5 Tips for New Businesses
October is National Women’s Small Business Month and October 27th is National Mentorship Day. With more any more people, especially women, leaving the corporate work force to start endeavors of their own, I can certainly relate. Having started my own business in 2010 with $500, I grew it and sold it before exiting this past summer. Now I work to help other businesses and grow and find their own success. This week I stopped by WGN Midday News to share some of my top tips for new business owners.
TIP #1: CREATE WHAT I CALL A “FLEXIBLE BLUEPRINT.” It’s NEVER going to seem like the right time, and often my advice is to go for it. But you want to make sure that you have an operational and financial blueprint in place with your costs and revenue streams before you get started.
TIP #2. COME UP WITH A NAME AND SOME SIMPLE BRANDING TO START. Pick a name for your business/company and think some simple branding. You don’t need to spend a ton of money right off the bat, logo/colors/branding is something you can update later. Canva is a great tool if you want to make your own logo (and you’ll use it later for much more). DesignCrowd and Tailor Brands are also very inexpensive services online that you can use to create a logo.
TIP #3. FILE YOUR BUSINESS PROPERLY. Talk to your accountant or a financial advisor to determine how you should classify your business and make sure that you file the right paperwork for tax purposes. Zenbusiness is an online business that can help you do this as well. They offer a ton of tools, guidance and expertise if you don’t have someone accessible already.
TIP #4 ABOUT TWO MONTHS OUT, START TO GROW YOUR AUDIENCE, YOUR COMMUNITY, YOUR CUSTOMER BASE.
There are a lot of free tools out there to help you do this. From social media: Instagram, Facebook, Facebook groups, LinkedIn, to finding podcasts in your industry and getting interviewed, to partnering with other businesses who share an audience but don’t compete with you, marketing and growing your brand’s awareness is where you should spend the most time—starting 6-8 weeks before you’re officially “in business” even. I share A TON of advice on this part of growing a business on my Instagram @lindsaypinchuk and on my website.
TIP #5 No matter what happens—always be yourself and be true to yourself. This alone will come back to you ten fold in business. I built my first business simply by being myself and being a mom—when I left we had 3MM parents engaging with us per month….but no matter how big we got, I never compromised my own integrity for short term success.
Make sure to subscribe to my podcast, Dear FoundHer… debuting in January 2022. In the meantime, follow me on Instagram for more tips and join the conversation in the Dear FoundHer… Facebook Community for more informative conversation.
