Australian entrepreneurs are popping up everywhere. While a lot of people first think about massive enterprises when talking about the economy of the country, or global economy for that matter, small companies and startups are becoming a bigger and bigger share of the market by the hour. In fact, the Australian startup market is on a massive rise. This, however, doesn’t negate the fact that 9 out of 10 startups still end up in a failure. The reasons are different, yet, most of the time, it all comes down to the lack of proper guidance. Here are five simple tips that should be able to make up for this (at least partially).
One of the greatest lies ever that are being told to entrepreneurs is that time (for some reason) works in their favour. This is just not true, and if you wait for too long before you launch, you’ll start from a disadvantageous position. This is why you need to focus on creating a minimum viable product and start working with it as soon as possible. You’ll improve along the way, and if you’re completely satisfied with a product upon the launch, you’ve waited for too long.
Focus On Customer Service
If you have to put all your resources somewhere, it should probably be customer service. You don’t really need to have a perfect product in order to provide top-notch customer service. In fact, a fault in your product can give your customer service a chance to prove itself a lot sooner. Of course, in order for this dubious tactic to work, the mistake needs to be minor, and the service has to be flawless. Otherwise, they’ll just be annoyed and won’t come back.
Don’t Neglect Your Fleet Management
Neglecting your fleet management is incredibly dangerous due to the fact that it’s one of the fields where employee theft can reach its pinnacle. Fuel consumption, time-theft and theft on repairs are just some of the ways in which your company can lose a small fortune. To get ahead of this, you need to hire a reliable fleet manager and regularly inspect expenses, comparing them to the market average as you go. For instance, if you’re a Sydney-based business and need to supply your fleet with some spare tyres, you could check out cheap tyres in Blacktown in order to use your money as efficiently as possible.
Make Return Customers
From the very start, you need to look at the idea of attracting an audience as merely a first step in generating return customers. This is due to the fact that they A) represent a reliable income, B) generate about 40 per cent of your income and C) may become a valuable tool in spreading WOM recommendations. In order to achieve this, you need to improve the customer experience on your website. Just remember that there’s no such thing as perfect customer service. What sounds great at the moment may become inadequate in just a couple of months. Regular updates and revisions are keys to survival, growth and prosperity.
Find A Work-Life Balance
The last thing you need to understand is the significance of a good work-life balance for your company in the long run. Working longer hours and not having an exhaust vent is a horrible plan that may sound appealing only if you fail to think it through. Moreover, you need to understand just how easy it is for a temporary boost in work hours to become a permanent thing. In no time, you won’t be able to remember when the last time you’ve had a day for yourself was. When this happens, your efficiency, and thus your company will begin to suffer. Don’t allow this to happen.
The bigger your company grows, the more help you’ll have and the bigger your team will be. This means that the myth that running a company becomes harder over the course of time doesn’t necessarily have to hold true. Every stage of running a business is a struggle, and you always need to emerge as victorious. This is the one thing that will never change. Image: Unsplash. Author: Diana Smith