Starting your own business in Australia is as easy as having a desire, the funds and off you go. It’s so simple: no exams, no training and no qualifications.
It’s no wonder that the failure rate for small business ownership is so high. It dropped significantly however, when the GST came into being. Business owners have now been forced into looking at the financial side of their operations quarterly, rather than annually as they did previously.
The reduction in small business failure is a major contributor to the financial state of the country as a whole. When a business goes to the wall the ripple effect can be dramatic. Not only will the owners and their families be affected, but also their staff and their families, as well as all the other small businesses on the creditors’ list. The ripple effect becomes a “Domino Effect” with a chain of small businesses also struggling to avoid toppling over.
Being successful in business requires owners to be multi-skilled or open minded enough to realise that the skills they lack need to be outsourced.
Understanding the technicalities of your chosen business is essential; whether it be fish & chips, beautician, manufacturing, distribution, construction or consultation. To know how it is done is fine, however knowing how to do it “Best” is essential.
Marketing skills are extremely important too. You could invent the world’s greatest mouse-trap, but if you don’t know how to take it to market, it will probably crumble to dust in the garage. Knowing the fundamentals of retail skills is essential in turning customers into clients. Even lawn-mowing businesses need to market their services and develop a “USP” (Unique Selling Proposition) to keep ahead of the opposition.
It’s strange how most new business owners who may have been in a non-marketing job all of their lives, suddenly become marketing gurus when they go into business. They forget that marketing is NOT about what we like or think will work in marketing campaigns, it’s about what prospective clients want or may be informed sufficiently to want.
The management of the business should not be something left to experimentation. Trial and error can be a fatal tactic. How do you manage your staff, your clients, your stock, yourself and, of course, the very important and essential aspect of managing the business’ finances?
There is no guarantee of being successful in any business, however, outsourcing some expertise in the areas of business ownership, which you know you are not skilled to perform, is a major step towards attaining that elusive “successful and profitable” standard that we all desire.
They say of love, that only fools rush in. This needs to be extended to business ownership. Educate yourself. Find out what you don’t know and learn it or, if you realise you limitations of aptitude or time, find someone to fill the role and you concentrate on the area you know most about.