Business owners have a lot to overcome before they can determine whether or not their business is successful. Usually, if a business has survived its first five years, this is a good sign and hopefully, it will remain for at least another five. If you’re a small-business owner or are planning to start your own independent business soon, you will need to make sure you’re taking the right steps to make it through those first five challenging years. Listed below are five of the essential features (along with a good business plan) that your business needs in order to grow.
1. Insurance
Every business needs suitable insurance, whether you’re a limited company or a sole trader. It’s a legal obligation, and if you don’t have this in place before you start trading you could be putting yourself and the business in jeopardy. However, there could be specific covers that your business needs, which is why doing your research into different providers and specialist insurance will be essential.
2. Good Software
The amount of computer software you will require will depend on the scale of your business and also the industry you’re in. However, if your business is an office-based company such as sales, insurance, consultancy, or marketing, you are likely to need a variety of software to function at full capacity. You will need HR programs, CRM (customer relationship management), employee portals, and data analysis software, too. In order to ensure the protection and control of your company’s intellectual property, consider using a virtual deal room to manage your documents and help you to make good business deals.
3. Strong Marketing
Any start-up business needs to have great branding as well as an excellent marketing strategy. This is how you will reach your customers and spread the word about your products and services, as well as letting them know what your brand’s ethos is. There are many platforms that can be used for marketing purposes—social media marketing being one of the most popular and useful options available, especially for start-ups. However, make sure you are utilizing as many platforms as possible and are paying close attention to how people are responding to your campaigns. If you’re unsure about how to achieve the best marketing, hire the services of a specialist marketing agency.
4. Legal Representation
Finding a suitable attorney to help you when it comes to your business’s legal matters is important. Not only can they help you against any possible legal complaints that may occur, but they can also help you to draw up the correct and appropriate contracts for employees, terms of sales and rights, and any other agreements you will require to be legally binding.
5. Great HR
You might not be in a position to hire a specific HR team, but you, or whoever you’re putting in charge of this, must know what they’re doing. Human resources are responsible for employment, payroll, staff training and development, and relationship management within the workplace. It’s important that whoever is in charge of these responsibilities is organized, understanding, and can handle confrontation with the ability to navigate difficult situations respectfully and professionally.
There is so much more that goes into making a business successful, but these are five essential features that you will need to think about if you’ve recently started an independent business, or are in the process of planning to do so.