Things To Think About When Starting a Business

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This is a sponsored post. All opinions expressed are my own.

For three years I ran a successful women’s clothing store. The store was strictly online and I kept the bulk of the products in a room in my home. When we moved and no longer had the room to store the products, I decided that I would close my store. It was a hard thing to give up at first because I had spent so many hours trying to build my store and learn about running a business, however it was what was best for me and my family.

Today though, I’d like to share a little of what I learned so that you can better understand the important steps to take when starting a business.

Things to Think About When Starting a Business:

1.) Choose a Name You Will Love Forever. I know this sounds like a no-brainer, however when I named my first blog (Yes, I have several blogs! You can find my other blog at www.MandeeandCo.com), I had no idea that my family was going to grow and I had to change the name of it as my family grew. In hind site, I sort of wish I would have picked something more broad that could have grown with us and stayed the same over the years. This is important when opening a store as well. Pick something people can remember and that you love now and will love for years.

2.) Choose a Product That People Will Want. You are going to want to choose a product that people will want to continue to come back and purchase over and over again. Repeat customers and word of mouth will keep your store running and make you more successful in the long run. Choose a product that is of good quality and desirable by many.

3.) Customer Service. Make sure you have great customer service. You will want your customers to be happy at all times. It only takes one negative review to really hurt your reputation, so make sure you are doing everything you can to satisfy the customer and keep them happy. You want them to have a happy experience when shopping with you.

4.) Hire Help. I know we all want to start off doing things on our own, and that is fine, however there will come a time when it’s just too much for one person and the best thing you can do is to hire help. This will free up some of your time and allow you to focus on the important things that can help you grow your business.

5.) Consider a Customer Success Platform. This platform will help with managing the relationship between your business and your customers. The goal of customer success is to make the customer as successful as possible, which in turn, improves customer lifetime value for your company. Know Your Customers.

6.) Inventory. You will want to make sure that you are carrying enough products. Not being able to keep up with supply and demand can really hurt a company. With that being said, you do not want to over purchase and have a lot more inventory on hand than what is needed. Knowing your customers and their shopping habits can really help you understand supply/demand.

7.) Time Management. Make sure you are using your time wisely. This is very important when running a business and goes hand in hand with #4 (hiring help). Successful business owners know how to use their time wisely. Make this a priority.