Starting a small business can be extremely difficult. Every business is different and there is no hand book or set of rules to tell you what to do. What you can do is learn from others mistakes and see what not to do. Here are 5 things to avoid when starting up your small business.

1. No Business Plan – When starting a small business, it can be tempting to skip writing a formal business plan. This is a common mistake. Taking the time to write out your business plan, forecasts, and marketing strategy can be a particularly effective way to organise your thoughts and goals.
2. Wrong Business name – A business name is the company identity, and shapes all that follows. Think about what’s important to you and your business, and how to reflect that in a name. Be sure to check that a business name is available before you start ordering stationery and designing the website.
3. Don’t Discount – at the beginning of many small companies, they feel the pressure to heavily discount prices to compete in the market. It is important to attract customers, but you can’t reduce the prices so much that you can’t sustain them. You also don’t want to have prices so low that it reflects badly on your business, as your products may be seen as inferior.
4. Don’t go against your intuition – Listen to your gut feelings, intuition is a critical part of the decision making process and it’s just as important in business. Businesses depend on relationships, whether it’s partners, employees, vendors, or clients. You need to get a read on other people and trust your gut.
5. Don’t be afraid to fail – If you are scared of failing, chances are you’re playing it too safe as a business owner. Valuable lessons can be learnt from yours and others mistakes, so don’t be disheartened if everything doesn’t go exactly to plan.

If you need any business legal or accounting advice, our experienced lawyers and accountants here at The Quinn Group are more than happy to help. Give us a call on 02 9223 9166 or submit an online enquiry.