Just started a new business? Looking to get your business idea up and running? Well, congratulations are in order! Starting a business takes courage and is no easy feat. So, give yourself a pat on the back. Then, let’s get to work! I’m sharing 5 things to do now to set your new business up for success.
Here’s the thing, if you’re brave enough to start a business, I want it to be as successful as it possibly can be. That means you need to have certain ducks in a row. Trust me, I’m speaking from experience. I did some of these things when starting City Girl Savings, and the other things, I wish I had done. Keep reading for 5 things to do instantly to make sure your new business is ready to succeed!
#1 Open a Business Bank Account
The first thing you should do when you set up your new business is to open a separate business bank account. It’s never a good idea to co-mingle personal money with business money. It makes for a terrible tax-season activity. It also makes it hard to understand what’s really from the business and what’s not.
In order to get a business bank account set up, you’ll need to have a DBA for your business (if you’re a sole proprietor), or you’ll need your business LLC or corporation formation documents. Regardless of what form you set your business up as, you’ll need documentation to get your business bank accounts up and running.
#2 Start Collecting Email Addresses
Whether your business is online or brick and mortar, you want to start collecting information on your leads as soon as possible. When you start collecting email addresses, you can create a library of leads that can be reached out to on a regular basis. I wish I had paid more attention to this when I first started my business.
What made it even worse is that my business is online-based, so any time a person visited my website, I lost out on capturing their information for future services. They would come to my website and leave. Who knows if I’d ever see them again? Whether you collect email addresses or another form of customer information, just start doing so as early as possible in your business.
#3 Give in Exchange for Feedback and Reviews
When you’re new in business, it can be hard to get the initial sales coming in. While that isn’t the case for all businesses, it was definitely the case for mine. I eventually had to give away free services to get some traction. However, it was the best thing I could’ve done for my business.
I gave away a free budget plan in exchange for feedback and a review on social media. That review led to actual sales coming in instantly after the fact. It may be hard to part with your services for free or at a discount, but if it can lead you to feedback that will help you get more sales, it’s completely worth it.
Make sure you’re ethical here. Don’t recruit a friend or family member to leave the review. Find your true ideal customer and target them. Those are the people you really want to be serving anyways. It may be more work in the beginning, but it will turn into more success rates in the future.
#4 Create a Platform for Customers to Find You
There are plenty of platform options you can choose from to help customers find you. If you like writing, consider starting a blog. If you like talking, then start a podcast. If you like being on video, start a YouTube channel. Regardless of which platform you choose, you need to establish somewhere for customers to find you and learn more about you.
More and more businesses are moving to the podcast and video space, so if you’re new, I’d recommend one of those before a blog. However, you’ll still want a searchable website for your business. When you do decide on your platform and get it created, make sure you stay consistent with the content you put out there. No one takes a business seriously that disappears for months in between content being dropped.
#5 Block Off Time to Work on Your Business
If your new business is starting off as a side-gig or something your work on outside of your full-time job, make sure you put actual time your calendar to work on it. This is something that’s so important in the early stages because you’ll have the momentum. It’s not going to be easy to manage a day job and side hustle, so dedicating time to it will help you stay on track to work on it.
If this is something you truly want, this may be a season in your life where you grind it out. You may have to say no to things that take time away from working on your business. That’s okay. As long as you know this is what you really want to do, you’ll make the sacrifice. Just know that it’s only temporary. This won’t be your life forever.
If you’re struggling to allocate your income properly, schedule a free consultation with me now and let’s work through it together!
Related: 5 Necessary Tools for Starting Your Side Hustle
If you’re not sure where to start when it comes to getting your new business set up for success, the list above will help. Get these 5 things done first and the rest will fall in line. I’d love to know if you have started a business and what your first steps were! Is there anything you would do differently a second time around? Drop a comment to share with the CGS community. Feel free to throw in your own tips as well!
