SURVIVING YOUR FIRST FEW YEARS OF BUSINESS

How do you survive & thrive in your first few years of business? 

Here's some important practices that continue to work for me and may provide you with some useful ideas and support. A bonus, I thought I could save you some money before you go and spend it on another self-help business book (haha).

1. Have a loose plan and don't worry too much about the word 'strategy'. This word will be thrown at you by people who rarely have a strategy themselves. It will make you second guess yourself and they'll charge you to write one up from a template they've used on countless other vulnerable people. Business is not rocket science. Don't get me wrong, consulting mentors, business coaches, and advisers may work for some people - just make sure they've walked the walk before you engage. If you're boot-strapping, you won't have the funds for their 'strategic plan', 'marketing strategy' and/or any other form of strategy - rarely these types of offerings are free. Starting a business basically signs you up for the unknown and can change at any given second and you can't find a strategy for this... SAVE YOUR BUCKS FOR LATER!

2. Don't spend a single dollar on something that is not absolutely necessary - this is down to the sticky tape you use. Wait until your business is in pain (sounds stupid, but you'll get what I mean), exploding at the seams and everyone is complaining that they're doing 29384 different things and can't keep up before putting on another staff member, investing in pallet racking or leasing that new warehouse. Let profit tell you what your next move should be.

3. Invest back into your business on things that are making money! Keep an eye on your financials - check out what you're doing (product, service etc), how much it's costing you to offer it and what you're getting in return. Put that profit back into the business and focus on things that are making you profit or what you're 100% sure will make you more profit.

4. Throw s*** at the wall and see what sticks. This kind of goes against my frugal advice from above, however allocate some of your budget to trying new things. For example, marketing can be really hard to gauge your ROI - I have thrown tonnes of s*** at the wall here and learnt some valuable lessons; some great and some horrible. But if I didn't try it, I wouldn't know.

5. If you're like me, you started your business because you're passionate about something. You genuinely think if you can make an income from this, you could do this forever happy. You've dreamt of financial freedom and a life where you can do whatever you would like and bring your loved ones along for the ride. This is a fantasy, it's not reality and you're going to suffer. Your family is going to suffer, your friends are going to suffer and so on. Starting a business is not easy, if it was everyone would be doing it and we would all be rich and happy 24/7 (sorry, not going to happen). HOWEVER, it doesn't mean you must suffer forever. Remember, life has its ups and downs and so does business. Ensure you're taking time out, switching off and being present with your family and friends. Celebrate the wins and learn from the loses; share them and be vulnerable. Don't pretend that you're unbreakable. Practice gratitude and ground yourself. Remember, the money will never hug you back; love is honestly more important than financial gain and you can have both.

6. Make sure you pay your suppliers, your staff and your tax. Be ethical and behave honestly. Integrity is everything in business and it's about what you do behind closed doors that matters most. Reputation is everything. One day when it's time to exit, you will be respected in your industry enough that you can help others grow, perhaps as an advisor who's 'walked the walk'. There's no longevity in being dishonest, unethical and ripping people off - you will fall on your sword eventually. 

7. Just because you've made yourself some profit and see cash in your bank doesn't mean it's time to buy yourself a Ferrari or ridiculous office fit out. That stuff is nice, but not right now... you've got bigger fish to fry. Fly under the radar and enjoy the fruits of your labour, but don't let it go to your head.

8. Look after the people around you. You spend more time with them then you do with your own family at times. They're your work family and they're helping you achieve your dreams, so make sure they're paid, safe and respected. Give them opportunities, take risks with them and let them run with their own dreams too. Help them leverage off your success and maybe one day they can do their own thing like you have.

I haven't edited this, I am currently on a flight and struggle to sit still so I thought I'd share some things that have been on my mind. I like to offer advisory to others and I usually talk a lot about this with other business owners. Hope this helps someone out there who's about to start or is running their own business.

Mat Stillone