Life has a habit of throwing at us situations that turn out to be valuable teaching moments. Earlier in the day, when I was at my store with my wife, a car stopped abruptly outside. The screeching tires made me think who in the world would be rushing like that. When the door opened, I saw my younger nephew alight, his face concerned.
He barely finished greeting before getting to the point. "Bro, can you kindly come with me, I need to show you something?" I didn't waste a minute to go with him to his vehicle, curious about what could be so crucial.
After a short ten-minute drive, we pulled up in front of a newly opened shop. His wife was inside serving a customer, amidst shelves and shelves of different wines and cartons of different beverages piled up in front. "This is my new business shop, today we are opening for the first time," he said, pride and doubt mixing in his voice.
Looking around at the well-stocked shop, I was impressed by his effort. But I could also notice what was really bothering him, the issue of actually selling these goods. Being a first-time businessman with no background in trading, he was in need of guidance from someone who had been there and done that.
Drawing upon my own business experience of many years, I shared some fundamental realities with them. Most individuals don't realize that venturing into business for profit only is quite often the first step toward failure. Success requires sacrifice, especially during those early critical phases.
Understanding your market is key, not just what you are selling, but actually knowing how to operate in that specific market environment. Pricing strategy is particularly crucial for start-ups. Even with the standard market rates, new business owners need to think outside the box in order to stand out from the competition.
Customer relationships form the backbone of any successful business. Without loyal customers, there simply is no business. Those first few customers can become your strongest advocates, transforming from mere buyers into unofficial ambassadors for your brand. The key lies in treating them as friends rather than just transactions.
Financial discipline is perhaps the most critical thing during those early days. The principle is simple and powerful, don't eat your seeds, just keep planting them. All profits need to be plowed back into the business to make it grow. This approach, as difficult as it is, sets the ideal stage for long-term success.
Watching my nephew learn all this made me reflect on my own early days in business. It takes nerve to start a new business, but it takes common sense, patience, and sheer will to see it through. With solid market intelligence, thoroughly researched pricing, solid customer relationships, and good financial discipline, new business owners can build something that will truly withstand the test of time.
The road to business success is never easy, but following these fundamental principles can put any new business owner on the correct path moving forward. The fact that my nephew was willing to seek advice showed he already understood one valuable piece of information - that sometimes the best investment you can make is in learning from others who have come before you.
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Starting business is really scaring mostly when you don't have a mentor to guide you, I remember what happened to me when I newly opened my shop, I would always sell my market below cost price and found out when the customer might have left, sometimes I will sell above market price, all these happened because I wasn't conversant with the business as I was a working class before but within a short period, I mastered everything.
Saludos
@tipu curate 8
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