Opening a small business is a big step, but keeping it on track is an even bigger challenge. And many small businesses close within the first few years. This happens for several factors.
One of the main problems is poor management. But could the way you are managing your business be hindering your success without you realizing it? Therefore, here we will show you 15 essential tips that can transform the way you manage your company.
Helping you avoid very common mistakes and take your company to the next level. You can believe it! So, let's go!
1. PREPARE WELL It’s not enough to have a good idea or capital. It is necessary to always seek knowledge.
So, always study. Whether taking courses, researching your audience, talking to other entrepreneurs and studying the competition. Anyway.
Know everything about your market and your company too. Likewise, it is important to pay close attention to what has been done in the past. Entrepreneurs need to value all their successes and study the mistakes made so that they are not repeated.
Take a good look at what has been accomplished and see how to take advantage of your successes and improve them even further. And also how to minimize or even eliminate future errors. 2.
DO A SELF-ANALYSIS A very important step is to do a self-analysis. You need to be sincere and point out not only your positive points, but also your negatives. Therefore, getting to know yourself is extremely important so you don't make mistakes for emotional reasons.
Because you will be the main person to make your business successful and successful. And for a good professional purpose, the reason must always, always be very clear. So, in this self-criticism, point out what your skills are: talents, desires and defects.
In fact, this is an ideal time for you to do a SWOT analysis of yourself, listing your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. This way, you will be able to see what can help you and also hinder you throughout the process of building and maintaining your own business. 3.
GET TO KNOW YOUR OWN BUSINESS IN DEPTH Before starting to design the marketing plan, it is essential to carry out a self-analysis of your company. Knowing exactly who you are, your strengths, weaknesses, what market you are operating in, possible threats,… in short, everything about your own company. The objective here is to be very clear who your company is and how it is inserted and positioned in the market.
Likewise, a great tool to use at this point is the SWOT Analysis that we mentioned previously, but now related to your business. 4. REFINE YOUR BUSINESS PLAN If you haven't developed one yet, make a Business Plan.
And if you already have one, analyze it deeply and understand if everything still makes sense. Because in it, you will be able to understand exactly what to expect for your own business, such as: Market Size Who your customers will be Competitors Products/Services currently offered Suppliers Investments and necessary structures Team Risks Goals and Objectives to be achieved After all, it is where you defined (or will define) your business model and assessed whether it was viable or not. And so, move in the right direction.
Focus where it really matters. 5. ATTRACTIVE AND CONSISTENT PRICES Having good and fair prices is something that all customers value.
In other words, your prices need to be consistent with the value that is being delivered in your products or services. Here, your working price does not necessarily need to be the lowest on the market. It needs to be fair and coherent.
So that your customers see a consistent value. That has the best value for money. Therefore, it is important to understand the prices offered by the competition.
As well as the value that is delivered by them to consumers. And analyze whether what your company is working on is really worth it to your consumers. 6.
DEFINE PRO-LABORE The company's profit is not the same as the entrepreneur's salary. Be very careful with this. Because it is very important to separate part of the profit to save for the company.
Or even reinvest in the structure and growth of your business. Defining your remuneration or salary is something that will give you greater peace of mind in your work and in your personal life as well. However, you need to be very coherent and have a lot of responsibility according to the financial capacity of your business.
Many entrepreneurs end up withdrawing more money than possible. And this is very negative for the financial health of your company. So, be very clear about what you are doing right now.
And here, there are alternatives such as withdrawing money according to the profitability of the business. Or, via pro-labore, which is widely used in entrepreneurship. Basically, pro-labore is the remuneration of partners for their work in the company.
In other words, it is how much the company's owners receive according to the work or function performed. And just out of curiosity: do you already work on your pro-labore in a coherent way? Write here in the comments and share with us!
7. SEPARATE PERSONAL ACCOUNTS FROM COMPANY ACCOUNTS Do not mix company money with your personal finances. This can cause big problems, both for the company and for your personal life.
This way, have everything written down and record your business’ expenses and earnings. And always make the values that compete for each finance very clear: that of the company and your personal. 8.
WORK ON YOUR COMPANY'S FINANCIAL PLANNING Financial planning consists of a projection of income and expenses for a given period. Furthermore, it analyzes projected scenarios and establishes goals based on this information. In other words, he will be the one who will point out the guidelines for the business to be profitable through a set of actions, tools and controls that seek to understand, organize and manage a company's financial resources for the short, medium and long term.
Therefore, prepare yourself for all the situations that could happen if your business doesn't work out. As well as how you could survive this scenario until you are able to get your small business off the ground. And here, we highly recommend you work on 2 financial management tools: Working Capital, which is basically a financial reserve to help your company have more strength and security in its financial health.
And Cash Flow, which will control all expected cash inflows and outflows during a given period. In other words, business financial planning's main objective is to ensure that your company has enough money on hand to lead a healthy life, be able to take advantage of opportunities or resolve possible emergencies. And thus, constantly grow.
9. MAKE PROJECTIONS FOR THE FUTURE Outlining different scenarios of the possible progress of your business is very important. For example: make a realistic projection, an optimistic one and a pessimistic one.
This way, even with the worst-case scenarios, you will have more basis and information to know how to behave if this happens. As well as having a plan to be prepared to make possible adjustments. Very calmly and coherently.
10. WORK ON BASIC MANAGEMENT To be able to manage a company, regardless of size, it is necessary to work on many fundamental points for the functioning and growth of a business. How: Stock Management Basically, stock control is knowing exactly the ideal quantity of each item in your stock.
Thus, control all movement of products and raw materials in your business. As well as managing your entries and exits. Stock represents costs for the company, but at the same time it is responsible for making sales for the business.
People Management It is a set of practices focused on maximizing the potential of people or each individual on your team. In other words, it is related to the practices adopted to study, understand and value the human capital of companies. Marketing Management It is the management that analyzes and monitors the strategies, actions, processes, and people related to marketing activities.
In a way that adds value to the market and its consumers. As well as achieving business goals and objectives. Quality Management That works on all control of organizational processes to achieve quality desired.
Such as people management, information, finance, structural, communication, sales, etc. In other words, quality management will make your business seek, and achieve, continuous improvement of its products/services. As a result, guarantee and exceed the satisfaction and expectations of your customers.
11. INVEST IN STRUCTURE Investing in structure to provide ideal conditions to carry out the expected work and achieve the desired results is fundamental. This applies to equipment, technology, work environment, etc.
Offer working conditions in a coherent and consistent manner. 12. GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE Basically, it means offering the best services to the customer.
Before, during and after purchase. And in this way, make each customer very satisfied with your company. In other words, good service is all the support you offer your customers that helps them have a great experience with your company.
This allows your business to create and build a solid and lasting relationship with it. Thus, make them buy from your company, continue buying and even become a loyal customer, a brand advocate. 13.
IMPLEMENTATION AND MONITORING Now it's time to put everything into action. But remember: implementation is just the beginning. Monitoring is essential throughout the process.
Therefore, constantly monitor your campaigns to ensure they are on the right track. At the same time, evaluate everything we talk about here. And always make adjustments when necessary.
14. DISCOVER YOUR TYPE OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT Business management is a set of strategic actions that aim to conduct a company's business to achieve the best possible results. And each professional can have a style of managing their business.
And there are different models, such as: centralizing, democratic, behavioral, collaborative management, etc. So, if you want to find out what type of management you have, watch this video that shows the 9 main types of business management. 15.
MISSION, VISION AND VALUES Also, always have your Mission, vision and values very well defined. Which are strategic business management concepts . In other words, they are part of strategic business planning.
And on a daily basis, they serve as a compass for companies, guiding the paths to achieve the expected results. In other words, they help define the strategic direction of companies. And if you've stayed this far, let's leave you with a very special tip to further improve your management of your small business.
Which is working well in your Strategic Business Management. Which is very professional management, with strategic development that will guide your business to the path of success in a very well planned and coherent way. So, to find out how to explore this topic in your company, watch this video that shows the complete guide specifically for small business managers.
To watch it, just click on this button above or on the link we leave in the description. And just to recap what we said here: 1. PREPARE YOURSELF WELL 2.
DO A SELF-ANALYSIS 3. KNOW YOUR OWN BUSINESS IN DEPTH 4. REFINE YOUR BUSINESS PLAN 5.
ATTRACTIVE AND CONSISTENT PRICES 6. DEFINE PRO-LABORE 7. Separate personal accounts from company accounts 8.
Work your company's financial planning 9. Make projections for the future 10. Work basic management 11.
Invest in structure 12. Good customer service 13. Implementation and monitoring 14.
Discover your TYPE OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 15. MISSION, VISION AND VALUES We hope you enjoyed it! And if you want to know more about how to set up and manage your own business, visit our YouTube channel where we have several videos on this subject, okay?
And if you liked it, share this video with your friends and family to help them too! And be sure to subscribe to this channel and stay up to date with all our news on how to set up and manage your own business.