Starting a new business is not an easy task. It takes hard work and focus.
You probably started your business with a niche or skill that started earning money.
From there the business grew. And now you are in need of some additional support to make sure you have things organized to grow.
Here are key building blocks to ensuring your business will stand firm.
Table of Contents
Top Components For A New Business To Be Successful
This list is not exhaustive yet a basis for a good foundation. When researching the key components to start a new business, these stood out.
1. Have A Clear Vision and Mission Statement
Having a clear vision and mission statement is the most important piece of your company.
Some will argue the most important part of a company is the product you produce. Arguably, the key to your product is why you created it in the first place.
Your product or service will definitely make the money. Yet, when you or your employees go to work each day, they need to understand why they do so. It is that simple.
Simon Sinek is a famous speaker who created the Start With Why movement back in 2009. He shares that people typically do not buy into a product or service by itself. They buy into the Why behind the product.
Your mission. This is your calling, your purpose for existing. Your WHAT & WHY. When you boil it all down, why do you do what you do? We exist to __WHAT____so that ___WHY.
Your vision – This is your preferred future. Like painting a picture, describe what you desire to see when you arrive at your outcome. This is your WHERE. Where are we going?
Lastly on this point. Ensure your vision and mission stay true to who you are. Make sure they are part of your company DNA. This will help create a company culture that will last.
2. Set Up A Company
If you have not done so already, make sure to get your paperwork in order. This is very important for legal purposes to protect your company.
There are many LLC and Company formation organizations out there. One we like is MyCorporation. See the full review here.
In addition to getting your LLC formed, get a business plan set up. For most, this seems daunting. However, New Biz Templates already thought of that and has you covered. They offer thousands of templates to help you get started.
3. Manage Your Cash
In other words, manage your profit and loss. This is where the term P&L comes from. Banks will require to see your P&L if you need a loan.
Use payroll services to help keep your books in order. Services like Gusto or Quickbooks are common payroll services that are easy to use. These services offer great tools to see P&L statements quickly.
The key to using them correctly is organization. If you are too busy to keep the books organized like I am, then get an expandable file organizer. Label each section and make sure to put receipts in their proper section. Set time aside each week to manage the books. Make it a priority.
Additionally, if you have email receipts and bills, make sure to set up your email folders the same way.
Losing receipts and not accounting for them at tax time can lose you money. Remember, this is your business and every penny counts.
4. Understand Your Customers
You may have a great product yet as discussed in number 1 above, if you don’t know your why then what does the product matter.
Your why should Integrate toward your customers. Meaning, what you do needs to be focused to help your customer.
This is as important as your vision and mission statement. If you don’t support your customers, then you won’t sell any products.
Yes, customers can be tough sometimes yet using some key tactics will always help you get ahead:
- Make sure your customer is heard
- Follow up with clarifying questions using I statement like “let me see if I understood correctly”
- Ask permission for their time
- Thank them for their time
These don’t mean the customer walks all over you. It means you treat them with respect. And if they don’t offer respect in return, then brush it off.
5. Streamline Your Business
As companies get busy, they tend to create waste. Unfortunately this is true for many. It is the nature of the beast keeping all the balls in the air.
By creating a culture of less waste, you can save your company thousands of dollars and headaches.
Waste examples are buying more hammers than needed because you can’t find them. Or buying more corporate software to do more tasks when the one you have does the job well.
My friend Rodger set up a Kanban system for the company tools. Now none of the tools go missing.
Another friend of mine Dave set up an incentive program for his employees to find the waste and help create ways to save. As the employees help reduce waste, they get monetary rewards and acknowledged on the company bulletin board for all to see.
6. Create A Marketing Plan
Getting the word out about your company is important. Staying on top of it is hard. Today there are so many social media platforms, it is hard to know where to spend marketing dollars.
The first step is to know who your target audience is. You may have multiple targets. Meaning your sales team needs to target infrastructure as well as clients.
Start small such as an email platform and grow from there. Eventually you need a plan.
Just like your business plan, you need to have a marketing plan. Keep in mind there are variations to the marketing plan you need, depending on your industry and the goals of your marketing team.
For basic starters, make sure you have a website and email to go with the company website. From here get business cards set up. This way you have a business presence.
Some of the LLC formation companies as mentioned above offer website building services as well.
If you choose to build from there, incorporate a social media presence. Make sure you use a company that can capture analytics so you know where your marketing is working.
And last, track what you do. Track how, when and where you put your marketing pieces out there. If you are a small start up, a simple spreadsheet will do. I like to call this a pipeline tracking sheet. It includes people I have talked to, social media campaigns, etc.
7. Create A Data-Base Culture
Years ago we used the saying good data in means good data out. What this means is saving key information will be very important in the long run.
If your company for example sells pools, you probably don’t need to keep on file the name and type of dog your customer has. However, if you are a vet, you will want to know the name, type and color of your customer’s pet.
In addition to saving key information on your customers, make sure you set up a good system to organize all of your emails and documents. Use sites like Drop-box, Google Suite, or Microsoft360 for storing emails and documents.
If you are not sure how to use them, check out Youtube for thousands of how to videos to get yourself set up.
8. Develop A Communication Structure
Communication is a key ingredient for any organization. In fact, for life.
For your office, define who will be the communications person for the office. Choose a person that can articulate well, is focused on detail and not afraid to ask questions.
Additionally, use templates to communicate repetitive tasks such as invoices, thank you emails, inquiry emails and more. These templates can easily be copied and pasted once created. Be sure they have been edited, checked for grammar and more.
Moreover, make sure your templates have key information such as company phone number, email and your company address. Always have a way for your customers to get a hold of you.
9. Create Job Descriptions and Steps For Career Growth
Have you heard the saying ‘get the right person on the bus and in the right seat’? I first heard this saying in Jim Collins book Good To Great. It made perfect sense.
Sometimes we go to work for a company and find we are suited to do different tasks than needed. Having steps for career growth for employees will help them become more involved in the company.
As you grow your company and hire more people, make sure you get the right people in the right seat on the bus. Additionally, have job descriptions that go along with the jobs.
Job descriptions are a key component to any company. First they tell the employee what is expected of them. Next it helps with performance evaluations. And any performance corrections. If you are clear about what is expected, then you can measure and correct accordingly.
Finally, job descriptions help employees know where they want to go. If an employee wants to grow into a larger role, a job description outlining those skills will help them understand where they are today and what they need to do to get ahead.
For example, an administrative assistant may want to become a project manager with your company. He/She can easily look at the project manager job description and see the qualifying skills and certifications needed. From there, she can work with managers to set a plan to get ahead.
10. Celebrate Often
One of the last major components of a successful business is to celebrate often. Too many times we get busy and don’t stop to celebrate.
And by celebration, I mean at all levels. Even the little tasks such as finally mastering how to use the payroll system. It takes baby steps to grow a business. And just like cheering on a baby taking their firsts, make sure to cheer often.
Summary
There are hundreds more components to building your business. Hopefully these components are a step in the right direction to making your company great.
Much like air to breathe, having a vision and mission statement should be your starting point. Your foundation. From there you can continue to work on each component.