Running a small business is no easy feat, there are uncountable ups and downs. While celebrating business wins is important, acknowledging and learning from the lessons learned along the way is equally essential in order to grow and succeed. While the process of learning lessons can feel uncomfortable, overcoming hurdles helps us to strengthen our resilience, increase problem-solving skills and encourage collaboration, all of which are necessary for small businesses to thrive.
My own business journey has not been linear. Since founding Moments in 2017, I’ve encountered many roadblocks and challenges however with the help of a dedicated team and precious mentors, we’ve managed to overcome many of them.
Here are the top four lessons I’ve learnt since launching my own business;
1. Intensely research and plan
You’ve likely heard the phrase, ‘if you fail to plan, you plan to fail’, something which is true in business. Before I launched Moments, I spent a considerable amount of time researching and planning to ensure I was setting myself up for success. I spent time assessing the industry, potential competitors and mapped out a SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunities and threats) analysis to help me understand the market and how we could fit and grow within that. Having a plan provided us with goals and clarity during those early days, which was vital to keep us on track to the bigger picture and our mission.
2. Be close to the numbers
While it can be easy to focus on the number of units sold or amount of revenue generated through bundles, you need to know the analytics behind those sales. Staying on top of those numbers not only ensures you’re profitable with a healthy cashflow, but it can also guide your decision-making process. For example, in 2018 our average basket value of each sale was $11.20 but with a few tweaks to the website and smarter pricing we were able to increase the average value to $38.28. Additionally, with clever re-marketing, our returning customer rate increased by 16.06 per cent year-on-year.
3. Innovation is crucial for business survival
Whether you’re selling a service or product, innovation is crucial to survive, evolve and succeed in a competitive and ever-evolving environment. It enables you to stay at the forefront of your industry and remain relevant to your target market ensuring you continue to grow. Quite often people associate innovation with technical and high-cost exercises, but in reality innovation can take many different forms from changes to the sales process, adaptation to packaging or even involve how you market a particular product.
4. You have to take the bull by the horns
Running a small business requires determination, resilience and confidence. You will have off-days where it seems like nothing is going to plan, however, it’s important to acknowledge these, not get scared and to ‘fight’ each day as it comes. Tackling problems quickly, effectively and head-on will ensure your business continues its upward growth trajectory with minimal disruption. Always believe that, “There is no Plan B, always stick to Plan A”.
Each small-business owner’s journey is different, however, there are certain lessons that can be applicable to every founder, irrespective of the industry. By sharing the lessons we learn along the way, as much as we do our wins, we can help each other achieve better business outcomes.
