Small Business Startup Advice

Hindsight is 20/20. There are so many times we wished we would have just asked someone for their business tips and advice. When you’re starting a small business, you’ll want to read as much as you can about the process from seasoned veterans who’ve been there, done that, and lived to tell the tale. One common theme you’ll hear time and time again is; get the funds. Regardless of what your idea is or what strategies you hope to employ, the bottom line is that you’ve got to have money to survive any business plan. Here are some other suggestions from successful recession startups.

Sometimes it’s hard to predict where you’ll find your niche, so it’s a good idea to create a small business startup that encompasses a couple of different areas. For example, Dan Wiley, a 48-year-old first time entrepreneur, started a Los Angeles based firm that provides a range of services from public relations and advertising to branding and internet design. “I never expected we would be doing as much website designing as we have been, and that so few customers would be looking for our public relations services,” Wiley admits. His advice to aspiring innovators is to save up a year’s worth of operating capital to cushion the blow, should things not work out as anticipated.

It can be difficult to start a small business during a recession, when consumers are trying to cut corners. In August of 2008, three friends — Jonathan Miller (28), Maria Sutanto (27), and Jonathan Kelley (27) launched “Element Bars,” custom energy bars with just $50,000 in combined savings. “We’re on the wrong side of customers who are trying to trade down,” says Miller. “To combat tightening wallets, we’re trying to do more marketing with coupons.” He advises to start small and test the demand for your product, leaving yourself room to grow, rather than trying to immediately manage a multi-million-dollar headache.

Sometimes even $500,000 in venture capital funding just isn’t enough for your small business to achieve what you had hoped. “Our target audience just [didn't] have the funds to start experimenting with new software,” said Kimber Lockhart (22), who is marketing a software program that allows users to edit documents within an internet browser, without downloading anything. The only way to survive the early years of your market plans is to have a talented, dedicated team of professionals working with you. She adds, “In a start-up environment, the people are everything, so get out there and recruit the best.”

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