Business Tips & Tricks

Be decisive. Know your boundaries and your limits.
Know your value – don’t undercut the price of your products/services.
Don’t wait for the perfect time to start your business. There is no perfect time. Dive in now!
Take a risk. Don’t wait for all the lights to turn green to go for it!
Diversify your client base across industries and business sizes.
Go with your gut. Don’t overthink solutions.
Fail forward. If you fail, learn and try again.
Think positive. Think big. Every business starts with a new or improved idea.
Start narrow. Expand as you grow.
Never give up! Perseverance is the main ingredient in long-term business success.
Ethics count. People want to work with businesses they trust.
Go above and beyond. People want to work with businesses who practice excellence.

To accelerate your learning curve, find a more seasoned business owner to mentor you.
Keep an eye on future trends so you have time to adjust products and processes.
Never stop learning. Stay abreast of industry trends.
Never stop seeking new ideas and tools to keep your products and processes fresh and sharp.
Be aware of your competition. Learn from them if possible.
Listen to the feedback and ideas from clients and staff to improve your products and services.
Say yes to challenging projects and endeavors to hone and expand your expertise.
Never stop learning. Invest the time required to upgrade your skills and expand your knowledge base.
Be willing to try new things to expand your business like developing a new product.
Take the time to understand your clients’ pain points and then craft quality solutions.

To facilitate business sales, target an initial group of customers and clients and build from there.
To facilitate business sales, create a list of everyone you know that can buy your product or service or provide referrals and go from there.
Be willing to try new things to expand your business like targeting a different customer base.
30-second pitch idea: How you solve your customer pain points.
30-second pitch idea: Showcase how your solutions are extensible.
30-second pitch example for an event planning company: “Don’t use precious time planning and organizing get-togethers. We plan creative and affordable events that free you up to relax and enjoy socializing with your friends, colleagues or families.”
Improve your sales strategy by understanding the problem you are solving for your customers.
Encourage existing clients to provide you with referrals. How? Just ask them.

To ramp up your market presence quickly, tailor your product or service to a specific target audience.
Invest time and resources into company growth annually. Example: launch a digital marketing campaign.
Invest time and resources into company growth annually. Example: build your story on social media.
To facilitate business success, perform market research on your products/services.
Use networking and social media to build relationships and become visible.
Get exposure. Feed every marketing channel you can until you find out which ones work best for your business.
Find your audience. Test every market you can until you find out which ones work best for your business.

Require clients to pay a project deposit of 30 – 50%. This will motivate clients to perform leading to better relationships and project outcomes.
Focus on future business growth by developing yearly goals.
To facilitate business success, start while you are still employed.
To facilitate business success, ask for help from qualified service professionals like CPAs, business lawyers, etc.
Simple processes, communications, and technologies benefit both you and your clients and showcase your expertise.
Enhance your time management skills. Create a daily, weekly schedule.
Enhance your time management skills. Create time to think and strategize.
Enhance your time management skills. Prioritize activities.
Incorporating your business provides liability protection between personal and professional assets.
Pay attention to legal and tax issues. Doing this will save you money in the long run.
Hire help if needed. Doing this will save you money in the long run.
Take care of your books. Keep a healthy cash flow.
Fire bad employees. Don’t be afraid to let go of people who jeopardize your business success.
Take care of your bottom line. Protect your Intellectual Property.
Build a scalable, repeatable process that you can concisely articulate to clients and prospective clients. Doing this highlights your business prowess and efficiency.

Don’t take things personally. Maintaining your professional bearing in the face of slights and disagreements will serve you better in business, and in life.
To facilitate business success, be passionate.
To facilitate business success, maintain your professional bearing.
Learn and practice the art of communicating clearly and consistently with your clients.
Don’t take your customers for granted. Communicate clearly and often so they feel supported.
Be yourself. You will achieve better results if your business matches your personality. You will also have more fun.
Remember to reward and appreciate colleagues who support you and provide you with referrals and/or mentoring.
Be gracious. Never forget that everyone started from somewhere.
Smile and be present. Make others feel you are happy to be there with them.
Following up is gold. People respond positively when you follow-up and are more likely to do business with you.
Don’t over-promise. Set realistic expectations and deliver what you promise to build trust with clients.
Document all deliverables—agreements, contracts, emails—to avoid surprising or disappointing your client.