As the Head of Vistaprint in Australia, I have first-hand experienced the power of redefining the so-called unbreakable rules of business and am passionate about helping people build their business to be stronger than ever.
Here are my top four tips for business rules that are worth breaking to grow your small business.
1. Don’t dabble in business with friends
You may have heard that you should never work with friends and family. However, tapping into the skills of people you have an established relationship with has the potential to create a powerful support network for when things get tough.
Trust, mutual respect, and commitment to growth are other key benefits of going into business with friends and family, in addition to a natural synergy. This dynamic can result in tremendous benefits for your business, but also requires a solid partnership agreement and relationship management. Through a clear decision-making process and understanding of expectations, you and your business partner can navigate obstacles with maturity and honesty.
2. Have a business plan
Creating a plan that sets out what and how to achieve short and long-term goals is the golden rule of business. Yet, capitalising on valuable gaps in the market sometimes requires that you move quickly. In the race to be the first-to-market, drawing up a formal business plan might mean those important opportunities are missed.
We live in an age of reinvention, where shaking up the traditional business model is essential to tapping into underserved markets and adding value to the broader industry. Becoming a market leader requires that you carve out a market by experimenting with old rules and disrupting established models.
Trust your instinct- if you feel that something is missing or could be done better, launch for the opportunity and don’t be burdened by the time and resources required to writing up comprehensive business plans or experience before launching into action.
3. Specialise in what you know
In order to achieve long-term success as a small business, money should never be the number one reason for starting your own hustle. At the same time, don’t let inexperience hold you back from making an impact on the market.
As we have learnt from the top entrepreneurs, having a specialist degree is not essential for developing a successful business. Leverage talented people and absorb insight from expert sources to grow your understanding of the market you seek to thrive in.
Passion is a powerful foundation for growing a business and opportunities to learn along the way are abundant for the bold.
4. Say “yes” to everything
As a small-business owner, you may feel tempted to accept every project that comes your way. From hiring more employees to acquiring new business, things which fuelled growth in the early days can snowball to actually stall you from bettering your company. Becoming a visionary leader requires that you can channel the fierce drive for results and independence as an entrepreneur into learning to say yes to opportunities at the right time.
While most would agree that not having enough time is one of the biggest issues of being a business owner, people fill their days with the wrong types of commitments and obligations.
Remember that your time is limited and as a scarce resource, should be delegated wisely. By focusing on prioritising, you will have more capacity to drive sizeable growth through the things that are most important to growing your business. Decisions should be streamlined by dividing and conquering approvals among key employees, allowing the company to embrace a healthier “yes”.
Melissa Haywood, Head of Vistaprint Australia
