A Few Common Mistakes

Image: Richard Balog

Quite a lot of us want to have that extra income, something separate from the traditional career route and maybe build it into something big and tangible that you can call yours. Others just want the extra income in the short term, nothing big.

Whichever end of the scale you fall on, you want to make more money and have most likely seen all the information about generating a second income. Let’s talk about the complexities involved with that and few mistakes you might want to avoid.

The One-Man Band

You are the operations guy, customer service, marketing, accountant and everything else in between. You may have strengths in one or more of these areas, but for most this isn’t the case. So which one takes priority?

There isn’t a clear-cut answer to this. Depending on what stage you are within your business, these may shift around.

The Bread and Butter

We can all agree operations are the core of your business, the actual purpose behind the business. If it’s a bakery, this would be the baking and if it’s a school, it would be the teaching. Without the operations there is no business, so you need to make sure you do this well.

Master your craft through practice, taking courses and training where you can, do in-depth research to see what you can do to set our business apart. The goal is to improve the standard of quality you provide. YouTube offers an extensive amount of knowledge in a variety of fields and it’s all free. Getting certified in your field also gives your customers more confidence and trust.

The Beast

You’ve got your operations in a good place but how are people going to know about you? Good old marketing, the aspect we can’t ignore. You want to get more customers through the door beyond friends and family, and if you’ve been running your business for a little while now, you’ll probably agree that marketing is the beast you never anticipated it to be.

The aim is simple, reach your target customers. How can you do this on little to no marketing budget? Utilising all social media platforms is a good place to start, as I can imagine you already have; if you haven’t what are you waiting for? However, you need to go beyond that and stop relying solely on Instagram to bring in all the customers. Do you provide a service or product locally, think outside the box, local fairs, pop ups etc. What platforms are your audience are likely to use, the places they visit, the things they do; lean into this.

Having an online presence outside of your social media platforms portrays a level of professionalism and instils confidence within your customers. Create a professional website, where customers can purchase items, review your work and see customers reviews. You can use platforms such as WIX, Square space and many more; they have different pricing tiers depending on your budget and provide templates to use, making it easy for the non-tech guys and girlies.

Show Me The Money

The numbers side of the business is definitely something you can’t run away from. Loads of us hate numbers, we want to focus on running the business and hope the numbers can sort themselves out.

Is the business is making money or breaking even. You’re probably still mixing your personal and business finances together, so it’s not easy to get a clear breakdown of where you are financially.

Coming from a biased accountant who loves a spreadsheet, I recommend putting something together where you can review your sales, purchases and expenses. Being able to see all your income in one place and the profit you’re making can be the motivation you need to keep going.

Image: Jakob Owens

If you can afford it, look into purchasing accounting software like QuickBooks or Xero, these platforms offer affordable rates for small businesses and usually have an offer going. You can also consider hiring an accountant, they can offer you a monthly rate dependant on the size of the business and business needs, which may not be as expensive as you think.

However, if you’re not ready to financially commit to either of the above, consider purchasing online templates that can give you a starting point on what to track. The Starting Concept offers a template for new businesses that can get you started at an affordable rate.

The King

Customers are key, which makes the customer service element of the business a very important one. You might be overwhelmed with queries from customers, some of which you know won’t result in a sale, but that doesn’t mean you should let the quality of service slide.

Fast and friendly responses, being easily accessible by providing your email or phone number and remaining professional are simple things you can do to retain customers. We all remember the small businesses that were incredibly professional and lovely to deal with, and we never forget the ones that left a bitter taste.

Your Honour

Lastly the legal stuff, boring and quite complicated but incredibly important. Are you a sole trader or registered as a limited company? These have different legal implications. Have you drawn out the appropriate contracts and made yourself clear to clients, is your business abiding by the law? Don’t forget business insurance. Making you sure you cover your bases legally is highly essential, because the last thing you want is taking a trip down to the county court.

Image: Getty images

In a Nutshell

What’s important? Everything. All these functions are incredibly important and may shift around from time to time, with some taking precedence, however don’t put the rest on the back-burner forever.