By: Jolyon Bennet
Behind every successful business, there is usually a story; some straightforward, some inspiring and others pretty nail-biting – the latter usually centred around risks involving money and sticking your neck on the line. But for a company to start and to grow, one of the common denominators is motivation. Whether you’ve had a light bulb moment, a great idea or, you’ve been fired from all your other jobs and realise that the only way you can hold a job down is to start your own business!
It’s not an easy route and along the way, you will face a barrage of hurdles, trials and tribulations, but if you are passionate about your idea and your product, then use these setbacks as valuable lessons. Turn them in to positives and enjoy the ride as this is your rollercoaster and it can be great fun.
There is no way of ensuring the success of a new company, but for the best chances of successfully building a technology company, entrepreneurs should think about the following:
Planning is everything
When you are starting your business, have an idea of what you’re going to try and do. For example, have your P&L (Profit and/or Loss), some idea of numbers, how much you need to sell, how much profit you’re going to make, what margins you’re going to make etc Have your model set up so you know that if you are going to do this, then you will be able to make a certain amount of money. Don’t launch a business and realise that the market is not big enough or that the margin is not going to be strong enough to maintain the infrastructure that you need in order to deliver the business. Planning is essential.
Execution
While planning is one of the vital tips, on its own it is never enough. It’s all about getting out there and getting on with it, and not allowing planning stages or process stages to slow you down from actually getting the job done. The best businesses that were ever being ‘planned’ or thought about or talked about, never actually came to fruition due to the fact that people didn’t have the gusto to go and just get on with it. It is understandable as it is a huge step of faith, but while planning is so important, it also needs to be balanced by motion and by being willing to crack on and go and do it.
Be brave enough to try things
Being conservative and worried about consequences may well hold you back from making a success of your business growing. You need to try things out; do things and allow them not to work. Do things and accept the fact that they are not going to work. Numerous founders will look back at their business career and will have failed so many times along the way. Embrace failure as a part of the process, try new things and accept that they may well fail. In some cases you will learn infinitely from that failure.
Brand is everything
In technology and in the modern world, brand is everything. Your brand is what defines you and just because you’re not a global organisation doesn’t mean that you don’t have a brand. You are the brand. It is essential therefore, to understand how you communicate with your consumers. In the current climate, social media is the main platform that people use to communicate, and a business must utilise to drive and grow all areas, from sales to marketing, customer service and e-commerce. Rather than focussing and getting lost and confused on print or other platforms, make sure your focus is on modern media, which is social.
Be willing to say no
Saying no is just as, if not more important, as saying yes. Some of the best deals that you ever do in business are the deals you don’t do – the deals you say no to. So be willing to make tough decisions of choosing not to do business that doesn’t make sense.
ENDS
About Author
Jolyon Bennet is the charismatic Founder and CEO of Juice Global Ltd, manufacturers of mobile phone accessories supplying high quality, innovative, bold and colourful electronic accessories to a tech-savvy mobile generation.