Living the American Dream: Quick Tips for Entrepreneurs

More than 600,000 new businesses are started in the United States each year. Even if you’ve already had your big launch, being an entrepreneur is an ever-evolving learning experience. Here are a few things you may not have thought about that will help you grow your business whether you’ve already found success or are starting at the ground up.

Funding

Some businesses are started without any money in the bank. Others can cost hundreds of thousands to get up and running. But at some point, all businesses will have to spend money to continue making it. Do you know where your money will come from?

 

The average small business loan comes at around $633,000 according to SBA-Attorneys This is a significant chunk of money, however, you may not need quite that much. Fortunately, there are still plenty of options. One is to refinance your home and take a small amount of cash out of your equity. Or, you could take out a personal loan or utilize your credit cards. Also, keep in mind that there are government programs that may cover the bills at a much lower interest rate. If you are a veteran, you may also have access to loans for those who have served our country.

 

Tech Talk

Once you have your money, it’s time to put it back into your business. A good place to start is technology. As the vast majority of consumers take to the Internet, how you handle your tech upgrades and integrations will make a significant impact on your ability to remain successful.

 

If you have yet to consider creating a mobile application, it might be wise to channel some money here. A mobile application provides value to your customers while instilling their loyalty. It can help you strengthen your brand and, perhaps most importantly, stay connected with your customers.

 

Another area to invest a bit of time and money is in search engine optimization. If you are not familiar with SEO, it’s simply the process of making sure your website pulls up to the top of the results pages when a customer searches for a specific keyword or phrase. This makes it a crucial part of your marketing strategy. SEO is perhaps the most effective way to encourage people to visit your website. This, in turn, can lead to more sales and a bigger bottom line.

 

Other Ideas

For those of you that have yet to actually launch your business, here are a few quick tips to hold in your mind as you begin your new journey:

 

• Use an employment agency when you need to hire employees. They already have a pool of talent to pull from and will handle the interview process on your behalf.

 

• Get your business structure taken care of early. This will likely be that you operate as an LLC, which is a limited liability corporation. The sooner you structure your business, the sooner you will enjoy the benefits and protections of a legal entity structure.

 

• If you have employees, then you’ll need to keep track of their hours. Employee time tracking software can help you build schedules for your team and instantly add details and alerts to existing schedules. It can also keep reports that can help you more efficiently manage your payroll — and your business.

 

• Consider using your home office. While restaurants and gas stations absolutely must have a brick-and-mortar location, not all businesses do. If you provide a knowledge-based service, you can work remotely.

 

• Buy a franchise. A franchise is like a prepackaged business, and you will have access to support through the franchise founder.

 

Nobody ever gets rich working for someone else. And, outside of investing, starting your own business is one of the best ways to build for yourself the life you know you deserve and live the American dream. It’s hard work, but once you know where your money comes from and how to spend it wisely, you’ll be in a position to grow when the time is right.

 

Visit The Total Entrepreneur’s blog often for more business news, tips, and resources like this.