Archives: Business advice

You need to financially look after yourself, pay yourself a reasonable wage, make sure you have a super plan worked out. I really try to manage for my retirement as best possible and can see the fruits of that hard work maturing soon.

There is always a price to pay working for yourself. There is not always much of a personal life, and you need to be fit and healthy to stay on top of your game.

Eat well, keep healthy. Try and switch sleep is one of the biggest things: for any important job, you have got to get sleep. Don’t be afraid to take criticism. Know that if you give your best, that it is all you can do.

When you make a decision don’t delay, just get on with it! A business plan is important. Don’t be afraid to ask others what they think, even If they are far removed from your line of work.

I’m really good at pushing paperwork to the side and letting it pile up. So my biggest piece of advice is not to do that! Once you have the paperwork sorted, getting out there and networking, going to community events where you can meet people is probably the number one thing to do.

Know what you are getting into. It’s important to have an understanding of the hidden aspects of the business – the legal side and the accounting side, so make sure you get good advice.

You need to be prepared to ride through the highs and lows because no business is entirely clear sailing – you need to keep focused on the long term. When you hit a hurdle, it’s important to look at the options carefully and decide on the way forward – there’s generally a solution for any problem. Sometimes it takes you out of your comfort zone, but in the end that’s how the business grows and succeeds.

Also, it’s important to focus on communication – from the top down and the bottom up. All members of the team have a voice and that’s where the best parts of the business grow from. And the communication goes further than that: it’s important to maintain good and open communication with all of our customers.

Be prepared. Not every day is going to be easy, but they do come from time to time, so take the good ones when you have them. And don’t be afraid to ask for help because you’re probably going to need it at some stage. I’m lucky that I have got supportive parents who have a background in small business and are so eager to help me out.

Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. You will get the ups and downs but if you’re doing something different that you care about, and you’re doing it well, people will get behind it.  

Focus on the basics, the small things matter. Before you commit to running a business, do your research. Ask yourself if it is sustainable. You need to understand what is involved on many levels – you really need to know about the financial side of things and how much time you are going to need to put in. You need to be realistic about your capabilities and when you hit an obstacle, have faith that you will overcome it. The money will come. I think falling in love with your accountant is also important!

To have the confidence that it will work and then do the work to get there. When I was starting out, I questioned throughout the whole process and worried whether people would come and what I would do if no one came.  Confidence is built with experience and time, so just push forward.

Chris: Love what you do but at the same time realise that it all doesn’t just fall into your lap. If you love what you do, you will be willing to put in the time to make it succeed.

Tarryn: Perseverance is important. For most people starting out in business, it doesn’t happen overnight. Have a good idea of what you want to achieve and make sure you get advice or look at how others have set up. Also, be willing to keep on learning – there’s always something new or a different viewpoint to consider. People who love what you do will find you.

Plan! Plan well, keep yourself open to opportunities and don’t overextend yourself. You also need to be good at what you do and then back it up with really good customer service. People really respond to that. If you don’t have that right, you may as well close your doors. In our case, we also focus on fast and efficient turnaround while offering really good value.

The most important thing is to do your homework before you start. Ask yourself if the business is viable or if there are too many competitors in the market already. Also, you need to be clear about your financial backing – you need to be realistic and realise that, unless you are really lucky, business will be fairly slow when you start out. And you really do need to be honest about your capabilities – ask yourself, ‘am I good at what I do?’

If you’re starting up a family-based business, try not to mix the business and family – it is really important to separate the business from the personal.