Starting your own business is an exciting endeavour that offers both personal and professional fulfilment. Before you start though, save yourself time and money by making yourself aware of what's needed to start a business. Operating a small or new business is not just about working for yourself or working from home. It’s about investing time in proper planning, and having the necessary management skills, industry expertise, technical skills, finance and, of course, a long-term vision to develop and succeed.

Darlene Menzies, successful entrepreneur and CEO of SMEasy, offers some top tips on how to make your business come to life:

• Be willing to take risks: if you’re going to be successful as an entrepreneur, you have to be prepared for the risks and challenges that come with starting a business; risk-taking and entrepreneurship are the synonymous. To start and support your own business, you have to be willing to put your personal finances and career on the line.
• The market is paramount: When weighing up ideas, no matter how much you want something to work, it’s important to remember that if there’s no market for what you’re selling there’s no business. No market, no business. To be successful, look where there is a big need or a problem to solve, that’s where the real opportunities lie.
• Don’t be afraid to fail: Failure is a key ingredient to success. Changing your attitude towards failure and starting to see it as part of the journey to success is crucial…this is especially true if the fear of failure is what is preventing you from starting your own business.
• Work hard: Starting a small business is hard work – seriously hard work. Be prepared for a lifestyle change and long hours. Dedication, determination and perseverance are key to making your small business a success. The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary!
• A team is the key to growth: Team is the multiplication factor in growing a business. It is wise to focus on your strengths and partner and employ for your weaknesses to achieve maximum effectiveness. Concentrate on nurturing a strong team. If you build your team and your team will build your business.
• Keep your eye on the money, but not only on the revenue: Many new businesses make the mistake of focusing only on their revenue but seasoned entrepreneurs know that cash flow is the key. Focus on managing your cash flow well and your business will grow.
• Keep good records: Creating and maintaining good business records is the only way to stay on top of cash flow. You need to track your income and expenses effectively, in other words, you have to do the admin! The best way to keep on top of the admin is to find a simple system designed to help you collect, store and report on your financial info. A product like SMEasy, the easy-to-use, online business management and accounting solution for entrepreneurs with no accounting knowledge is ideal! It will help you keep track of your records from the get go and go a long way to ensuring the success of your business.

The SMEasy team adds:

“As we are a team of entrepreneurs ourselves at SMEasy, we want to give you all the tools and support you need for your start-up business to be successful. For more business and finance tips, advice and maybe just a bit of encouragement to fill up your think tank, go ahead and read some of our blog posts.”

Visit www.smeasy.co.za , follow them on Twitter (@SMEasy) or like them on Facebook (SMEasy).

 Menzies will be speaking at the SEAexpo (Showbiz Entertainment Arts Expo) in Johannesburg next week – 10h35 on 04 September 2015.  For more info see Facebook:  Showbiz  Entertainment Arts Expo Africa and Twitter  SEA_expo

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