Here’s a scenario for you: You have a fantastic idea for a new business you believe will solve a problem that most people have. That’s all good, but unless you turn it into a breathing, thriving business, it’s still an idea, and great ideas that aren’t implemented are as good as none. So, how do you turn that fantastic idea into a business? Here are ten tips.
1. Create a Comfortable Space
Comfortable seating is crucial for a good business space. Since your workers will spend most of their time in your offices, ensure they have comfortable chairs that can be adjusted to their preferences. The new furniture should have adequate sitting support.
You may also consider having standing desks to promote blood flow. If you have the funds and want your employees to enjoy working at your business, supply them with ergonomic furniture or massage chairs. The goal is to increase their productivity by ensuring they are as comfortable as possible. Do this, and your fantastic idea will transform into a great business.
Good lighting is another indicator of a comfortable space for your business. A space with too much glare and poor lighting can cause your employees to experience headaches and eye strain, making it difficult for them to be productive due to interference with their focus. Ensure the business space has adequate storage where your workers can store their personal effects and tools of work.
Other factors include fitting the offices with the appropriate technology such as modern computers, the right software, and a reliable internet service. The spaces should also have attractive decor that inspires employees to work. Use colors that promote morale and productivity. Consider adding water features and natural plants to liven up the space.
2. Know Your Products
Every fantastic idea must meet a need or solve a problem. Unless you are like Steve Jobs, former CEO of Apple Inc., who would create products the market didn’t even know it needed, the product or service your business seeks to market must meet the felt needs of a targeted, clearly defined consumer base. However, this rests on your thorough knowledge of the product or service you’re introducing.
For instance, if you’re involved in Jarritos distribution, you’ll need to know everything about Jarritos and the appropriate distribution methods. You should, for example, know that “jarrito” is Spanish for ‘little jug,’ which evolved from a Mexican tradition of using clay pottery jugs to drink water and other drinks. This may seem like a meaningless anecdote, but for Mexican people seeking to quench their thirst, Jarritos is not just any other soft drink. There’s some intimacy and authenticity, a sense of “this is our little drink” that evokes national pride and boosts sales.
You need to know your product well to sell it. Learn all you can about the product and its niche in the market. Successful marketers spend their time studying the products, including learning their minute details, such as what ‘jarritos’ means in Spanish.
If you want to know a product well enough to convince your target clients to buy it, become its lifelong student. Besides making more sales, you’ll offer better customer service if you thoroughly understand the type of products you’re marketing. You’ll also be better positioned to guide clients and suggest what products best meet their needs.
3. Eliminate Pests
Now that you’ve translated your fantastic idea into a business, there’s one little matter you need to take care of: pest invasion. Among ways to keep off pests include emptying trash frequently, as pests love this, especially cockroaches. Place bins away from the entrances to your business and ensure the dumpster area is always clean. Contact cockroach control services should you suspect an invasion from this pesky nuisance.
Get rid of moisture and fix all leaks. Pests usually require water to live, so moisture easily attracts them. Ensure no droplets or pools of water are around by fixing leaks from drains and water dispensers.
Other ways to keep pests off your business include fixing structural gaps in your premises. This is critical since insects and rodents are adept at squeezing through tiny gaps to access your premises. Also, ensure your business spaces are always clean, and here we are talking about deep cleaning, as spaces that may appear clean on the surface could be hosting pests in difficult-to-reach areas.
Also, ensure the landscape around your business premises is well-grown, as it can be a great hiding space for rodents and other pests. Have the grass mowed frequently, and the trees pruned to keep your landscape neat. Lastly, before allowing deliveries into your premises, check them and, if possible, disinfect them. Inspect the packages for holes, larvae, rips, droppings, and tears. The goal is to ensure no pests are allowed into your premises.
4. Maintain a Safe Workplace
The most fantastic idea won’t catch on in a depressing workplace. Employees are more productive and creative in a safe environment, especially in the workplace where they spend most of their time, sometimes up to ten hours every work day. Guaranteeing the safety of employees at the workplace says you value them.
Employees who don’t worry about safety are happier and more motivated to work for you. Staff who don’t feel safe at the workplace report more absenteeism, poor performance, and low morale, are less productive, and are less likely to be loyal to your business.
To keep your workplace safe for employees, conduct regular inspections on the premises to eliminate hazards. Ensure workers use the appropriate tools for the right tasks. Train your employees on safety procedures and let them understand that workplace safety isn’t just an employer’s responsibility but theirs.
Ensure they have the proper work wear and safety gear to execute their roles without hurting themselves. Lastly, it’s essential to lead by example and walk the talk. Be involved in safety drills and other training programs. Let the employees see you doing your part in promoting a safe work environment.
If an employee is injured, your first goal is to ensure they get appropriate treatment. For instance, if they hurt their foot, rush them to a foot and ankle center where therapists focus on restoring function, strength, and range of motion. A foot and ankle center treats lower extremity injuries such as ankle fractures or sprains, fasciitis, and post-operative care.
5. Have a Pleasant Exterior
The exteriors of a business premises are as important as the interiors. One of the best ways to turn a fantastic idea into a business is to provide a functional yet aesthetically pleasant building featuring energy-efficient commercial windows. People coming to your business will notice a poorly kept exterior, and you’re right; it’s an instant turnoff!
Regularly cleaning the exteriors makes them more pleasant and welcoming. This is more crucial if the premises are in a dirty industrial area. Use a pressure washer to clean patios, walls, porches, and decks. The pressure washers have potent motors that blast off loose dirt from your building. You can also use them to clean parking lots and sign boards.
Another way to make the exterior of your business premises pleasant is by giving it a new coat of paint. Fading, dull colors, or peeling paint could be costing you customers. After taking care of the sidewalks, parking lot, and landscaping, a freshly painted building makes everything pop. It’s sometimes difficult to notice that your building needs a repaint if you see it daily. Other signs of a structure needing a paint refresh include chipping, dirt, grime, cracking, and mold growth.
6. Be Attentive to Problems
Every business has its fair share of problems. Your fantastic idea for a company could be headed into trouble if you don’t have troubleshooting skills. Every company has to deal with one problem or the other almost daily. Equipment malfunctions necessitate quick intervention to get them back to their last point of proper functioning. For instance, you’ll need computer repair to get a server running again.
If you do it right, solving problems effectively and expediently can quickly become a competitive advantage for your business. Today, businesses that thrive address issues as soon as they occur. Review your business to establish if there are problems that need fixing, especially those that are hurting your bottom line.
Among problems that could seriously hurt your business are those to do with customer issues. If there are customer complaints about a product or service, address them immediately and seek to reassure them their problems will be addressed and appropriate action taken. One effective way of identifying potential issues is by continuously gathering data at every step of your business. This way, you’ll immediately flag issues and address them before they become business-tripling emergencies.
7. Follow the Law
A fantastic idea deserves to be protected, and there’s no better way to protect it than following the law, especially about taxes. The first thing you need to do is determine your business’s legal status. How you’ll run your business depends on the legal structure under which your fantastic idea is based.
You could choose between S-corporation, corporation, limited liability company (LLC), sole proprietorship, and limited partnership. It’s always a good idea to factor in the liability issues your company could be associated with and the best tax structure for your business. Other issues you’ll need to deal with include trademarks, licenses, zoning laws, prevailing safety and health laws, insurance, confidentiality, and NDAs (non-disclosure agreements). You’ll also need a federal criminal defense lawyer on speed dial to protect your business from federal tax crimes, identity theft, and other types of white-collar crime.
8. Treat Your Workers Well
Treating your workers well boils down to simple commonsense. If you treat them well, they’ll be motivated to work harder for you. Turning your fantastic idea into a business is impossible without a motivated workforce.
Being transparent, honest, avoiding favoritism, prejudice, or bias, giving credit where due, and listening to your employees are among the several ways of treating your workers well. Others include acknowledging everyone’s input, being kind and polite, being professional, offering rewards and treats for stellar performance, and modeling what you expect of your employees.
Seek to make the workplace as convenient as possible for everyone. One way of doing this is to provide toddler care for employees with toddlers. If you invest in making employees as comfortable at work as possible, they’ll go beyond the call of duty to achieve and exceed milestones.
9. Take Time to Relax
Although working hard is a virtue, so is taking a break. If studies by Yoichi Chida and others published by Nature.com are anything to go by, psychosocial factors related to stress contribute to incidences of cancer. Taking a break also contributes to productivity, mood, and heart wellness.
Once you identify them, implement lifestyle changes such as exercising or changing your diet. Also, practice mindfulness by clearing your mind of distractions and anxiety. Moments of quiet reflection enhance your cognitive skills as well. You can also share your feelings with a trusted friend. Their perspective on your situation will help you see things in a different light. Lastly, how about treating yourself to a warm bubble bath surrounded by the sweet smell of scented oils or to Mexican cuisine if that excites your palate?
10. Hire Quality Employees
When looking to hire quality employees, their character and lifestyle are as important, if not more crucial, as their qualifications for the job. An impressive resume doesn’t give you the whole picture of a potential hire. You may want to find out if the potential employee has a police record, such as drunken driving, where they had to hire a DUI lawyer.
No matter how talented they are, if they’re known to over-indulge in alcohol, they’ll soon crash your fantastic idea. Choose qualified employees with impeccable character. While you may not demand that all of them be teetotalers, let them know it’s a no to drink at work or engage in DUI.
Some of today’s most prominent businesses started from an idea. At the time, this may have seemed laughable, such as who would buy a book from an online store, which is how Jeff Bezos Amazon may have sounded back in the day. If you have a fantastic idea, and you want to turn it into a thriving business, believe in it and stay the course. What looks like a pipe dream right now could become mainstream practice in the next couple of years.
