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Starting A Business – The Crucial First Few Weeks

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Starting A Business

In my last article, I helped you write a basic personal business plan as the foundation of a thriving business. Now, let’s talk about how to put your business plan into action, and get your business running.

Step #1 – Getting Started with Your Business

For most new businesses, the first order of business is to find capital to get started. Most would-be business owners use their personal business plans (particularly the 1-2 sentence summary) as their “elevator pitch” to investors.

Related: The Top 3 Traps to Avoid for New Home Business Owners

If you’re starting a home-based business, you might rely on your savings for the capital you need, but do consider pitching to bankers and other investors (perhaps even including wealthy family members). One of the big reasons why new businesses never take off is because they’re too poorly capitalized.

Step #2 – Keep an Eye on the Entire Business

Another big mistake most new business owners make is neglecting certain areas of management. All the successful entrepreneurs know that if you want your new business to survive, you got to stay on top of ALL areas of your business, and only delegate it to staff later when you’ve gotten a hang of the ins-and-outs.

At the same time, it’s important to stay on target with the goals and tactics you outlined in your personal business plan. Many new entrepreneurs get TOO caught up with the day-to-day running of their business that, several weeks later, they realize they’ve steered the business off-course.

Remember, making mistakes is part of the process. The key to success is to make mistakes quickly, and recover quickly, and keep forging forward.

Related: Why You Should Give Your New Business an Exit Strategy

Step #3 – Stay Focused

Another trip-up for many new entrepreneurs is looking too far ahead. It’s easy to fall in love with the vision of “what your business will be like” a few years from now, when you’ve ironed out all the wrinkles and it’s running like a well-oiled machine. The danger? You tend to miss out on the pressing matters in front of you RIGHT NOW.

Planning ahead is fine, but make sure you only look ahead about 2-3 years maximum. In the meantime, focus most of your resources in surpassing today’s challenges, and achieving what you CAN achieve now. The future will take care of itself.

Step #4 – Adjust Your Personal Business Plan as You Go

Finally, success is also about making the necessary adjustments quickly. During the first few months of your business, it’s not uncommon to find that your personal business plan is a little off-target, especially after the numbers come in. That’s when you make the adjustments you need.

Many entrepreneurs call this the “Ready, Fire, Aim” principle – you study and make a plan (Ready), you execute it relentlessly (Fire), then make adjustments as you get results (Aim)… and then you “Fire” again. It’s a bit of business intelligence every new business owner should adhere to, because planning won’t get results – action does.

In my next article, I’ll talk a bit more about the most common “traps” new entrepreneurs fall into, and how to avoid them at all costs. In the meantime, if you haven’t written your personal business plan yet, I strongly recommend you do it now.

 

 

Related: 4 Steps to Writing a Personal Business Plan

About the Author

Kevin J. Donaldson is an entrepreneur, life & business coach, and bestselling author of 10 Secrets of the New Rich. His mastermind group, Real Wealth Solutions, Inc., pursues the advocacy of putting a thriving business in every American home. To learn how to put up your own sustainable business and help rescue the economy, join the Real Wealth movement now.