Ask any successful entrepreneur and they’ll tell you that there’s more to starting a business than simply having an idea. Equally important to the idea and the execution of an idea is maintaining quality of life during the whirlwind phase of the startup process.
Staying mentally strong enough to fight through adversity, maintain full-time responsibilities (if you haven’t quit your day job yet) and family routines while working on your startup should be taken into serious consideration. That’s why freshly minted entrepreneurs can benefit from keeping a holistic perspective throughout the business planning process.
Know your options.
Every business idea is different. Every entrepreneur is unique. So, different combinations of both traditional and integrative business tactics should be customized for your business plan.
It’s important to seek and cultivate a knowledgeable team of mentors and supporters that understand your business; they can help to create a sustainable success strategy. Look at research, production, marketing and launch tactics, learn how they work, and evaluate whether or not they’ll work for you and your business.
What’s an integrative business tactic?
The business planning process consists of people, product, and process. The combination of these factors, with a holistic perspective designed to maintain your quality of life during your startup, is what is known as an integrative holistic approach to entrepreneurship.
Making sure you have the right people working for you, with you and around you is vital to your entrepreneurial journey. Do a diagnostics test of who’s in your circle to see if they’re helping you achieve your goals. Then carefully evaluate your product and target market. Look at the pricing, packaging, sizing and targeting.
Frequently, entrepreneurs expect that consumers will share perspective about their product, but often times that’s not true. Don’t sweat the process! Make sure whoever is working with you is working in a capacity that best suits their strengths.
Develop an operational agreement if you already have a team in place. By clarifying roles and responsibilities you can avoid interpersonal turmoil among your board, team members or any other party of interest who is working with you.
The importance of cash flow.
Almost a third of all businesses fail because of cash flow issues. This may be indicative of poor accounting and spending methods, which can compromise the vitality of a company and decrease profitability.
Keeping good accounting habits at the beginning of your startup journey is therefore crucial for maintaining good cash flow. Find a business accountant that can help your business stay on track.
A CPA understands how your business distributes funds throughout the company. Monitoring your business finances with the help of an accountant can optimize spending and income. Additionally, if you’ve already started a business, then creating and sticking to a proper budget may help reduce the risk of future cash flow issues.
Team work makes the dream work.
Accountants, lawyers, marketers, and other business professionals should all be apart of your startup team. It’s also helpful if all of your team members are located within the same vicinity of your startup to facilitate collaboration.
Crafting a team of dedicated startup professionals that are local allows you to minimize the hassle of working together. If some of them have a hard time meeting in person, then use the Internet and videoconferencing tools for virtual sessions. A supportive, knowledgeable team allows you to focus on your startup in the most productive way.
This article has been edited and condensed.
Alexandra Morton is an award-winning entrepreneur and the founder of SmashDigital.co, a Washington, D.C. based creative services agency that helps entrepreneurs with branding and digital marketing strategies. Connect with @amortonNPO on Twitter.
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