Opening a small business or running one already established takes a lot of hard work, determination, and focus. It also takes many physical, digital, and personnel resources, which may surprise you. To give yourself and your company the best possible chance for success, look outside the traditional resources to find what your business may lack.
Reliable Transportation
Whether you drive yourself, have a small fleet and drivers, or use a ride-sharing app to get around, knowing that you will be able to make important meetings and get to the office on time is critical. Public transportation is often reliable, but it also takes much more time than driving yourself, and having a driver will save you more time because you will not have to park the car before heading inside. Before purchasing a company or personal vehicle, it is vital to have a pre purchase car inspection to know what you are getting into, especially if you are saving big bucks by buying used.
Dedicated Accounts
The chances are that if you have made it this far in business, you know that you need to have separate banking accounts for personal and business finances to keep better books and have an easier time with taxes and budgeting. But did you know that you should also have dedicated business phone, email, and payment service accounts? You need separate accounts on cash apps such as PayPal and Venmo, a dedicated company phone number and even different email accounts to help separate the personal from the business. One bonus of separating these accounts is that many providers will have separate set-up systems for business and personal accounts to help you automatically generate essential documents needed for business tax and legal purposes.
Internet Presence
Not having an internet presence is a marketing nightmare in the current digital age. You will be virtually invisible to customers in your neighborhood without a website and social media accounts, let alone visible to the rest of the state or beyond. Luckily, you can find full service website design for small businesses from reputable firms worldwide, which costs much less than you think. Hiring a professional to help design and launch your online presence can get you a better website, but you can often get expert tips and tricks for other online accounts from the same team.
Emotional Support Systems
One of the most surprising resources that small businesses and start-ups need is emotional support systems for owners, managers, and employees. This support does not mean that you need to have a full-time therapist on the payroll. Still, it does mean that you should have a mentor available to offer emotional support to you even as you make yourself available for your employees. The stress of opening and running a company can take a mental and physical toll on entrepreneurs, and those who do not care for their emotional needs will burn out more quickly.
Your small business will need many things, including much of your time and energy. Some of the more surprising needs your company will have include reliable transportation, a quality online presence, dedicated business accounts, and emotional support for the people running everything.
