7 THINGS I WISH SOMEONE HAD TOLD ME BEFORE I STARTED MY BUSINESS

Starting a new business is exciting but it can also be a really stressful and confusing time. Often you’re not quite sure what to do and when to do it. You fumble around learning as you go and reading all the business magazines and websites you can find.

Eventually, through lots of trial and error and learning on the run, you become more confident in yourself as a business owner.

I’ve learnt a lot since starting my business and I’m going to share with you the top 7 things I wish someone had told me before I started it. Don’t make the same mistakes I did; learn from me and save yourself some headaches!

1.    INVEST

When you’re first starting out the budget is tight and the list of things to spend it on seems never-ending. If you spend money on one thing, make it a beautiful, functional website.

A website is the first impression your business makes to many customers and it needs to be great. Find a skilled web designer who can build what you need. While you’re at it, check out if there are any business grants available to help with the cost.

2.    ORGANISE YOUR BUSINESS ACCOUNTS

One of the worst things you can do is not separate your business finances from your personal finances. Even if you’re a sole trader, at tax time you’ll be grateful you took the time to split it up. Take it from me; the person who had my business expenses linked to my personal credit card!

Get yourself a savings account that pays high interest to hold your income tax and GST contributions and make some interest before the money goes to the tax man.

3.    KNOW YOUR SKILLS AND YOUR STRENGTHS

There are things in your business that you are going to be great at and some things you are just good at. For me, that’s print design. I can design a website but it’s not the best use of my time and I’m not passionate about it so I limit those jobs as much as I can.

Don’t just take on a job because it’s there. Choose quality over quantity every time and keep your standards - and your passion for the work - high.

4.    NOT ALL SOFTWARE IS CREATED EQUAL

If you decide to handle your own finances, make sure you choose a system that works with the Australian tax system and our financial regulations. In my first year of business, I used an American-owned company and they were not GST friendly. That made it so much more difficult to do basic budgeting!

Make sure you think it through before committing.

5.    YOU ARE THE EXPERT

It’s really common when you first start out to be overcome by the self-doubt monster who makes you think you’re not good enough. The truth is that you are good enough and if people are paying for your services, then they see your value.

Be confident about what you bring to the table! Give your clients the benefit of your skills, knowledge and experience by giving them honest feedback, flexible options and be firm about when something is not going to work.

6.    SET UP YOUR BUSINESS PROTECTIONS

This might be one of the things that sits on the bottom of your to-do list for a long time because everything’s going well. That is the perfect time to sort out your contracts and subcontractor agreements and write your terms and conditions.

It might seem like overkill, especially if you have great relationships with other businesses and your clients, but it only takes one misunderstanding or someone having a bad day for it all to fall apart. This is business: protect yourself and trust no one!

7.    LIVE AND BREATHE YOUR BUSINESS BUT DO NOT GET EMOTIONALLY INVOLVED

When you’re involved in your business every day, it’s easy to get attached and think of it as your baby. But you can’t afford to get emotionally attached to everything that goes on.

There will almost certainly be times that someone doesn’t like how you do things, or says something negative about you and your business. That’s okay. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, even if it’s wrong! You can’t take it personally and let it distract you from your purpose.

For every one troublesome person, there are dozens of others supporting you and cheering for you. Be strong.

Running your own business is a challenge but it is so rewarding when you are doing what you love and using your skills to help people. Making mistakes is all part of the learning process.

Have you got any tips you would give to a new business owner? Share them below!

DARWIN BUSINESS OWNERS: IS IT TIME FOR A NEW LOGO DESIGN?

One of the most important things about your business, is your brand. It can be the difference between instant recognition and getting lost in the noise amongst your competitors.

Many businesses determine their branding when they first start their business but then never take the time to think about whether that brand is still working for them.

Almost all famous brands have refreshed their branding at some point. Even Pepsi, with its recognisable font and colour scheme, has changed its logo more than a dozen times.

 Here’s how to decide if it’s time for a rebrand:

• Your brand name doesn’t reflect who you are or what you do as a business. Change like this can be natural – sometimes your products or services will evolve, sometimes it just doesn’t feel right, sometimes you just feel like a new look. It’s OK to let that old brand go!

• You’re embarrassed of your business card or website. In the early days, many businesses self-design or pay for a template logo from the internet. While these can be fine, at some point you might just cringe a little when you look at it.

• Your customers are confused by your branding. McDonald’s can get away with just having a giant M as their logo because they have fostered huge brand recognition over decades. If your customers can’t figure out who you are or what you do from your branding, it might be time to get that fixed!

• Your geographic location of business has changed. If your branding includes your location and you expand beyond that location, you are potentially limiting yourself from getting new customers in those new areas. A company with Australia in its title may struggle to get customers in New Zealand, for instance, if they don’t alter their name to reflect their new market.

• You don’t stand out from your competition. If your branding is similar to everyone else’s in your market or it’s just a bit boring, you should consider a rebrand. Decisions made by potential customers are made in seconds so standing out is essential to drumming up new business.

• You are trying to reach a new market. If you’re trying to attract a different demographic than you did originally, it’s time refresh! What appeals to a 25-year old male is unlikely to appeal to a 50+ year old woman. Knowing your market and reflecting them in your branding is important. 

If you’ve decided it’s time for a rebrand but you’re not sure how to go about it, talk to your graphic designer about your options. A good designer knows just the right questions to ask about what your goals are with your rebrand and can provide you with a range of options that suit those goals.

Don’t let tired branding hurt your business.

5 THINGS TO INCLUDE ON YOUR LOGO BRIEF FOR YOUR DESIGNER

Getting new branding for your business is an exciting proposition! Everything is going to be fresh and new and just oh so pretty. You’ll get all that new collateral and totally look the part.  

Maybe your business has evolved or is chasing a different market, or maybe you’re just after a new feel. That’s great, but how are you going to communicate exactly what you want with your graphic designer?

Many people know what they don’t like but they find it harder to say what they do like. This can make it hard for a designer to really understand what you are trying to achieve with your new branding.
That’s where the creative design brief comes in. The brief asks you a series of questions about your business that will help inform the design process.

The creative design brief will include questions like: 

• What does your company look like? Things like name, taglines and slogans, the number of employees, any unique story about your business.

• What products or services do you provide? Being able to sum this up in a few dot points will help your designer a lot and give them some good ideas about where to go with the design.

• Who is your target market and what do they care about? Who are you selling your products or services to? What is important to them not only as customers but as people? Your branding needs to appeal to your target market. If that target market is young people who care about the environment, this is key information to give your designer.

• Who are your competitors? Why do people choose you over your competition? Who are your major competitors? What is your point of difference? It’s important that your branding reflects your business but also stands out from the crowd!

• What is your vision for your business? What words do you want your target market to associate with your company? Branding is all about getting an emotional reaction from your audience and using that to motivate them to engage you and your services. Knowing what impression you want to give people is a huge help to your designer!

Of course, there are plenty of other questions that you might get asked by your designer: what colours and styles do you like, what other business branding do you like and why, and of course, how do your customers find you?  

All of this information is critical to giving your designer enough information to put some options together. Then the process becomes about refining a concept into the final product that will grace your business cards, your advertising material and anything else you can imagine with a logo on it. 

If you need some more guidance, download our FREE Design Brief template to help get you started!

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Spend some time working out what you really want before engaging your graphic designer. The process will go a lot smoother if you know what you want!