Surviving the First Year of Starting a Business

Not everyone is cut out to start and sustain a business. It requires a certain level of resilience as well as a determination to learn and grow at the same time. However, for those who are brave enough to start, it can be rewarding if you’re able to successfully grow your business. If you’re starting a business in the green industry especially, you’re going to need a to know your industry, niche and be patient. Below, you’ll see tips for surviving your first year of starting a business.

Improve Customer Service

Your customers are the people that will keep you in business. For this reason, focus on improving your customer service before anything else. Consider using live chat so that your customers are able to have 24-hour access to you or at least feel that help is accessible. If you can master excellent customer service in your first year, then you should find that the second year gets easier.

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Save Enough

When starting a business, it is critical that you have enough savings set aside.  Without the right amount of savings, you could struggle if money doesn’t come in as expected. Try and have enough to sustain you for the first six months to one year of operating. Here are a few ways to cope financially during your first year.

Have another Income Stream: During your first year of business, it helps when you have another income stream. This way, you aren’t completely reliant on any income that’s rolling in from your business and it takes the financial pressure off of you. There are multiple ways to earn more money which include working in retail on your days off, selling your services online, or setting up an e-commerce store. You want something that gives you the flexibility to work and grow your business side by side.

Loans: Although this isn’t an income stream, in the case of emergencies, consider direct lender payday loans. These should help get you out of financial ditches on months where you need a little extra income until your next paycheck comes in. There is a range of different loans that you can get whether you have good or bad credit. You can also take out business loans if you have a clear cut purpose for it and need to expand.

Automate

Making use of tech and learning how to automate as many parts of your business as possible will go a long way. This is because it will help you work more efficiently and focus on tasks that matter. When it comes to business automation, you can use it for daily tasks like checking emails, project management, communication or providing customer support.

Be Patient

As mentioned briefly above, if you want to survive the first year of business, you’re going to need a great deal of patience. This is because there is no magic wand when it comes to business, so you’re going to need to put in the work and wait for the rewards. You’ll also need to know that you will make mistakes, but as long as you’re willing to learn from them, such mistakes shouldn’t cripple you.

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