Tips for Solo Entrepreneurs Just Starting Out

You have found a passion that you think you can monetize. Taking the leap into entrepreneurship and starting your business is a big undertaking, but if you prepare yourself wisely and know what it takes, it can be super rewarding.

The odds of creating a successful startup business can change faster than the NFL odds throughout the week leading up to the Super Bowl. But there is one major difference. You. You have control over how you go about business and which direction to go with your new business.

Let’s go over a few useful tips to keep in mind as you navigate the world of running your own business.

Organization

Organization is going to be the pivotal foundation for your business. Without an organizational system that keeps things running smoothly, aspects of your business will tend to slip through the cracks, leaving you wondering why business isn’t going well.

Take the time to create organizational systems and methods of operation that account for every small detail of your business. For example, have a filing system to place your receipts to keep track of expenses. When it comes time to do your books and your taxes, it will make the task much easier and less time-consuming.

No one wants to spend a week organizing their books and preparing for tax time when they should be focused on the daily running of their business. Look into software programs that can help automate or easily organize the daily operations of the business. The less you have to think about on a daily basis, the more productive you can be in growing your business.

Efficiency

Efficiency stems from your organization systems. Being efficient in all aspects of your business will really help things run smoothly. If you are constantly jumping from one task to another with no sense of flow, you will find that you are always busy, but not really accomplishing much.

Set aside times where you do only certain aspects of your business. For instance, set parameters for when you respond to emails. Set aside small periods of time throughout the day to check and respond to emails. Don’t be in the middle of a creative session and then jump into an email that pops up. This disrupts the flow of everything and can be more harmful than productive.

Don’t Fear Competition

Don’t ever fear competition, whether it’s locally or nationally. Competition is motivation to stay on top of things and continue to grow. So they are doing better than you? What are they doing better that you can improve on to make your business better?

Embrace competition as motivation to become bigger and better. Stay positive. Don’t focus solely on the competition, but be aware of them and what they do well. This will help you continue to evolve and pivot your business when needed.

Think of the competition as more data points that you can work from. Are they doing something radically different than you inside of the same niche? Maybe you need to do something similar or maybe you need to pivot your business in a different direction inside of that niche to set yourself apart from your competition.

Don’t Think You Need to Master Everything

There are many parts of the business that you might have overlooked or that you will grow into that you may not know exactly how to do or that you are not qualified to do. Don’t sweat it and don’t be too proud to ask for help or to outsource certain things. Ultimately, not trying to master an aspect that is difficult or that you are not passionate about will save you frustration and allow you to focus on the more important tasks that you are passionate about.

Be aware that if you are growing in size and taking on more than what you can handle by yourself, it might be time to start expanding your team.

Build a Team

As your business grows, it will more than likely outgrow what you can handle by yourself. This is when you need to start building a team and find qualified people to help in different aspects of your business so that you as the owner can continue to focus on the things that led you to start the business in the first place.

Maybe you are in the service industry where you offer consulting or work directly with clients. As time goes on and you gain more clients, it may be beneficial to hire a secretary to take over your scheduling process and respond to calls and emails. This frees you up to work more efficiently and to see more clients.

Don’t be afraid to delegate tasks to motivated people who can help you take that next step to create a successful business.