If you are an entrepreneur, then you will no doubt be used to blocking out the advice of others. Whether it is ignoring the well-meaning warnings from family members against starting your own business, the pleas from your advisers or board members not to take a particular direction, or nagging friends who want more of your time at the weekends, there is no shortage of noise to get accustomed to.
However, this presents an issue.
As an entrepreneur, you cannot heed the advice of everybody around you; otherwise, you will never make a coherent decision and your business will end in a smouldering wreck. On the other hand, being extremely stubborn and bullish about your decision-making without doing your due diligence can lead to unnecessary mistakes, easily avoided with a little forethought.
Therefore, it is critical for you to keep improving your knowledge of both entrepreneurship and the business world as a whole. This is because the more applicable skills (or at least a working understanding of them) you have within the business world, the more informed your decisions will be and the more opportunities you will have to grab hold of.
Here are five business secrets every entrepreneur needs to know about for the new year:
Outsource your marketing campaign
One of the most crucial areas to focus your attention is outsourcing. This is because it gives you the ability to increase your workforce without the risk and expenditure of taking on full-time staff. By outsourcing, you can jump onto more ambitious opportunities, remain flexible in times of crisis, and solve problems faster.
On top of this, you will have access to a range of specialist freelancers and businesses who are far more effective at specific tasks than an employee with a broad skill set. You could, for example, outsource your outreach to a company like gsa-marketing.co.uk, who can take care of it for you.
Tell a compelling story
An underrated quality of successful entrepreneurs is their ability to tell a great story.
To illustrate why, you only need to look at any hyper-successful corporate brand from the history books as proof.
Whether it is Coca-Cola, Facebook, Tesla, Apple, or Jack Daniels, all instantly-recognisable brands tell their own stories. They are not merely creators of successful products but key protagonists in popular culture – characters in their own right.
Therefore, it is useful to learn how to tell compelling stories about your company, regardless of the industry. After all, stories convey information, and if you can attract the attention of your market, it will be far easier to sell them your products.
Inject your own personality into your company
To build upon the previous business secret, it is not key benefits that sell products, but personality – or at least a combination of the two. It is the reason why the mobile phone industry went from being led by Blackberry to being dominated by Apple, seemingly overnight. Unsurprisingly, the brand with the stronger image won out.
There is no mystery as to why this is the case. Humans appreciate buying products from other humans – or at least want to find a human quality within the product itself.
You should, therefore, try and inject your business with some of your own personality in order to make it a more interesting proposition. You might not attract everyone, but the people who do admire you are more likely to become repeat customers.
Don’t jump on any bandwagons
It might seem tempting at the time, but avoid jumping on any fashionable trends – whether societal or within the business world itself. The reason for this is that customers can sense when you are chasing easy sales through token gestures. It looks cynical and will likely damage your brand identity.
Of course, if you do want to get behind a cause or try out a certain business strategy, then great – but do it because you are passionate about it, not because you want to steal sales away from someone else.
Going it alone can often be more productive than teaming up with the wrong person
Lastly, be careful who you go into business with. Finding a business partner can be enormously beneficial, but it can also lead to you being betrayed or the business failing.
Therefore, carefully assess everyone who joins your business, no matter how small a part they have to play. It is better to go it alone than work with someone who does not see eye to eye with you or does not have your best interests at heart.
