Top tips on building a successful business from the ground up

scale up, accelerator, marketing, traits of a successful business owner, challenges

For many people, building your own business from the ground up is a lifelong goal. Even though it is a very commonly held aspiration, not everyone who dreams about it will take action, and even fewer people have the perseverance, tenacity and grit needed to see their start-up succeed through all the rocky ups and downs they’ll encounter in the first few years.

I founded Global Prime business around 10 years ago along with my cousin, Elan Bension. I was actively trading at the time and jumped at the opportunity to see what actually happens with my trade executions. In the 10 years that have passed, Elan and I have built the business from a FinTech start-up into a thriving online trading provider, with clients from over 120 countries all around the world.

So, what advice can I give to those aspiring entrepreneurs who are looking to start their own businesses? As best I can, I’ve tried to condense 10 years’ worth of experiences into a few key points.

Transparency is the key to running a successful business

If you have nothing to hide and are proud of how you conduct your work, then use that to share the details with your clients and industry through innovative approaches. For example, we are the first online broker to introduce Automated Trading Receipts so that our clients can see all trade executions and verify that we do not trade against them and profit from their losses.

Transparency is one of our core business values and it is integral to our clients that we are able to be held 100 per cent accountable at all times.

Choose the right partners

You are going to be spending a lot of time with the people you work with, so you need to ensure that you see eye to eye and have an honest and respectful relationship. There’s going to be plenty of ups and downs and bumps in the road (especially as you try to navigate the first few years of any start-up) so it’s critical to have the best people by your side that you can trust, rely on, and communicate openly with.

Marketing and getting your name out there is imperative to a successful company

You can have the best product in the world, but if people don’t hear about you then you can’t grow. Many would say the growth of a start-up is a numbers game, the more potential clients/customers who are able to see your company, the more growth you are going to have. Having a marketing plan that creates quality content and is optimised for today’s digital world will help a new company increase its visibility and stand out amongst the competition.

The team is everything

Having a knack for hiring the right people is extremely important. You’ll want to find committed people and be able to look after them so they stick around and become part of the journey. In the early days, most start-ups only have a very small team in the beginning comprised of a handful of dedicated and hardworking people. The pace moves very fast, with everyone often working on overdrive. This is where active and efficient communication in the team becomes so important to ensure that the workflow stays organised and there’s no overlap.

Fairness, integrity, and honesty

A business leader needs these qualities otherwise they won’t get it back in return. If you conduct your business with transparency and integrity at all times, then these qualities will be returned to you tenfold in appreciation from your clients, business partners, employees and stakeholders. Building an ethos and reputation around these core values is a solid base from which any business can grow.

Building a business from the ground up isn’t easy, but with the right core values, team, and a whole lot of hard work and perseverance, it can be one of the most rewarding career accomplishments. I’m immensely proud of what we’ve helped build over the last 10 years, and excited for all the growth that lies ahead for the company’s future.