5 Helpful Tips for First-Time Business Owners

Getting over the first stage of legal compliance for a small business startup seems endless with all the requirements needed to be submitted and met. Tending to legal compliance sometimes causes oversight in operation and development.

To keep you afloat in the competition for your first venture, here are tips to make sure that you are on the right track towards success.

1. Keep track of renewable requirements

Obtaining permits, licenses and other registration forms might be over, but there are yearly responsibilities that you should settle, aside from paying taxes. Most permits need to be renewed annually or semi-annually, depending on the nature of your business and the state government’s policies. Overlooking this matter may lead to the closure of your business. Although the agencies involved may remind you from time to time of your responsibilities, you are still getting closer to paying fine when this happens, so better not risk it.

2. Constantly look for training and assistance programs

There are lots of free training programs offered by government agencies to small business owners to keep them alive in the competition. Because you are an important part of the micro economy, they will see to it that you stay afloat and probably get bigger over time.

Assistance programs, whether financial, management or networking, are also prevalent in most states. See what your local government is offering, so you can avail and save more money in training your staffs.

3. Monitor your industry’s progress

Have a wider coverage and monitor the ups and downs, not only of your business, but of the whole industry you belong to. This covers competitors, direct or indirect, and non-competitors.

Failing to see what the competitors are up to may lead to your total obsolescence and although yours is just a small business, aiming to get bigger should still be aspired.

Industry updates may also help you in offering better products and services, including pricing strategies and innovations. Remember that Google only started in a garage, but their industry’s success also became their very own.

4. Hear what customers have to say

The smiles plastered on your customers’ faces when transacting with you tell you one thing; they don’t tell you everything. Seeing satisfied faces might be customary out of nicety. But how confident are you that there is nothing more to those expressions? How about the deadpan customers? A multinational company or micro business, the heart of operation is still the customers and they deserve to be valued whatever it takes.

Have a survey form given to your regular clients. Asking them to place a sticker of a happy or sad face on your customer board will also do the job.

5. Maintain online presence

Even a small venture needs promotion. What else is more cost-efficient and more convenient than internet marketing and social media marketing?

Micro venture is most likely to operate in a community where most people know each other or have connections, one way or another. Take advantage of this tightly woven community and sell yourself through the social media. Be friends with your neighbors. If your product can be delivered like food or souvenir, you can utilize the social media for faster delivery and processing of orders.

Internet marketing is a very useful way in maximizing cyber world as a tool for success. You don’t have to be a multinational company to be ultra-modern. Remember that a small business startup is often the beginning even of the largest corporations.