To be a major industrialist and doing what you dreamed home is like a fantasy but this won’t help a new business to survive much longer. A general market research on newly established businesses conducted by Status Canada revealed that more or less 50 percent business remain successful in their first five years of execution. Others simply shut their doors for good or frequently restructure their hierarchy and even that doesn’t work.
Starting a new company needs more than just fantasies and delusions of grandeur for money won’t come if you loll all day. So how’d you actually keep your business up, running and out of diverging track? The trick is to realise common barriers faced by new organisations as they grow and devise strategies as a counter measure. These “challenges” are:
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Lack of time for a definite business plan
Business owners focus less on their business and more in operations. No doubt customers are important and their satisfaction means a lot for overall organisation’s success but not at the cost of a well-defined business plan. It should constitute clear goals and real-time strategies to achieve them. No plan means no funding and your newly established company is likely to go off track. In-short, devote some time in planning for success as well.
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Not developing an elevator pitch
Elevator pitch is a short summary of what your business operations and value proposition (corporate promise and benefits expected by a customer). In order to stay competitive, you need to have an elevator pitch, know where and how to use it. When anyone asks about your company and its operations, you’ll surely deliver a consistent message.
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Attract & retain customers
To engage and retain customers is far more challenging to newly established corporations especially operating on a smaller scale. This is mostly because of scarce marketing resources and budget to compete equally to that of industry giants.
Be strategic and creative when drawing customers; it’s like throwing a little bit of glitter! In today’s world of modern technology, search engine optimisation, online marketing and social media are the rage and best marketing channels to pull customers globally.
While practicing the tactics, it’s important differentiating your business to that of competitor. Think out of the box but make sure it isn’t entirely superficial; real-time application is a must!
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Identify the expenses
Business corporations, especially smaller ones lack financial literacy which is another basic reason for collapse. Start your business with appropriate financial footing is thus essential to the long-term growth and enduring success. Closely track and understand the in and outflow of cash to know about financial stability of your company.
By end of each month, add all the expenses to determine minimum gross sales required to cover the expenses. Compare previous sales record with the present which will help in identifying business progress and market position. Hire a veteran accountant to manage such issues in a more professional and accurate manner.
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Lack of proper advice
Linking up with the first barrier, corporate owners when writing business plan face trouble in various sections especially accounts, finances, insurance and technicalities. This is the time to seek proper advice of business lawyer, veteran accountant and IT personnel who’ll assist in building a staunch infrastructure for your new corporation. Of course you need some extra investment when hiring these professionals but the end reward is worth the initial expense; results would surely come out positive.
Conclusion
Once done with the formalities of company registration and overcoming the initial barriers as explained, a business is likely to shine and compete equally with any other. Click to read more about how to setup business.
