Author: Nibletz Staff

Communication is a vitally important part of any successful business. Whether it’s relating to internal memos or external marketing, being able to communicate clearly and quickly is vital. What’s more, with globalisation gathering pace, communication now needs to cover much greater distances than ever before.

If you do not have the right tools in place, however, communication could end up costing your business thousands of dollars more than it needs to. If you want cutting-edge communication without bankrupting your company, then be sure to follow the below tips.

Avoid international travel if you can

With the vast array of communication options now available, businesses should think long and hard before committing any of their staff to international travel. Although face-to-face interactions remain important in modern business, you may be able to save your business hundreds of dollars by having a telephone call or Skype conversation instead of purchasing a ticket half way across the world.

International travel may be tempting, particularly if you can include your first class ticket as a company expense, but reckless spending has undone many a successful business in the past. If there’s no genuine benefit to the business, then avoid long journeys. You’re finances, and the environment, will thank you for it.  

Outsource your comms

Communication in the modern age can be extremely complicated. There are emails, telephone calls, video conferencing and more to consider, which can be confusing and costly, particularly if you are purchasing your different comms from a number of different providers.

Instead of attempting to organize this collection of disparate networks yourself, you can now outsource your communications to an external agency. In particular, VoIP solutions now let businesses conduct their telephony over an online connection, providing cost and reliability benefits. Instead of having to handle your comms management yourself, you can outsource the purchase, installation and setup to a third-party provider.

Sort out your telephone tariff

If you are conducting business abroad yourself, or contacting a client based overseas, it is important that you have the right telephone tariff to ensure you’re not incurring huge fees. International calls remain expensive, but businesses do have a few options that let them get around this.

There are a number of mobile business tariffs that include international options, offering reduced rates on calls and providing data usage. What’s more, businesses can set caps to ensure that spending never gets out of control. Alternatively, going with a VoIP or Unified Comms solution that uses an internet connection rather than traditional phone networks will also enable you to avoid international fees.

App-ly yourself

When looking to save costs on communication, don’t neglect the vast range of apps that are available to the modern business. These include WhatsApp, which is free to use and allows encrypted communication anywhere in the world, and others that are more business oriented, like Slack. Whichever communication apps you ultimately decide to use, there are many that boost collaboration at no added cost. You may, however, wish to officially endorse a particular application, in order to reduce the rise of shadow IT in the business.

Ask any expert or business owner what the most common reason for small businesses failing is and they will tell you it is mismanagement of outgoings. It is a simple math; the more outgoings you have the more revenue you need, which, as a small business or startup, can be a tough ask. Outgoings tend to pour out of every area of a business. There is stock, there are wages, there is tax and utility bills and rent or mortgage payments, and that is just a scratch on the top of the iceberg. Get out a calculator, add them all up and you will see that these outgoings tend to add up pretty quickly, meaning the end of the month isn’t that fun.

But don’t worry, we have spoken to industry experts and successful business owners, and compiled a list of their top tips and advice to help you be a success. No need to thank us.

Find Yourself Great Deals

Finding deals can become one of your closest friends. It’s a bit like when you go shopping for groceries or clothes or anything; you will be attracted to deals because they will save you money. The same goes for business. What’s more, there are plenty of ways to get a good deal. Why not go online to see what you can find in the way of deals. The internet is saturated with money-saving websites, it just takes a little knowledge of knowing where to look and what to look for. For example, if you are in the retail business, have a look to see what the lowest credit card processing rates are. Alternatively, why not try a little renegotiation here and there. Speak to your suppliers, or your landlord, and see whether they can give you a better deal. Chances are, if they value your relationship, they will be willing to to offer you a reduction. Even if this is a fraction, a few dollars for instance, it could add to a sizeable chunk when added together and spread out over a year.

Marketing Can Be Cheap

If you are thinking of hiring an agency to handle all of your marketing and social media content, but have gulped at what they charge, stop. It is not worth shelling out a huge chunk of your tight revenue on an agency. Why? Because there are so many ways to market your business in a seriously cost-effective way. Heard of social media? Of course you have. It is the go to place for everyone, whether they are searching for something, researching a business or just procrastinating. So get on it. Know which platform will suit your needs best and get on it. Look at Twitter and LinkedIn and Pinterest and Facebook. Decide which one will drive the most traffic and start harnessing its power. Start blogging as well. You have a website, so start improving your SEO by blogging often and well. Trust us on that one.

Outsource Everything

Employees cost money. They have monthly salaries you need to pay. There is insurance that needs to be put in place. You’ll need a bigger office space and that means more utility bills. So, yeah, they cost money. So why not dip into the pool of freelancers that is now filled with top talent. It could be HR consultancy that you want, designers or content writers. All if it can be freelanced, which means you can start cutting your costs dramatically.

Hiring employees brings a number of issues for startup owners. It’s a massive expense and a lot of extra responsibility, which may cause you a lot of concerns. What if your business can’t support these employees in six months time? What if the people you hire are unable to do the job as well as you can? And never mind the cost of wages – will you be able to meet the compensation costs if there is an accident on your premises?

All of these concerns are valid, of course. But it’s important to see hiring employees as an investment, rather than a cost. And, as with any other investment you make in your business, some risk management is vital – and will inform you of whether or not you are ready to start employing people. With this in mind, we’re going to run through some of the things you need to consider before bringing employees into your business. Let’s get started with the basics.

When you are wasting time and money

Startups often begin with one person who does everything – and that person takes on all the responsibilities and work, irrelevant of its value to the business. But this way of working is incredibly problematic. Let’s say as a CEO; you are worth $300 an hour for your business, either through working with clients or selling to potential customers. But you only get to do this for three days a week – the rest of your time is doing everything else you need to do to keep your business running. Tasks such as filling in databases, uploading receipts, or filing documents – all vital to your business, but you could pay someone $15 an hour to do them, leaving you free to focus on your $300 an hour work.

When you have everything in place

Hiring employees is a lot more complicated than working for yourself. You have a lot of responsibilities to recognise and act upon, including providing a safe and healthy workplace for your staff and everything from contracts of work to disciplinary guidelines. In fact, the area of employment can be so complicated that many startups might benefit from making a human resources appointment first of all, or outsourcing to an HR consultancy. It’s vital to get everything in place before you start hiring as it will give you the protection you need in the event of an accident, dispute, or any other problem in the employment law area.

When you are unable to meet long-term demand

Finally, many businesses are seasonal – in that they enjoy good months at particular times of the year. It’s important to understand that these seasonal spikes in sales are not enough to tell you that you need to hire in some extra bodies. Instead, startup owners need to look for sustained, long-term growth, where they cannot meet demand in even their quieter periods. When this occurs, it’s a reliable sign that you need to hire people to cope with that demand. However, it’s vital to avoid diving in too early, or you will be left with a massive wage bill to pay every month and too few sales to sustain it over a whole year.

Getting a product to market successfully is truly difficult. The amount of products that die a death before they really make an impact litter our newsfeeds as endless cautionary stories. On the other hand, those truly successful and impactful products, like the iPod and the Fitbit, become almost legendary for getting it right. But you don’t have to reach their level of notoriety to succeed. What you need to do is ensure you’re not making these product-killing mistakes.

Skipping the market appeal

Whether you’re inventing a product for a business or as a business, you can’t skip the step of creating a proper pitch for it. You need to identify that the target market exists, that you’re providing some unique proposition compared to your competitors, and that consumers will actually care about that proposition. If you don’t take the time to create a proper pitch, you will either get laughed at by potential investors in your idea or you will launch only to find virtually no fanfare for it.

Lacking a roadmap

Developing a product can be hectic and can throw all kinds of unexpected steps and detours at you. But without a roadmap, those detours can become an entirely different road with no end in sight. Make sure you have clearly defined goals and a process route that ensures no-one is left waiting at a bottleneck for others to open up the next step for them.

Rushing the prototyping process

Prototyping is vital. But all too many businesses use it solely as a proof of concept step. You should be using it to get used to the physical dimensions and property of the product you want to create. This is the perfect time to identify design aspects that could be changed to make production a lot easier, or elements of discomfort that could put potential buyers off the product entirely.

Not investing in the production

Few businesses can afford to skimp out on the proper equipment to ensure they’re as efficient in production as possible. When it comes to shaping the product, you need to do what you can to reduce loss of valuable materials. Whether that’s spending more time training employees to use manual tools or integrating automated CNC machinery, loss prevention is a vital part of keeping production cost-effective. Fail to be cost-effective and you’re already making it a lot harder for the product to succeed.

Failing to launch

The launch is the part that gets the public invested in the business. A successful launch can make more an impact than most of the steps above. But you shouldn’t let a fear of failure keep you back from launching. If you keep putting it off, then the hype you should be generating through social media and marketing will keep dying down until there’s no-one to care by the time you actually do launch.

At every point during the development, creation, and launch, you need to be honest with yourself about how smooth the process is going. Knowing when to cut your losses is as important as getting a great launch going. Looking at the elements above will better help you identify not only how well you’re doing, but how successful the product is likely to be.

Provided you had at least a couple of jobs before you started your business, I’m sure you’ve had experiences with people who weren’t exactly the biggest assets to the company. As co-workers, they’re simply annoying. As your own employees, these people are toxic to your livelihood, and need to be dealt with! In this post, we’ll look at a few different types of toxic employees, and the best ways to deal with them…

Slackers

This is probably the most immediately obvious type of toxic employee a business can have, and one too many can drive a promising start-up right into the ground. These are the people who will constantly find ways to duck out of work, and will have no problem watching others having to pick up the slack. What makes things worse is that a lot of them are experts at disguising themselves as hard workers! Slackers are a massive drain on their co-workers’ time, enthusiasm and energy, so don’t let their behavior slide. Try to figure out if there’s any secret resentments that they have for the company, and deal with these where you can. Provide clear, measurable targets, recognize the effort they do put in, and be a little more stern with their reviews.

Sociopaths

An estimated 4% of people show sociopathic traits, and if any employees harbor these it can have a serious negative impact on the business as a whole. These people will poison the whole office environment with their behavior, and leave a trail of discord and damage wherever they go. If they’re given the opportunity, many will try to extort or manipulate the business for their own gain, pushing their employer to find a corporate PI or take aggressive legal action. If you notice any employees who demonstrate dominant, bullying behavior, a constant disregard for business protocol, interpersonal issues, and a subtle contempt for authority, I recommend keeping a close eye on them. Make sure you’re enforcing strict anti bullying policies at your business, taking all employee complaints seriously, and going out of your way to make your company’s working environment as safe and supportive as possible. Sociopathic employees are often toxic, but can usually be kept under wraps.

Martyrs

These are the polar opposite of slackers, which may sound great on the surface. However, employees that have no end to their work ethic, and insist on taking on as many responsibilities as possible, can cause a range of issues. Martyrs may be hard working, but many of them need everyone else to recognize what they’re sacrificing for the job. Their control issues can seriously undermine the confidence of their co-workers, and cause major issues when it comes to anything involving teamwork. Furthermore, a lot of them will come into work even when they’re way too sick for it, spreading illness around the office. If you’ve been fostering something of a competitive attitude in the workplace, consider toning this down, and encouraging more collaboration. You should also talk to any martyrs and ask them directly to delegate more of their work.

There a plenty of rewards to running your own business. For yourself, it might be seeing your idea and venture grow tall and succeed before your very eye. It might be the fact that you’re trying something new and moving forward on your own. In fact, it might just be because your name is behind a new business.

The pros of starting a business? Well, you now get to be your own boss and control your own career and destination. There’s the fact that you can control your own hours, being as flexible as you wish. Of course, there’s the money which can boost your bank balance off the back of your own hard work.

That last point is a good one because money is so crucial to the starting and running of a business. You can’t start a business without money, and it certainly can’t exist without a steady stream of incoming cash. Your idea can be amazing, but without money, it won’t be realized.

A customized business loan is a great way to fund your business no matter if you are just starting up or need to cash to advance the pursuit of your business goals. There are loans out there that will fit you and are completely customizable, so you’re not out of pocket. With simply flat fees and payment terms laid out on your terms to suit your needs, it’s worthing looking around for a good loan which could keep your business going or start your new idea off.

Loaning money from the bank isn’t the only way you can get started, though. You can raise money through an equity investment which will see you sell your shares to investors. There are plenty of people who are prepared to back new businesses, and in many cases, the government would grant them some serious tax relief in reward for supporting businesses like yours. Venture capitalist firms may be prepared to take a gamble on you if your idea is unique and could form an alternative avenue of funding.

In terms of alternative financing options, you might consider a crowdfunding platform like Indiegogo or Kickstarter if you believe your business or your idea can capture the hearts and minds of the public in order for them to part with their hard-earned cash. A crowdfunding campaign is going to be hard-work as you’ll need to keep your backers update on your progress and ensure you meet their needs and your goals. Plenty a Kickstarter has gone wrong because the creators have failed to deliver once they’ve received the money – make sure you can follow through on your promises. To run a successful crowdfunding campaign, you’re going to have to embrace multimedia and social media to get your message out to the masses, but these skills will serve you well when your business is up and running.

Money – it’s going to keep your business in business, get a solid plan funded and run it responsibly.

If you have a great idea for creating, and running, your own business then it can be quite difficult working for someone else – whether that be a small company or a big corporation. You have probably looked at the structure of everything in the place you work now: from opening hours to social media policy to the employee safety handbook to the recruitment policy, and thought, “I can do my own thing much better than this, I feel like I’m wasting my time here.” When you have that mindset in a professional capacity, it can have a serious detrimental effect on your mentality. You may find yourself not doing your job as well as you used to, feel obliged to speak to colleagues (when before you actually wanted to speak to them) and simply struggle getting up in the morning, knowing you’ll spend another day at a job you do not want to be in.

Lots of people have been, or even are, in the same situation as you. There are those who go and do something about and those who remain – unhappily – in their jobs because they aren’t focused enough or determined enough to make their own business idea work. If you do decide to go ahead with your dream, and leave your job, and start up your own business then do it with caution. Ensure you have enough money set aside for when you need it (you most definitely will be thankful for savings), do a lot of research into what creating a business entails in legal requirements, financial investment and business growth, and start small and build your business up bit by bit.

Whether your business idea is to start up a retail design company, a marketing business, a coffee shop or even an advertising agency, all business require a lot of nurturing, growth opportunity and initiative. A lot of people have false hopes – thinking as soon as they start their business they will be able to move into a shiny new office, with lots of employees under them. But, that simply is not the truth and rarely happens like that. Entrepreneurs spend time working from home in an office space they have cultivated for themselves: the kitchen table, the space under the stairs, the attic, as it can be far too expensive to move into office right away.

It is always a good idea to look into how you plan to invest in your business; this could be your own savings, a loan, or seeking the backing of a group of investors.

So, if you are unhappy in your current job, and have a business idea which you are positive will work out for the best, then seek out research on what starting up a business entails in journals, magazines and online. You could also talk to people who have been there and achieved their dream. It will be a lot of hard work, but if you put the effort in, it will definitely be worth it in the end.

Not many people realise the importance of hygiene and cleanliness at the office. Not only can employees come into work with illnesses that are contagious if they don’t practice proper hygiene, but if there’s too much clutter in your office you might not be able to find important documents, supplies and you might even trip over and hurt yourself. Even worse, one of your employees could trip a wire or cause damage to hardware because there was too much clutter around to move, and the last thing you want is for an employee to file a lawsuit against your company for your lack of health and safety precautions.

We’re approaching that time of year when we give our offices a good spring clean, so here are a couple of tips to make that a little easier for you.

Remove Clutter

Keeping your office tidy is not only a good way to prevent accidents from happening, but it’s also a good way to help your office work more efficiently. It’s common for people to lose things due to too much clutter and you might not find some hardware devices or documents that you need. More space on your desk and in your office also helps you work more productively. For starters, more desk space means that you have more room to work in and having a clean environment makes your office feel more open and comforting to look at.

Disinfectant is Important

When employees come into work, you have no idea where their hands have been. Perhaps they have been sick over the past few days or maybe they touched something during their commute and they have germs on their hand. It’s not expensive to have a packet of disinfectant wipes at the entrance or one of those squeezable containers that dispenses disinfectant gel. Many infectious diseases and illnesses are transmitted via touch, so it makes sense to keep your hands clean and your office hygienic.

Hire Professionals

If your office is in a terrible state, then you might want to consider hiring a professional to help you clean up the place. Cleanworks is such example. They’ll help you steam your carpets, remove clutter, clean out the toilets and you can hire them on a one-off basis or you can request regular visits to keep your business looking fresh and clean throughout the year.

Empty the Bins

Depending on what your employees do at work, your bins could be completely filled with junk, rubbish, drinks and other nasty things that can attract bugs and horrid smells. Make sure that you are clearing out your bins as often as possible (preferably once per night) so that these smells don’t have a chance to build up and that there’s less chance of lies or rats coming in and infesting the office.

Don’t Eat at the Computer

And lastly, remind your employees to never eat at their desk. The stains and grime from food can easily get caked into keyboards, on people’s hands and all over the desks and work. Not only is it a risk to the cleanliness of your office, it’s also a risk to your hardware and documents if they make it a habit of bringing drinks and food to their computers.

If you are just starting out in the restaurant business, then there is plenty to consider which you might not have thought of yet. This is a type of business which tends to attract many different kinds of people the world over, and there are some very good reasons for that. Once you get set up and running, there is nothing particularly stopping you from becoming a major success – so long as you know what you are doing and you follow some basic rules along the way. In this article, we are going to help you by taking a look at four of the main things that your customers want to see from you. Knowing these, you can make your restaurant more successful right from the start.

Varied Menu

It goes without saying that the food is one of the most important aspects of the whole experience. In all likelihood, you will be setting up a restaurant with a particular theme, or food from a certain place of the world. This alone should give you a strong idea of how to create your menu, but another thing worth mentioning is that people tend to want some decent variety in their menus when they go to restaurants. So make sure that you are offering a good range of different foods; this is one of the quickest and surest ways to please your customers.

Home Deliveries & Takeaways

One of the reasons that customers tend to want variety in the menu is because they desire a lot of choice. Generally, the more choice you give them in any other aspects of the experience, the better. It’s for this same reason that your customers are likely to be pleased if you offer a decent home delivery and takeaway service. You might not have considered this for your restaurant, but it does have the real benefit of drawing in more customers than you might otherwise get. Make sure you use software that allows you to provide Online Ordering for Restaurants, and you should be ready to go.

Competitive Pricing

It goes without saying that customers don’t want to pay through the nose, but there is something of a balance to be found here. Basically, you want the price to suit the meal, and this is something which can take a lot of trial and error to get right. As long as you start off at the lower end of the price range, you should be able to get enough customers in at the start in order to be able to figure out pricing better. This is an essential part of the whole experience,and really can’t be overlooked.

Polite Staff

Finally, remember that the actual customer service itself is more important with restaurants than probably any other type of business in similar industries. So make sure you only hire the best and ensure that they are as polite and friendly to your customers as possible. This alone should make a huge difference to the experience your customers ultimately have at your restaurant.

Mom and pop restaurants might be fading away, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t popular anymore—it just means that the majority of these restaurants don’t have the means to survive because they aren’t keeping up with the times! Mom and pop restaurants are incredibly popular because they serve food that is close to our hearts. Comfort foods such as mac and cheese, spaghetti and burgers are foods that we will never get tired of because they remind us of our childhood, and nothing hits closer to home than a blast of nostalgia in the foods we eat.

Unlike larger restaurants, diners are much more homely and are suited for families as well as professionals. You wouldn’t see a ragged family waltzing into a high-class restaurant, but you will see important-looking businessmen walk into a diner for a coffee and a burger. There’s no discrimination in a diner, and that’s what makes it so special.

But how do you turn your basic diner into something special for everyone to remember? Here are just a couple of tips.

Be Friendly

When you work at a small diner, it’s not always the food or the prices that attract people—it’s you! The friendly atmosphere is one of the most important components when you want to create a great diner, and the only way to do that is to get involved with your staff and be friendly. Greet everyone as they come in, let them sit where they like, and introduce yourself so that they refer to you on a first-name basis instead of saying “excuse me!”. This advice completely contradicts what professional waiting staff will tell you, but they work at fancy restaurants, not diners!

Embrace Technology

As mentioned before, mom and pop restaurants family because they don’t keep up with the times. The only ones that survive are situated in prime locations that get a lot of foot traffic and have a lot of history. However, if you start one up and you’re in an unknown location, then don’t expect to get a lot of customers. You should embrace technology, such as a restaurant pos system to speed up transactions, and a website so that you can advertise yourself on social media. Mom and pop restaurants are popular because of the comfort food, so you want to advertise your strengths and be yourself—don’t act like a fancy restaurant because you aren’t one!

Don’t Get Fancy

A diner is a diner. You shouldn’t act like you are something more and you shouldn’t act like you are something less. Focus on your strengths and cook up delicious homemade recipes and comfort foods. Don’t try to encroach on other business territories and don’t challenge others. If people want fried chicken, they’ll go to a fast food location. If they want fancy Italian pasta, they’ll go to an Italian place. What you should be serving is simple homecooked pasta and chicken meals that are reminiscent of your childhood, not a fancy restaurant. Keep it simple, stick to your strengths, and don’t overdo it.

For any startup business, creating a website that captures the attention of potential clients and customers will be a top priority. With hundreds of millions out there to compete with, you’ll be entering a highly competitive marketplace and will want to make sure everything is just right from the moment it is launched.

Hold Their Attention From the Start

Many people spend only a few seconds on a site before making a snap judgement about the business so you really need to make that time count. In recent months, it has become increasingly popular to fill your site with big, bold statements that get across exactly what you are trying to do in just a few words.

Many websites have fallen into the trap of becoming too cluttered by filling their pages with animations, pop ups and other distractions. In a world where everyone is constantly bombarded by content from all sides, there is something to be said for a site that is simple and easy to navigate. Just because it is minimalist doesn’t mean that it has to be boring, so you can choose a bold colour scheme that grabs the attention of the user. There are plenty of Low Cost Website Design services out there that will create a site that is just right for you.

Keep Your Content Fresh

You will obviously have some core content on your site that stays fairly consistent, and you need to make sure everything is just right before your site goes live. It is worth consulting an SEO expert to ensure that your content helps drive your site up the rankings on search engines.

Another factor that will influence your SEO is keeping your content updated on a regular basis. A news or blog page is a great way to add content that will interest your potential clients and keep them coming back time and time again. It will also have a comments page that will allow you to have instant interaction with them. However, make sure you are committed to keeping this page regularly updated as it simply gives off a bad impression if you don’t.

Add Bespoke Photography and Videos

So many websites fall into the trap of using stock photography that doesn’t give a unique impression of what your business is offering. Try using your own photos to add a personal touch, or even get some photos professionally taken. If you are starting the business on your own, it’s a good idea to have some good quality photos of yourself as this gives your company a sense of personality.

Video content is also extremely important for a huge number of websites these days. People are willing to watch videos while they may not be willing to read huge amounts of written content. A short video on your homepage that gives a clear overview of your business can go a long way in telling your story, and exactly why clients should use your services above your competitors.

Freebies are used quite a bit in the modern business world. For those that don’t know, the term ‘freebie’ refers to anything you give someone that costs no money. Businesses hand out all manner of free things to consumers in a big to help themselves grow.

But, what effects do freebies have on a small business? It may surprise you to hear that there are plenty of positive effects they can have on a company. Take a look at the three biggest ways freebies benefit your business:

Increase Customer Base

One of the main reasons people hand out freebies is to increase their customer base. If you give someone something for free, the chances are they’ll come back for more – particularly if they enjoy what you gave them. Some new startups will hand out free samples of products to the public, in the hope of enticing them to their business. It’s a very clever tactic, what better way of showing consumers how good your products are than by handing them out for free? It draws people in, and they become compelled to purchase more, meaning you boost your sales and get an influx of new customers. Plus, the act of handing out something for free seems very generous. Consumers will like this, and it makes them think more highly of your business. As a consequence, they’re much more likely to choose you over any of your rivals that aren’t handing out freebies.

Promote Your Business

Freebies are brilliant for promoting your business to consumers. Think about it, you can create promotional products and hand them out to people at events or on the street. These products will all be designed in your brand colors and with your logo on. Essentially, you’ve passing out a piece of your business to everyone that accepts a freebie. You could give them free mugs or pens that will sit at their desks and be seen by lots of other people. The smartest companies will create t-shirts or hoodies that people can wear to promote their brand. Naturally, you need to be subtle with these products, if you’ve got an ugly sweater with your huge logo on it, then people might not wear it. The bottom line is freebies aid promotion in a very effective way.

Improve Public Perception

As mentioned in the first point, giving away things for free makes your company look very generous. What this does is improve the public perception of your brand. In short, you become a ‘good’ company. You’re not like one of the greedy corporations lining the high street, you’re a small business with a good soul and people like that. Public perception is everything as it can influence how well your business does. If you have a good reputation, then your customers are more likely to write positive reviews about you and recommend you to others. You build up a persona that’s very positive, and your business will grow accordingly.

As you can see, freebies are very beneficial for your business. They’re certainly recommended as a sneaky tactic to help drive your company towards success.

If you have decided to start your own business, you have taken a huge step into independence and adventure in your career. There are many exciting aspects of starting your own business venture, including the ability to set your own schedule, having no boss to answer to, and the ability to control the direction of your dream business. However, running your own business isn’t easy. There will be challenges that lie ahead that you will not anticipate, and you will have to overcome them on your own, if not by the help of your team beneath you. Here are a few of the skills that every small business owner needs to operate a high functioning business.

1. Leadership

You may or may not have any employees, but you still need to exercise leadership. If, for example, you sell services to your client that entail that you need to stay in touch with them, you must demonstrate leadership by being prompt with any questions, and keep them up to date on current information. You must also communicate effectively and confidently to your team, your clients, a supplier, and so on. Leadership demands assertiveness but also an ability to connect with people and bring them together. Earn the respect of your clients and colleagues by being a firm team leader. There are many resources out there if you would like to improve your leadership skills, including the critically acclaimed book, Lincoln on Leadership, by Donald T. Phillips.

2. Discipline

Discipline is a critical part of owning your own business. When you are your own boss, you have the freedom to create your own schedule, but you are also responsible for the success or failure of your venture. With that responsibility on your shoulders, you will have to stay on top of your schedule. In addition, you will still have to do many things you may not want to do. Nobody is going to discipline you if you do not do your job, but it is you alone who has to stay on top of any commitments to keep your business growing.

3. Creativity

Creative thinking is key—after all, it is probably what gave you the inspiration to start your own business to begin with. Bringing fresh ideas, either from yourself or from members of your team, will keep your business fresh. If you need some inspiration, consider reading Creativity, Inc., by author Ed Catmull. This book will guide you through how to bust through creative roadblocks to keep your business current.

4. Organization

As master of your own domain, you will need to keep account of all of your records. Be advised to keep all of your financial information carefully organized and in a safe place. This way, you will be prepared for tax season. Start your business on the right foot by filing appropriately to gain maximum returns and avoid financial pitfalls. If you are too busy to handle these duties yourself, make room in your budget to hire a professional. A tax professional such as an accountant will be able to help you with your finances all year long, or just around tax season.

5. Critical Thinking

Not every problem will be easy to solve. Many issues will require you to critically think about how to strategize, find the best and most efficient path, and execute that plan. In order to best equip yourself to move forward in any situation, you must be willing to learn. For example, if you know little about finances and tax law, it may be wise to take enrolled agent courses to discover the best ways to manage your business’s finances. If you’re looking to get better at managing your business and seeing products or processes from conception to completion, you may consider getting an online degree in project management. Learning these tools now will help you remain financially independent in the future and make the right financial decisions for your business.

6. Flexibility

When you are your own boss, you will realize that not everything will go your way. Unfortunately, even the most intricately laid out plans will sometimes have to change at the last minute. Deals will fall through, clients will pull out, and suppliers may not deliver. Hopefully, these issues will not happen to you, but it is likely that you will have to strategize around these obstacles at some point in your career. Effective bosses have the ability to keep a cool head under pressure so that he or she can find the best course of action. Many bosses will not rely on plan A—they will also have a plan B, C, and D.

Owning a business isn’t an easy task, but with the right skillset, you can better ensure success.