In the early stages of building a business it is vital to keep a sharp focus on key priorities, here Rapid Companies provide their top 3 steps to consider.

The first year of any new business is one of the hardest. Look at the multitude of statistics, surveys and studies available and you will see the odds of surviving, let alone being successful, are against you. A recent article estimated that around 70 per cent of new businesses fail within their opening year. That’s a staggeringly high figure, but one which you can stop yourself from adding to by sticking to some very basic truisms, three of which are shared with you below.

Keep an eye on every coin, and treat every penny as though it’s a pound. That means be tight. Whilst you may have to spend to get things up and running, do so with extra diligence. Make sure you can account for every penny coming in and going out. Keep all your receipts and a note of all your income; collect them every day and file them neatly and in date order before you leave the office at night to keep them safe. Leave it a week and you may find it impossible to remember everything you have taken or spent; worse still you may not be able to find the receipt and therefore you may not be able to use it as a business cost. It may seem obvious with hindsight, but riffling around in various pockets, glove boxes and the like trying to find receipts is neither fun nor a good use of one’s time. It does not make for good business practice, and one of the most frustrating things imaginable is retrospectively organizing your finances. From day one, create a procedure for dealing with financial transactions and make it a habit. Buy it and file it. You will thank yourself for it in the future.

There are countless cases where people have run businesses and had what they thought was a good idea of how to handle finances. How wrong many were. Many were so focused on building their business, their brand, hiring staff, looking after clients, completing orders or projects, that their finances almost took a back seat. As a result many people have found themselves scrabbling around trying to balance books, complete tax returns and the like at the end of the first year. It is important to be disciplined with finances and the way you operate; without doubt this will prove to be for the better.

Always remember: it’s not possible to retrospectively work out finances, except to ascertain that you have done it all wrong. Consider the financial disciplines as the day’s homework; account for what you’ve done daily. And if you know you’re not very good with figures and keeping track of finances, employ a bookkeeping accountant. You can hire one at a relatively cost-effective rate, and if numbers are not your forte, a good accountant is worth their weight in gold.

Early in the life of your business is the perfect opportunity to get to know your customers and to know them in depth. If your business is successful, there may never be another time when you can devote as much time to understanding, asking questions and trying new things; take full advantage of it. What’s the optimum way of doing this? Quite simple, talk to them. It really is that easy. People are always flattered when you ask them for advice or their opinion, and they will undoubtedly enjoy the thought of helping you shape your company. By speaking to clients in the early days, you give yourself the opportunity to introduce new services or perhaps alter the way you present invoices, to ensure clients receive reader-friendly invoices in a timely manner. Change often comes about through conversation.

If you’re honest with your customers, they will be honest with you. OK, it won’t always be what you want to hear, but that’s the point; it’s what you need to hear. They’ll most likely tell you why they chose to use you, for instance. And give you a valuable insight into how you’re faring against your competitors, be it price, what you could do better, or what you are already doing better. Quite often it’s the little things that they’ll pick up on. The things that you might not even see or cross your mind. But remember, there are no little things in business when it comes to customers. Everything matters.

Talk to the ones that got away too. They’ll arguably give you the best review of your company so pick up the phone and tap them for everything they can tell you. Knowing your customers brilliantly at the end of your first year will pave the way for attracting more in the upcoming years.

Finally, take a long hard look at your family, friends, cricket, football, and anything else you might hold dear. Because, if you are serious about your business and yearning to be successful, you’ll have to say goodbye to them. Not forever and not completely of course, but if you really want to succeed you will have to dedicate yourself to your business fully – mind, body and soul. It might sound dramatic, it may seem harsh, but the secret to a work-life balance in the early days of setting up a business is simple: there isn’t one. Not initially. If you start your own business, then there is only work, work and then more work.

In the early days of Rapid Companies many sacrifices were made, all sorts of family events and outings missed, anniversaries forgotten, school sport days missed; certain things which are still brought up to this day and for which the principals have never been forgiven. But it was necessary to get the business through those difficult early days. So, if you’re in the early days of your new business, prepare now for your life to completely change. No one succeeds without commitment. And if you cannot commit, then you may as well quit.