Unfortunately, for business owners, there is no single ‘rule’ or formula for operating a successful company… something we are sure many business of these people could make good use of during the first few months or so. Whether you’re operating an e-commerce store or are providing professional services, it doesn’t matter—this applies to you.
It is the first 100 days or so that can and often do make or break a company. It is safe to say, therefore, that it is important to do everything right.
5 Useful Tips for Managing Your First 100 Days
Whilst the specifics of how you should manage your first 100 days depend highly on your company, the industry you operate in, and what you do, there are some general pointers that apply across the board.
1. Build a website, especially if you’re an e-commerce business
Today, it is more important than ever that you have a website and a large digital presence. For some companies, e.g. e-commerce stores, this is something that is non-negotiable. It is very easy to get a basic website going and website development is now regarded as a business expense just like any other.
Simply put, if you do not have a website it will be much harder, if not impossible, for you to properly establish your business and succeed in a competitive commercial world.
For e-commerce businesses, there are lots of resources and tools that are cost-effective, easy to use and already used by millions of people worldwide. Many of them, like Shopify, offer third-party integrations and we recommend looking into this.
Just like owning a website isn’t optional, nor is a social media presence. We can guarantee that no matter what and who your target market is, they are using social media regularly. It is important to get your social media affairs sorted sooner rather than later.
Even if you don’t plan on using your social media pages straight away, you will do eventually and having them made and configured early gives you a head start and lets people begin finding you.
3. Invest in accountancy services
Whether you pay for a subscription-based accounting service or pay a professional accountant to manage your finances for you, it doesn’t matter—do what’s best for you.
Don’t, however, put off sorting out your accounting and leave it until it’s too late. Finances and general neglect of accounting is one of the leading reasons start-ups and small businesses fail. As a business, you need to keep detailed accounts, records, and ensure you register for and pay tax.
If you put it off and avoid managing your accounts and finances, they will catch up to and hit you like a train!
4. Try and improve your business concept
When you are just getting into the swing of things, you may find that certain elements of your company aren’t working as you expected or that something you have tried out isn’t delivering the results you expected. This is perfectly normal and virtually all new businesses find that they have to change or make improvements to their business plan and concept.
Don’t worry about long-term and scalable solutions—instead, focus on your point in time problems.
5. Crawl, walk, and then run
In other words, make sure that you can walk before you try to run.
In your first 100 days, it is far more efficient for you to take baby steps and take your time to learn as you go rather than dive right in and become overwhelmed. Set up your company and its affairs in a logical and manageable order. This leaves more room for you to learn and grow over time. Also, by doing this, any mistakes that you do make or plans and ideas that you need to scrap will have less of an impact and be easier to manage.
Your First 100 Days Can Make or Break You
During this time, you are laying the essential groundwork upon which you can build and scale up your company. Whether you are an e-commerce store, service provider, or consultant, it is these first 100 days where you need to take extra care to meet all your legal obligations, act in critical situations, and be flexible and open to change.
