{"id":895,"date":"2021-02-16T05:49:42","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T05:49:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/teamworkaccounting.com.au\/?p=895"},"modified":"2021-02-16T06:29:49","modified_gmt":"2021-02-16T06:29:49","slug":"7-finance-tips-how-to-start-a-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teamworkaccounting.com.au\/7-finance-tips-how-to-start-a-business\/","title":{"rendered":"[7 Finance Tips] How to start a business"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Let\u2019s look at 7 finance tips for starting a successful business. Avoid the common mistakes that new business owners make. In our 20+ years of experience giving advice to local entrepreneurs, we\u2019ve seen a few things that work and a few things that don\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether your business is online or not, this advice should help anyone in Australia who\u2019s considering starting their own business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Provide a solution.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Research from CBInsights<\/a> reveals that 42% of startup businesses fail<\/strong> because there\u2019s no market need for their services or products. Whatever business you\u2019re thinking of getting into, make sure that you\u2019re actually providing a solution to a real problem. That way people will be interested in what you\u2019re offering. Unlike The Pizza FannyPack<\/a> which nobody wanted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"man<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

2. Keep it simple.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Once you\u2019ve decided what your product or service is and who you\u2019re trying to sell it to, don\u2019t over complicate things, especially in the beginning. In desperation to get clients new business owners sometimes create complicated pricing structures to cover all bases. It gets confusing and becomes difficult for you to manage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t need to keep adding things to your offering to desperately try to get clients. If you have a good product\/service and know who you\u2019re targeting, keep it simple and focused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Keep track of your costs.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

From day 1, before you even start trying to sell, begin recording all the expenses involved in running your business. Without this you have no idea of what the real costs of operating are and without that you don\u2019t know how much turnover you need in order to make a profit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without an idea of how much turnover you need you\u2019re going to be guessing when it comes to deciding how much to charge or what volumes of sales or number of clients you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Banking:<\/em><\/strong> <\/strong>We recommend you keep a separate bank account<\/a> for your business so that it is easier to manage and not mix up with your personal expenses. This also helps reduce bookkeeping time and costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Plan before you act.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t book a trip somewhere without doing some planning. With a new business you\u2019re investing money (potentially someone else\u2019s too) and your time, energy and mental space. Operating a business becomes part of you and can affect every area of your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take the time to do a business plan. Know what your offering is, how to communicate it, to which audience, how you\u2019ll distribute it and what costs are involved (amongst other things you should cover in a business plan)<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Test your offering, your communication, your pricing and be open to feedback before launching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From a financial point of view you should plan the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n