Advice for First Time Business Owners from Successful Entrepreneurs
11 successful Charlotte business owners give their best advice to first-time entrepreneurs.
The path to entrepreneurship is an exciting, fulfilling, and sometimes bumpy one as you navigate your way through the world of small business ownership. Every business owner makes mistakes, but what makes a true entrepreneur is the ability to learn from these mistakes and come back even stronger. Managing a business of your very own is a unique opportunity with a plethora of learning experiences but to ease the transition a little bit, we have asked 12 successful business owners in Charlotte to give their best advice for first time business owners.
Jay Offerdahl, President of 最新糖心Vlog:
鈥淐hoose your market wisely and learn it thoroughly. Buy or start your business in a rising metro area with several good attributes other than just location. Of course, I recommend Charlotte. It鈥檚 聽a great place 鈥� one of the top 10 fastest growing cities, great place to raise a family, affordable, small business friendly, scheduled for growth, 聽and has had fantastic recession recovery.鈥�
Greg White, previous owner of two technology companies:
鈥淭he #1 piece of advice I have to new entrepreneurs – buy an established business, never start one! Established businesses already have a location, customers, revenue; a proven model. 聽When starting a business, you can only guess at these things. When buying a business, you eliminate risk.鈥�
Dan Misali, former owner of a FastSigns Franchise:
鈥淏usiness owners need to have good relationship management skills. Go the extra mile to build strong relationships with your employees and customers. Without your employees, you鈥檙e in trouble as oftentimes, they know more about the business than the owner! Without your customers, there is no business.”
John Bly, Managing Partner at :
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 critical that to start with the end in mind.聽 Whatever it is that you want to get out of your business 鈥� flexibility, income, control your own destiny, retirement, quick sale 鈥� for both the long and short term.聽 Then, as you go through decisions for everything you do 鈥� keep this lens in focus and make sure that you are making the right decisions each and every time that keep those goals in mind. Otherwise, you will be 5-10 years out wondering how you got there, and probably at a different destination than you originally desired.鈥�
Phil Hagey, former Owner of Century 21:
鈥淢aking the decision to become an entrepreneur is exciting! When taking the first steps, my best piece of advice is to choose a business in an industry that you have a passion for. If you love what you do, it won鈥檛 feel like work.鈥�
Peter Keretsis, former owner of the Pita Pit:
鈥淚鈥檝e always lived by the mantra of 鈥業t鈥檚 not the money you bring in, it鈥檚 the money you bring home鈥�. As a business owner, it can be easy to overspend so watching your expenses is critical. The business needs to make money, but so do you.鈥�
Abbie Baynes, President of :
鈥淭here are two critically important things to do before buying a business.聽 First, understand all the numbers.聽 If you鈥檙e an idea person and not a financial whiz, get a CPA or business advisor to walk you through what the financial records say about the business you鈥檙e buying.聽 Then, create a 鈥渄ownside鈥� scenario using these numbers and see if you can live with them in case the initial projections don鈥檛 pan out then way you expected.聽 If you鈥檙e going into business with someone else, create a written agreement for how the business will be run by the owners.聽 Ask the hard questions and look at the what if鈥檚 before you close to make sure you will be able to work cooperatively with your business partner and so that you have a written process for dealing with disagreements.鈥�
Dale Gillmore, founder of :
鈥淎s a new business owner, it鈥檚 really important to find time to engage with the community. It will help you establish your name and brand and you鈥檙e likely to be spending time with good people in the world that you want to work with.鈥�
Brad Offerdahl, founder of 最新糖心Vlog:
鈥淔inding the right employees is challenging for all business owners, but the challenge doesn鈥檛 stop once at hiring. The biggest mistake a business owner can make is not properly training their employees. Constant learning and guidance will determine the employee鈥檚 attitude and success and ultimately, the success of the business.鈥�
Jon Payne, CEO of & :
鈥淎 strong sales team is also the best source of customer feedback. 聽Your sales team will know the strengths and weaknesses of your product or service better than anyone internally, and that knowledge is what you need to improve as an organization. 聽It will tell you if you鈥檝e got the right stuff, or let you know quickly if you need change. I鈥檝e seen far too many businesses focus 100% on product development only to spend all of their cash and then realize too late that what they made won鈥檛 sell. 聽Don鈥檛 make that mistake. 聽Sell early. 聽Sell often. 聽And treat sales (and everything closely related to it) as a top priority.鈥�
Jim Hood, Founder of :
鈥淒etermining the type of legal structure for a new business can be daunting for entrepreneurs and small business owners. Deciphering between an 鈥楽 Corp鈥� or an 鈥楲LC鈥� can be tricky but the structure of your business depends on your needs. If operational ease and flexibility are important to you, an LLC is a good choice. If you are looking to save on employment tax and your situation warrants it, an S corporation could work for you.鈥�