As a research project, I posted on three Facebook business forums. “If you could give ONE piece of advice to a new business what would it be?
The replies of advice arrived thick and fast! The forums were Queensland Business, Shameless Self Promoters and a closed Accountants Brains Trust Group.
Here are some of the answers:
From Queensland Business Group on Facebook
Terri Cooper Do your research first, know how many competitors are already in the market, what they offer and what your point of difference is going to be
Georgina Bowden Stay on top of your paperwork. Always.
Paul Barrs Spend less money than you make!
Mark P Robinson Understand, structures, trademarks and business names before spending anything on marketing, sales or stock.
Ishkhan Kojayan Put money aside for gst or yearly tax.
James Fredric Look around for professional advice from quality experts. Not necessarily to use straight away but to build a relationship with. Develop a business plan and a marketing plan.
Be careful where you spend your capital.
Network Network Network! Practice your pitch about who you are, what you do, who you help and why you do it. Perfect it down to 15 seconds or less. Be careful of people making big promises once they find out you are a new business.
Invest in a quality website ASAP. Don’t do it yourself if you can avoid it unless you have expertise in web design and development.
Find ways you can barter for services and have something of value to exchange with other professionals. You can get some high value services for little or nothing if you have something of value to others to exchange other than money. When we started out, we got discounts and free services from respected professionals because of our future ability to refer business to those people.
I know it is more than one piece of advice.
Rose Gibbens Definitely watch your Cash Flow and have a Budget and stick to it. Cash Flow is King
From Shameless Self-Promoters on Facebook
Deborah Lanyon I would say to have enough funds to be self-supportive for the first year as you build your business.
Hayley Jane Whittaker Soooo much…. But I think the biggest one would be to believe in yourself, know you are good enough because you are and work on knowing that at a deeper level every single day!
Veronique Bauer It TAKES TIME… growth is slow and the learning curve is steep…be patient
Paul Alexander say one thing well
Daniel Watson Develop the ability to focus on the important thereby avoiding the distractions that eat up time, energy and funds.
Susan Davidson Take the time to develop your business and not to expect “onight success”.
It is bloody hard work!
From Small Business Accountants & Advisers Brains Trust Australia on Facebook
Jamie Johns Easy, find a mentor, someone who has a track record, someone that has already achieved what you want. Get their help/advice.
Brendan Holland Anything is possible with the right attitude.
Comments
What is your advice?
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About Me
Hi, my name is Karen McDonald and I am a qualified accountant and probably best known as owner of Cascade Consulting, a business that has helped many businesses (including a lot of law firms) over the last 20 years.I run an accounting and tax practice, where we aim to empower our clients to understand their finances and lighten the load of compliance.
In 2011, I founded Wise Owl Legal Practice Management as a response to seeing so many lawyers caught up with the struggle of old, out-of-date and inefficient software. I believe software should lighten your load and empower you to focus on your core mission.
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