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If you had a time machine to go back to when you first opened your business, what would you tell your younger self? You can’t change the past, but part of being a successful entrepreneur is turning your mistakes into valuable lessons that you and other fellow business owners can learn from.
From creating a solid business plan to learning how to protect yourself from unfair business deals, here are six pieces of advice that successful entrepreneurs would give their younger selves. Whether you’re just starting your business or have made a few mistakes of your own, step into the time machine with these small business owners to gain the knowledge that will help grow your business in the future.
1. Have a clear business plan before you start
For Nikia Londy, writing a cohesive business plan before she started her hair extension business Intriguing Hair could have prevented her from making some expensive mistakes when it came to experimenting with marketing or contacting suppliers.
“A business plan can help you identify your goals, define your target audience, outline your marketing and sales strategies, and set realistic timelines for achieving your objectives. Initially when I started, I didn’t have a business plan. I just went for it and it led to a lot of costly mistakes,” she said.
Nikia shared that having a concrete business plan in place could have helped her more clearly understand which marketing strategies made the most sense for her target audience and which suppliers would assist in achieving her laid out business objectives.
Creating an organized and well-researched business plan can help you think about the future of your business in a strategic, result-oriented way. If you’re unsure where to begin, start by learning how to write a successful business plan and what questions you should consider when crafting one.
2. You don’t have to do it alone
Nikia relies on other entrepreneurs to provide her with the support she needs when she’s feeling alone. “It can be very stressful running a business and it’s essential for you to have advisors and mentors. The [Yelp for Business x Luminary Fellowship] is very helpful because you’re able to talk to people that are in the same situation as you. You want to feel like you’re included in a community that you can reach out to for help. And then you’re like, ‘Oh, I’m not alone,’” Nikia said.
Work-related burnout is a serious problem that affects all entrepreneurs. According to a Quickbooks survey, 29% of small business owners reported that they feel constantly stressed out because of their work. One way to alleviate some of this stress is to lean on the people around you for support and this doesn’t mean just your close circle of family and friends. Your support system could also be your team of employees or other business owners who can closely relate to what you’re going through.
Learn more about how to spot small business burnout and find the right remedy for you.
3. Your employees are there to lean on
Mark Jones, owner and lead designer of Evanston, Illinois floral store Saville Flowers, said he wished he knew his business only worked as well as his employees did.
“For a long time, I felt like I had to do everything,” he said. Only once he started seeing him and his employees as one big cohesive team did the pressure start to let off. “We’re really big on roles and responsibilities at the flower shop here, so the more people have a role and they know what their job is and they want to take independent ownership over projects, you see a lot more success come from it. And then as the business owner, I get to concentrate on the things that serve my greater purpose and that I really enjoy.”
For Miriam Fried, founder and owner of personal training business MF Strong, learning she couldn’t be an expert in everything meant hiring people to fill the gaps. Hiring a social media manager to handle the online aspects of her business gave her a lot of room to focus her efforts on running her business. “Trying to run social media, trying to be a personal trainer, trying to also run a business and bring on other team members and other trainers… it was all too much,” Miriam said. “Now, I have a social media manager. She does our website, she does all of our email blasts, and even just being able to take like one thing off of your plate [is so helpful]. That way, you can really focus your energy where it needs to be focused rather than trying to do everything yourself and then kind of everything suffers because of it.”
While the idea of letting go of complete control over all aspects of your business might be daunting, explore this guide to delegating that can help make the process a little easier.
4. You don’t always have to be the nice guy
Tani Ahmed, owner of Anaheim, California coffee shop Sunbliss Cafe, learned the hard way that being a woman-owned small business can often be seen as an easy target. “In any industry, I think when you see a woman who’s sweet and slightly kind to you, that kindness is taken advantage of. It’s just a very unfair world, so you should do everything you can to protect yourself,” she said.
For Tani, this protection looks like being firm about pricing with vendors and always being sure to collect detailed information of any third-party company you use. “It’s important, when you do anything transactional, to have everything clearly in writing to get the right clearance. I feel like a lot of small businesses, not just me, get the terrible end of the stick when it comes to working with smaller third-party businesses and partners. I make it clear to them and say, ‘Listen, I’m not messing around. I’m the girl boss.’”
But being careful isn’t a foolproof way to ensure that you’ll never experience a bad deal. When Viviana Langhoff first opened her jewelry store Adornment and Theory in Chicago, some of the hardest obstacles she encountered came from getting financially exploited. Her best advice for when this happens? Pick yourself up and move on.
“I got swindled a lot. I got bad deals because I’m a woman, because I was naive, because I didn’t know some of the pricing. And the thing is, I didn’t wallow in it. I’m just like, ‘All right. Know better, do better,’” she said.
5. Take advantage of online platforms to market your business
Ryan Girgis, DJ and founder of Tempoe DJs, wished he knew how important it was to build his business’ online presence. A 2023 Zippia report found 81% of shoppers research businesses online before making a purchase. Think of your business’s online presence, like your Yelp Business Page, as a customer’s first impression of you. Small things like making sure your page is complete with photos or highlighting reviews that are an accurate reflection of your business can go a long way in a customer’s choice to spend their money on you, especially since 90% of Yelp users are comparing their options before deciding to go with a business.
“I wish I knew that there was a platform like Yelp that I could have used for my benefit. When I started off, there just weren’t really any reviews online, or if there was, it was very minimal. There wasn’t really like a platform that stood out,” Ryan said. “So my main thing is definitely focus on your credibility online. It’s so important for people to kind of get a feel of your work or personality.” Clearly conveying your business’s brand voice and identity can be done through a number of ways, and it can be as simple as updating your site to reflect your own personality and style.
Not sure how to take your Yelp Page to the next level? Here’s an easy-to-navigate guide that teaches you about all the basics, like tips on using the free features available on the platform, as well as ways to connect with Yelp users who are searching your business.
Solongo “Sophie” Pumensaikhan opened her nail salon Eva Nails in 2022, and although it’s been less than a year since she started her business, one thing she’s learned in the past several months is how crucial it is to research the community and neighborhood you’re going to be joining.
According to Sophie, understanding who her customers are is a crucial part of providing stellar service. Because her business resides in the college town of Evanston, Illinois, Sophie talked to her customers to gain a better understanding of what price range students were willing to pay as well as the upcoming nail trends that they would be looking for. She said it’s important to clearly understand the customer’s perspective in order to provide them with exactly what they need.
Sophie’s tip? Use social media to get a feel of what your community is like and how you can fit in it. “I lived in the city [of Chicago], so Evanston was kind of new to me. I searched a lot of Instagram accounts that had Evanston small business communities, and I used Facebook too. I also talked a lot with my regulars and I asked them about Evanston in general,” she said.
Target market research can seem like a complicated word, especially if you don’t have a lot of marketing experience. However, there are tons of resources online to help you get started with the basics of it, and once you understand who your target audience is, it’s much easier to know how your business can fill the gap of what customers are searching for. Read more about defining your market audience and how to conduct market research on a budget.
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