people who keep their business alive - their customers and that's why there are so many complaints from customers about bad service and shoddy products. If you run the business, you are accountable to your customers.

5. Stay in Touch with the Market
More than anything, once you start your business, take the time to stay in touch with your market. Find out what they think about your offering, those of your competitors and the trends in the market. This will help you see shifts in what customers want and help you remain flexible so that you can move with the ebb and flow of the market.

6. Stay Motivated
This is a tough one for many people, especially if they are in their own business alone. It is very difficult to stay motivated when business is going badly (and it does from time to time), when the bank manager is always on the phone and when the wife is starting to notice your chewed fingernails and wants to know what's wrong. As corny as it sounds, try to find things that motivate you and keep them handy for such moments; they may be movies or music or inspirational passages. When you are in the doldrums, take a breather and spend some time inspiring yourself.
Another thing is to try to prepare for the hard times - well, the business-related ones at least. If you can, set up a "hard-times" fund with money in it to help you through the hard times. Such a fund requires discipline to maintain, but it's very existence should help alleviate some pressure.

7. Keep Expenses Low!
This is one of those "duh!" points; everyone knows that it is important to keep expenses low when starting a business, right? Perhaps. However, for some reason when people start seeing the cash roll in they somehow lose their composure and rush out to buy a nice luxury car, rent nice offices, get new furniture, staff they don't need etc. and before they know it, they're in financial trouble. Keep an eagle-eye on the expenditure and cut where you can ... at least until you are really established.This can be a problem if you are running your business out of your spare bedroom but you need to make it look like you are a successful and well-financed business to get business. Then it comes down to using your wits, your imagination and getting lucky. However, it's far better to go that route than actually acquiring the nice offices and cars to impress. If you take the latter route, you will find yourself in quicksand very soon.

8. Make Sure You Have Enough Cash to See You Through!
Starting a business takes longer and is more expensive than you think and plan for. Unless you get really lucky with the next Google buy-out, make sure you have enough money to cover all your expenses for at least six months. Remember that, unless they are very lucky, most businesses will only start making a profit after between two and five years, so you're in it for the long haul.

9. Business Plan?
Business plans can be a great way to find out what you are doing and where you are going, especially before you start. They are also essential if you want financing. However, don't spend too much time on them. They are helpful to a point but spending months writing and editing a detailed plan is a waste of time that could have been spent validating the market or selling.

This list is by no means exhaustive, but it should give you some suggestions about things to bear in mind as you plan your start-up.