This month (August 2023) we celebrated a year in business. It’s not easy getting a business off the ground and we learnt a thing or two along the way. Here are some of our key learnings.
1. Ask for help
Most business people wear multiple hats. The smaller the business, the more hats you wear.
There are many issues that require decisions on what will be dealt with internally or externally. So ask for help – your friends and family will likely be more than happy to assist (is your website attractive and easy to use? do they like your logo?) and call in the experts when needed as a little expense upfront may save a whole lot of time and money in the long term.
Law touches most aspects of a business’ operations. The decision on what to manage yourself and what to contract out is not always straightforward. It is one of the reasons Abledale Law was brought about – to advise you on the legal issues you need addressing, but to also help you consider your framework for when and how legal advice should be sought.
2. Government grants
The best $44 we ever spent was towards a government grant program – true story. Make the time to find out what is available to your business. Grants and programs finder | business.gov.au is a great place to start.
3. Launch – go or no go
Picking a launch date is hard. Sticking to it is harder still. As the (latest) launch date approached, we whipped out the to-do list and decided for each item if it was necessary for launch or could be dealt with afterwards. It was frankly surprising how much could be dealt with later. So don’t wait! If you have what you need to launch, put your business out there.
4. Get online
There is so much to think about here so just a few points:
- LinkedIn: A must for B2B businesses. Tidy up your profile, brazenly ask for recommendations (for lawyers, be careful here when it comes to clients, QLS has a guidance note on social media including reviews) and set up a page for your business, this is pretty straight forward to set up from within your LinkedIn profile
- Google my business/maps – there is a verification process. Ours involved a postcard. Your business won’t appear until this is done, so get on it! If your business is home based, you might want to pause to consider the implications of putting your address out there
- Yellow pages – free listings are available and it may help increase your business’ appearance in google search results
- Canva – for making pretty posts (we LOVE it!)
Thank you for reading an Abledale Tale. As the name suggests, this isn’t advice, it’s just a story. Whether you are looking to incorporate or your company is established, please get in touch so we can talk about how we may be able to assist you.
