In January 2018, one of my New Year’s resolutions was to start a business. Anytime I saw successful business women on Instagram, I sort of admired them because I had always aspired to become a successful business woman myself.
I started selling human hair and the business was doing fine until my girlfriends who partied every weekend wouldn’t pay up their debts. I was literally chasing them everywhere until the business crashed 🙁
I started another business selling designers bags and shoes. This business lasted for 6 months and it crashed again, for reasons I can’t pinpoint. Then I started selling makeup and beauty products. I really struggled in this business because I bought counterfeit products by mistake. This really affected my customers’ trust and some of them never bought anything from me after that horrible experience.
I decided to seek professional help, seeking answers to my predicament. Why were all my my businesses failing?
I will be sharing some tips for running a successful business, which I learned from a business coach. This may be of help when you decide to start a new business venture or if you are going through some challenges.
- Be Passionate About Your Business: Never delve into a business venture just because it is trending. Instead, go into a business because you have passion for that business – if it excites you and makes you want to put your best foot forward.
- Patience and Persistence is the Key: Forget all the beautiful pictures and comments you see on the social media pages of successful business women. The truth is that you have no idea how they started. You only see the pretty pictures but not the blood, sweat, and tears it took for them to get there. There is no such thing as an overnight success. Be patient and be persistent. Trust the process. Soon, you too will have a thriving business.
- Use Social Media to Grow Your Customers: Over 1 billion people are on social media, that means that your potential customers are out there on social media. Why not run some sponsored advertisements to advertise your products? You never know who is searching for what you are selling.
- Sell Quality: Quality is non-negotiable. You don’t want your business to have bad reviews, do you? This can cause a lot of damage and scare away potential customers. Be sure you are selling quality products/rendering quality services, not just posting pretty photos on Instagram.
- Sell Your Business at Every Opportunity: Don’t ever be shy about your business. Talk about it as much as you can to whoever will listen. Out socializing? Make some new acquaintances and let them know about your business. At church for Sunday service? Introduce yourself to the person next to you, and tell them about you business. Etc etc. You never know, they just might be your potential customer.
- Learn How to Put a Structure in Place for Your Business: You can do this by seeking the advice of people in your field who have succesfully run their businesses. Also, you could sign up for any entrepreneurship classes in your area.
Got some additional tips? Feel free to share with us in the comments section below.
