How To Start A New Small Business - 31 Ideas

How To Start a New Small Business.

So you’re ready to take more control of your life and start your new small business?

You love the idea yet you might be feeling overwhelmed at the same time by the idea of being a business owner. There is good news and bad news. Bad news: There are many early traps that lead to failure. The good news is almost all of those traps can be avoided when you know them. Below you’ll read what to avoid and what to focus on.

Being a small business owner when it goes well can change your life. Suddenly you are in control of many things like your life, your time, your income and of course your happiness.

So how do you start a new small business and get it right from day one?

Starting a new business these days can be relatively easy. Especially with proven tools like …

Amazon Business, eBay, Shopify, Vinted or even t-shirt drop shop processes like T-Mill. These are just four out of hundreds of free set-up sites you can use to start a new small business. How do you choose which ones? My advice or personal preference is always to use a website that already delivers a ton of traffic. All of the above and more can do that for you - give you traffic. More on traffic here. And if you want to build a website fast avoid WordPress for now and stick to tools like Squarespace or WIX. I use both. Both are easy to use. And all of the images you need can be found for FREE at Pexels.

These make the whole idea of how to start a new small business much easier as you can see.

So let’s get to this. There are a lot of articles online about how to start a new small business. I have purposely written this blog in the simplest of words based on what I have seen and experienced over 38 plus years of owning many small businesses.

How To Start a Small Business - My Quick Story

I started my first business when I was 10 years old. I painted my old Raleigh Chopper bike with some old spray paints. I’m not sure how, but my friend’s parents started asking me to paint their kid’s old bikes. I got paid around 50 pence per bike.

I had started my very first small business. I was a rich 10-year-old.

Today, I have only worked for myself since my teenage years. Yes, I tried jobs but got fired from all of them. I suppose you could call me the original WFH small business person.

I have also had three brick-and-mortar businesses from 1989 to 2003. These were all hair salons. Today, all of my business is done from home using the power of the web through multiple websites.

www.OrangeBeetle.com

www.MasterandMan.com

www.AlanForrestSmith.com

www.salonpunk.com

All of the tools mentioned above I use. I also run a small eBay business, Shopify business and use the web for sales and traffic for a small property business. And of course, through powerful networks and connections, I have built up over the years. (There are many more)

I work hard.
I get paid WELL.
I buy most things in cash.
I am my own boss.
I take time off when I want.
I start my days when I want.
I finish my days when I want.
I even eat my breakfast out everyday or stay at home – if I want.

So - How To Start Your New Small Business?

Here’s what you should know on how to start a business from a businessman that has started many businesses and has run his own business for done for decades.

Grab your idea with both hands
Believe in that idea
Research that people actually are buying what you are selling using tools like Ubersuggest or Google’s own THINK
Know your numbers to the penny where possible (I’ve seen many businesses fail due to a lack of knowing business numbers)
Locate your product best price and quality (cheap isn’t always best)
Know your service - is it different?
Find out how to get what you’re selling in front of buyers eyes (How will buyers see it and be persuaded to buy)
Stop allowing years to pass - just get started
Mistakes are OK, get over them and accept the lesson
Pay an experienced MENTOR for good advice and fast-track breakthroughs
Model a company doing what you want to do but do it better (you can’t be NIKE t-shirts but you can model how they do it)
Model successful small businesses outside the industry you’ve chosen
Buy the best or make the best of what you can afford
Get your marketing right - pay for good breakthrough advice, a good copywriter or a mentor - This SAVES you cash and loss longterm
Find an angle for your business or get good advice on this as it will make or break you.
Get a cool name no one will forget and make it mean something
Be predictable - clients like that - but take some risks
Develop a sales system that converts
Scale up your new small business
Keep up the pace and momentum, especially with your marketing
Never assume its all good - look for more at all times
Don’t go and buy a luxury car in the first year - You wouldn’t believe how many I have seen make this mistake.
Build your cash resources - don’t spend everything - speak to a good accountant about this
Pay taxes because if you are paying them you’re making them and if you don’t pay them and get found out the fine will be big and you could even face jail like Boris Becker
Never rely on staff to run YOUR business just accept their best efforts. When it isn’t their best fire them
Nothing is bad in business it is all just business - don’t moan about paying bills - that’s part of the deal
The slow times, the bad times, the terrible times and the great times… it’s all just business.
Never ever give up but educate yourself in the art of business
You’re never alone. There are many that have done what you are doing with a new small business. Find their story and get inspired by their success
Once you decide to give it everything you’ve got
It’s all a choice - choose well - get good advice at all times

I think the above is enough to get you going with your new small business choices and thoughts.

Here are a few mistakes I have seen in my own client’s businesses. Every small business mistake is avoidable.

Small Business Mistakes That Can Cost You Your Business

Spending a fortune on infrastructure and nothing on planning and marketing
Ordering new cars to sit outside their offices before any money is made
Ordering a Rolex before working on and building a business
Trying to make success happen on the cheap
Failing to create marketing systems that work - This is your TOP PRIORITY
Creating marketing systems that work but failing to upscale them and keep them running
Trying to do everything they are not qualified to do
Failing to ask for proven advice.
Asking for advice failing to act on that advice.
Thinking marketing is a single event rather than a daily part of the fabric of the business
Just sitting there in the new small business and waiting for something to happen
Expanding too fast
Ignoring the massive power of the web
Working with cheap amateurs

The truth is to the answer to how you build a new small business is just to get started and do it. Take as much advice as you can get and run with it as long as there are buyers. Failing to take advice can be an utter disaster.

One or two personal things I will add on how to start a business.

Aim for the highest you can
Source inspirations daily
set big outcomes and visions
Reach even higher
Believe you are what you want to become
Treat yourself regular when business is doing well. It makes it all worth it - buy something nice for yourself
Buy the best of everything – even something as small as your pen. This will empower you to be your best.
Work for as long as you need to every day you need to. If you need to do 30-minutes today that’s good.
If you need to work 18 hours to make things work – stop moaning and work 18 hours – when it has to be done – it’s always worth it.
Make your yes mean yes and your no mean no
Don’t fall in love with your business – it is a business that supports your life not the other way around.
Stop flogging a dead horse – if it isn’t going to work – close it down and move forward on the lessons you’ve discovered
Keep learning
Stay interested
Get excited
Stay in control but let go of control when you need an expert

And my two biggest tips for new small business success. These are the two things that have kept my own business running for years.

Always take advice. This is something the British don’t really do well with. Maybe that is why 8-10 new small business fail. I have always taken advice even for small matters. NEVER wait for advice. You know when you need it so get it as a matter of urgency.

Practice marketing your business daily. Marketing is not something you do once. It is a major part of the business runnings and should be done daily. Here are 43 marketing practices you can apply as a new small business to make sure you’re doing that.

I don’t believe there has ever been a better time in history to learn how to build a new small business. The web has opened so many new doors and created so many opportunists. Yet so have the emergence of the new artisan and the rise of the marketplace. This is an exciting time to be in business but it still has its pitfalls that are all too easy to fall into.

Ask a mentor - take good advice and do everything you can to find your breakthrough when you need it.