Don’t Start a Business without Reading These 17 Tips

Ready to start a business in 2021 and take your future into your own hands?

Whether you were part of the massive layoffs during the Covid pandemic or you have just held a long-time entrepreneurial spirit, it is always the right time to start a business.

It's not easy to build a business from scratch.

So many mental blocks can pop up along the way.

• How do I start a business?
• What business should I even create?
• What if I fail?

Do any of those sound familiar?

Worry about not knowing what to do, how to do it, and whether you’ll fail … these stop so many people from starting.

Don't let that be you.

Are you ready to start your own business in 2021? Here are 17 quick tips to help you find the right small business idea and open shop immediately!

1. Seek out opportunities.

Start each day with an open mind, and your eyes peeled for opportunities around every corner. If you know you want to start a business, but really have no idea just what to start, look for inspiration in your normal day. What questions keep popping up in your circle of friends? Is there a repeat request for help within your Facebook communities? Do people constantly go to you for certain pieces of advice or perhaps for a favorite recipe of yours? What pain points do you have during your daily routine (chores, work, family life)? Ultimately, what problem can you help solve, and how can you make people’s lives better?

2. If you can’t wait to get started, you’re on to something.

I know I have found something exciting when I sit down and buy a new domain name within hours of inspiration striking. [Now, it's also led me to start too many different ventures without focusing or finishing a single one (shiny object syndrome) so I don't necessarily recommend binge-purchasing web domains. But if you do, NameCheap is easy and as cheap as they say!]

3. Start small.

The excitement around starting a business often charges new entrepreneurs with energy to launch and scale quickly. It can be tempting to think you have to generate a massive launch. People try to build their new business into a massive launch, but this is a mistake.

Start as small as possible, giving a minimum viable product to a few friends, and let them test it out. Then share your product or course with a few more people.

When you try to do something massive at launch, you make it less likely that you’ll actually start. You will likely take forever to launch, and you could be building yourself up for failure.

Don't spend so much time trying to have a huge launch before even testing your target audience for feedback!

Launch is just one moment in the lifespan of a business, and it’s not even one of the most important moments. So let yourself start small with your new business idea.

4. Not starting is the biggest mistake.

What is the worst case scenario if your business venture fails? If you're starting small and following your passion, even a “failure” won't be that bad. Worst case scenario, you have some inventory and tools around for a hobby you are passionate about anyway.

If you start a home-based small bakery business and it does not go well, at least you got to bake, eat and share some sweet treats with friends and loved ones.

Meanwhile, you are learning about what does and does not work for you and your business.  You can always start something new after that.

In fact, this scenario of learning something and having fun along the way, even “failure”, is demonstrably better than if you do not start at all.

5. Start a blog.

The best way to market a business is by giving away free information. Show that you’re valuable, help people for free, and they’ll want more from you.

You don't have to be the best writer in the world. You don't need to get fancy or hire a web designer. Just simply write about what you know and how you, your company, product or service helps people.

Share advice, ideas, tips and tricks relevant to your small business niche and you will be building credibility as an expert in your field, which will reflect back on your product or service.

6. Don’t get overwhelmed with social media marketing or paid advertisements.

Pick just one platform that your ideal customer uses and that you are comfortable learning, and focus on organic growth. At the earliest states, you can even skip social media altogether so you can focus your time and energy on delivering quality content for your new blog.

Many businesses are perfectly successful without being on Facebook and Instagram – and some never even build websites. Don't add more on your plate before you are ready to handle it.

7. Be incredibly valuable.

Build something great, and word of mouth will be all the marketing you need. Many of the viral blogs that get shared are entirely based on readers loving the content and passing along to their friends who also need the information. Overdeliver. By giving value first without any ask or sales pitch, your audience will love you and start ASKING how they can pay you for the next steps.

8. Start lean.

Start a small business with zero money by finding free or cheap services to start with.

Only after you start making some revenue should you pay for upgrades and extra tools.

Focus on monetization and making money as soon as possible by selling something valuable.

9. Avoid spammy advertising models.

If you are starting a new blog and covering it with advertisements it can make your website look cheap and spammy before your readers get a chance to know you.

There are tasteful and tactful ways to add affiliate links to software and services you truly recommend as helpful, valuable additions to your customers.

An obscene amount of random AdSense adds will scare off traffic before you even have much of it.

10. Forget about numbers.

More specifically, forget about hitting certain targets. A million page views, ten thousand subscribers, half a million in revenues. Those are meaningless and arbitrary.

Instead, worry about how much you’re helping your customers. How much value are you giving them? How can you solve their problems?

By focusing on the why, the milestone metrics will follow suit naturally.

11. Appreciate every small win.

Often, entrepreneurs hold ourselves to extremely high standards. We set goals to achieve, and visualize the day that our life will be a daydream because of all the hard work we are putting in now.

Then, you reach the goal and realize things may not be all that different around you, and there's a new goal in store. It becomes a situation like running a marathon and having the finish line backed further away each time you have it in sight.

The joy doesn’t come when you hit the goal, or have an amazing launch. The joy comes right now. This is the moment of greatness, of satisfaction with yourself and what you’re doing. Not later.

12. Done is better than perfect.

Let yourself “launch” before your business feels “ready”.

Too many new entrepreneurs take so much pride in our projects that we take forever to even share with the world.

If your service can help someone today – before graphics are perfect – then launch now, beautify later.

13. Don't get hung up on your original business plan.

Planning, like perfection, can stand in our way.

As a business strategy coach, I am a big advocate of business planning, but I always remind female entrepreneurs that adaptability and flexibility are key when it comes to starting a new business.

Instead, experiment. Get started. Do. Then see what happens, and adjust.

The best decisions are made when there is data to analyze, but for a new start-up business we don't have data, so we just have to jump into the deep end.

14. Start a small business at home.

You don’t need an office for most businesses. Even a bakery doesn’t need a retail front at first.

Start a free side-hustle or freelancing gig in your spare time. Let your first customers be your friends, and find ones you trust for honest feedback and constructive criticism.

Then let them spread the word to their friends. That’s a Zero-Spend Launch.

15. Focus on important things.

Don't drown in a daily “to-do” list. When you start a small business as a solopreneur, time is your most valuable resource.

Instead of handling dozens of little tasks that don't move the needle, create a focused list of three Most Important Tasks “MITs” that must get done that day. If you could only get three things done in the entire day that actually felt like business progress, which would they be?

16. Find entrepreneur communities. 

Entrepreneurship is hard, and can be lonely when friends and family don't understand.

Find communities of like-minded, creative and energetic female entrepreneurs like yourself to network with and stay inspired by.

Look for networking events in your city, and also check out some quickly growing Facebook and Clubhouse groups. Thanks to technology, we have so many options to connect globally now!

17. Learn to be OK with not knowing.

You won’t know what will happen with your business. None of us can tell the future – and if you can, you probably have no need for this article.

Have a plan, have a roadmap, but remain open-minded to change and allow yourself to expect the unexpected daily. Never put all your eggs in one basket so that whatever life throws you next, you are ready and able to pivot and diversify your offerings.

Feeling inspired? Ready to start your small business now? What niche are you considering entering into? Pin the image then tell me below so I can cheer you along!