What I learnt from starting my own business
6 Tips to Kickstart Your Next Great Idea
by Di Girvin, Founder
So, you woke up in the middle of the night with an amazing idea or like me had a light bulb moment over an espresso martini, the rush of having the idea is the most incredible feeling, you are beyond excited, until that niggling thought follows…. What do I do now?
If you are like me the first thing I do when I want to know an answer is to start to google on my phone or laptop, however this time the volume of information and tips on “how to start a business” was overwhelming. So, after going through my journey with starting a brand-new business I thought I would share with you some of the things that I learned.
1.
People often ask me how you know you are ready to start a business, well I can tell you there is no right time, particularly now with borders opening and closing. There is however a right mindset that helps ensure you are in the headspace to tackle all the twists and turns of turning that idea into reality
2.
Sit down and put pen to paper, define ‘Why” this is a good idea, you might think that it solves a problem you have, I certainly thought this, but does it solve a problem for someone else, this the “Who” part of the equation, who will be your customers?
3.
The next step is probably the hardest, that is the “How”, for me I was very good from a financial perspective, coming from a background of accounting, I could put all the numbers together with my eyes closed, but ask me about marketing or branding or anything creative and I was in no man’s land. The best advice I can share is to learn to ask for help, don’t try to do it all yourself, don’t think because the internet says that it is easy to build a website that everyone should give it a go. Talking to friends, family and colleagues it amazed me how many people offered to help, they to became excited by the vision that I had to create that was my business idea, involving other people made my ideas seem even more real.
4.
Take everything from above and turn it into a strategic business plan, this step seems the most daunting and can seem to some as pointless, they just want to get on with the doing, but for me this gave me an opportunity to identify gaps where I had not considered how I would address this or what the impact would be on my business. In particular doing a SWOT enabled me to see where gaps in skillsets lay and led eventually to my next hires.
5.
Turn what you have written into simple KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators), the mistake that a lot of small business owners make is writing an amazing plan and then putting it in a bottom draw to gather dust, take those strategic objectives and make them goals to constantly chase for, when you achieve that KPI there is no better feeling, something that needs celebrating over perhaps another espresso martini!
6.
Enjoy running your business, we all do what we do because we are passionate about it, I wake up each day with a smile on face as I feel so blessed to do what I do, it has made the journey very much worthwhile.