How To Run A Small Business

Methods for how to run a small business can be found all over the internet.  Not sure if some of these people have ever started a small business then spent years running a small business or not.  I started my first small business about 15 years ago.  And I can say I did everything wrong back then.  No business license, no liability insurance, and very poor marketing.  Luckily for me I was only working this business part time and I had a full time job.  I also loved to read about anything and everything about marketing and running a small business.  I really wish there was something about how to run a business to help me.

Over the next few months I did learn quite a bit, but then I moved from one city to another and had to start over.  This time when I started my small business I went and got the proper licensing and insurances that were necessary to run a small business.

How to run a small business from home

If you have a small business and you are in some sort of service industry or another business that does not have a lot of foot traffic or retail sales you can run your business out of your home.

This is a great way to run a business in the beginning stages.  Since learning money management skills can be one of the most important steps to running a small business.  If you do not watch where and how you spend your cash you can run out.  Then you will quickly become one of those statistics of the 80% of businesses that fail within the first 5 years.  By running your small business out of your home you can save some very much needed cash flow for other more important areas of business.

How to Run a small business: hiring and firing

One area of small business that we often overlook is hiring staff or subcontractors to do work for us.  We like to stay in control and this is not how to run a small business.  Instead of staying in control of everything we need to give up that control and trust others to perform the way we want.  This is tough and most of us entrepreneurs are not good at it.  At least not at first.  To successfully run a small business you must eventually hire people to do some of the daily, weekly, or monthly tasks.

When I first started to learn how to run a small business I was doing everything.  I owned a small plumbing business and did all of the work.  I also did all of my own bookkeeping.  Hired a web designer, didn’t like him so I learned how and did that myself as well.  Then I learned everything there was about search engine optimization and did all of that as well.  All while working long hours each day in my business.

The better way to do this is to hire people with the skills you do not have to do the work for you.  Then as you grow you hire people with the skills you do have to do that work as well.  To do this you need to learn how to deal with people.  Be firm, yet fair.  If someone is not doing what they said they can do then find someone else that will.  Remember business can be cut throat to some extent.  I do not run a business that is harsh or nasty but if I hire someone to do a job and they are only doing half of what they should be doing then I could fail because that person or persons is taking down my business.  This can happen to you as well so do not wait until it is too late.

If hiring and firing is difficult for you then try to hire subcontractors.  These people are generally a lot better than employees as they are working harder to make more money.  They know that if they work hard they can make more per hour since they get paid by the job.  They are also getting paid on performance.  If a subcontractor does something wrong then they have to go and make it right.  If for some reason you do not like how a subcontractor is turning out then you do not give them any more contracts.  If part of running a business is taking on larger projects then test new subcontractors on smaller projects so there is enough trust to know they will perform and make your company look good on those bigger jobs.

How to run a small business: getting clients

The only way to run a small business successfully is by making money.  To do this most small businesses have to have a marketing system in place that will allow them to have new clients coming through their door or calling for services all the time.  When running a small business you need to pay attention to your cash flow so that you know you have money for marketing.  Learn and test different marketing methods such as coupon books, networking, cold calling, radio, postcards, direct mail, classifieds, yellow pages, and websites including pay per click and search engine optimization.

If you are running a small business properly and performing on the tasks necessary to get the job done on time and on budget then you will have another form of marketing working on your side.  Word of mouth or referral marketing.  This is by far the best form of marketing as this form rarely has a client gripe about your price.  I say rarely because I have had lots of referrals that still did complain, about 10% of my referral business.  Better than 80% or the no referral side of marketing.

Learning how to run a small business does not have to be difficult, but it does take some time.  I will be writing about two to three articles per week about different areas of running a small business.  If the articles are not up yet then please come back and check next week.  If you like please leave comments throughout the site on any of the articles.  Also feel free to message me about anything you like.  Including if there is an article or question you have about how to run a business.

Remember to talk with your lawyer before hiring or firing anyone, or at least know the laws in your area so you do not get yourself into trouble.

Other topics I will be writing about in the future are how to run a business in the top 30 industries.  After you go through these articles you should have gained a fair bit of knowledge.  You should also be able to adapt some of what works in one industry to your industry.  I also plan on writing about all the different methods of marketing that I talked about above.  I will go into much more detail with each method for your benefit.

Other areas I have or will be covering further in-depth will be on management.  In areas of money management, time management, people management, and managing yourself.  These areas are important if you want to grow into a larger company.  If you are happy staying a small business then some of these areas may not affect you and your business, but, it won’t hurt you either.

Thanks for stopping by,
Kelly

How to Run A small business