The Startup Essentials You Can’t Ignore

The size of your business doesn’t matter. There are just as many small business essentials to consider when starting out, pretty much the same as if you were running a large corporation. This includes social and digital marketing, with special attention to project management. Building a foundation for a new, small venture is challenging, but here are some handy tips.

Expert Outsourcing Services

Perhaps you graduated with a major in media, electronics, or journalism. Whatever it is, it may not help you in your new business. Fortunately, there are services out there willing to help you, and outsourcing legal, accounting, and even insurance handling to services like Coterie, frees up your time to focus on running your business, which is challenging enough, even as a small one. Outsourcing provides you with experts in a field and in a cost effective long-term solution.

Naming & Branding

You will of course need to make sure that you have a name and a brand for your startup, otherwise you are not going to get anywhere at all, least of all with the marketing that you will need to carry out. So first of all, name your business. There are many company naming mistakes that you will be keen to avoid, and you’ll want to make sure you opt for something memorable and appropriate to the company. Then it’s about finding a color scheme and getting going on your brand.

Social Media and Digital Marketing

Social media isn’t really optional these days. Using sites like Facebook and Twitter opens your business up to potentially billions of people. As such, it helps to allocate a chunk of your budget for social media marketing. Influencers and each platform’s ad services are excellent for gaining laser-focused exposure. Further, it helps to enlist the expert services of a digital marketing agency for PPC, SEO, and SEM campaigns that offer excellent returns on investment.

Small Business Essentials Includes a Website

Social media and digital marketing can help establish your web presence. But it really begins with a website. Without a website, nobody knows who you are since over 90% of customers today will Google a service before using it. Even if you want to use it as a digital business card, it always helps to have a customer-facing web presence. Yet a blog can also attract more clients and customers. However, it should be relevant and optimized using modern SEO best practices.

Efficient Project Management

Managing projects well is just as vital for a small business as it is for a large one. The size doesn’t matter; it’s how efficient your operations are that make you successful. From the largest boardroom to the smallest office space, the focus needs to be on how well projects are managed. Virtual and physical meetings, collaboration apps such as Asana and Zoho, and good old Gantt charts can help you keep schedules and allow multiple personnel to contribute.

Effective Cybersecurity Efforts

As a small business, you are just as big a target as a corporate rival. In fact, 43% of annual cyber attacks are aimed at small businesses. This is mainly because hackers expect you to have lax security. So don’t give them the satisfaction. Good cybersecurity begins at home with password management, encryption, and education. But you can also hire managed IT services to provide further security, such as software and hardware updates and real-time monitoring.

Summary

This is a contributed post.