Start A Small Business

Are you thinking about starting a business? Maybe you have a great idea or a product that has solid social proof and you're ready to dive in. We've got five tips to get you started on the right foot. 

PAY UP
Start from day one knowing what the living wage of your area is, and ensure you work into your numbers paying yourself. Some bootstrapping entrepreneurs forget about themselves and end up  going under within the first two years because they're burned out, have bankrupt their personal finances, and undervalued their time and compensation. 
Open a business checking right away, and assign yourself a wage that your business can afford, and that seems fair. Be sure to regularly evaluate this as your business scales. This is our first tip, because it's truly the most important to longevity in owning a small business. 

Roll With What You Know
Don't try to dig yourself into a hole of a million classes, workshops and boot camps. While development is an important part of owning a small business, it's far more important to start with step one then it is to perfect what step one looks like. If you're already familiar with certain sales platforms or social media platforms, start selling there first before you learn something new. This will allow you to build sales and a solid customer base before spending time and money developing new skills and learning new platforms. 

Now Hiring
Know when it's time to hire help. The best rule of thumb is to think of your workload as a plate. You pile that plate like you're at a buffet, but eventually something is going to fall on the floor. Rank the items on your "plate" making the top of the list being the things that you enjoy and do not take a lot of your time, and the bottom of the list being things you don't enjoy and are time consuming. Compare the list to what you can afford to hire at the time. Knowing what you can afford in bringing on extra labor and what you need to take off your plate will give you a clear cut answer. 

Surf The Web

One word: Shopify! This may seem biased, but with the unlimited resources, support and a fantastic app store and sales channels, there isn't a sales platform offering more right now. Get a 14 day free trial here, and check out this straight-forward checklist to get started here. 

Dust Yourself Off

Fail! 

You read that right. Failing is the best lessons learned in business. Don't be afraid to try something that doesn't work out. We suggest keeping a small notebook with your failures. Use dates and shorthand to note what didn't work. And don't be shy to try that exact thing again. Just because it doesn't work at that exact moment doesn't mean there won't come a time for it later on. Failures guide the biggest lessons in running a small business and provide more value then any class you can take. 

So, what are you waiting for? Go get started!