April 2019 - Rafferty Pendery

How To Start A Business: The First 3 Steps You Need To Know

Apr 25, 2019

Starting a successful business takes dedication, concentration, and a fair amount of courage. It also requires a commitment to completing the necessary steps that build a great business. If you’re wondering how to start a business, follow these initial steps to give yourself a stable foundation for the future.

Research and refine

Before you make any moves to start your business, hop online and do some research about the industry. Learn what companies already exist in your field and if anyone is already offering a version of your business idea. By knowing what current brand leaders are doing, you can find ways to make it better or deliver the same services for a lower price. This small amount of research can help you refine your business plan and give your blossoming business a strong “why” from which you can build.

Outline a business plan

That business plan is the blueprint that will guide your company through its start-up phase and into an established business. Without a business plan, it is all too easy for a new company to run into costly mistakes that they could have easily avoided. The exact type of business plan you need depends on your type of business and its needs. If you will be looking for financial support from a financial institution or investors, you will need a traditionally long and thorough business plan to show them. If you aren’t seeking additional support, you can work with a simpler business plan that is made just for your use.

Plan your finances

You don’t need to be a billionaire to start a business, but you do need to make an initial investment. As about 82% of businesses fail because of cash flow problems, you will also need to be sure that you have enough funds to cover the ongoing expenses that come up before you’re able to turn a profit. Prepare for all of these fees by putting together a spreadsheet that estimates the startup costs of your business and what you’ll need to keep it running. From those numbers, you can start constructing plans for obtaining loans and grants to get your business off the ground.

Learning how to start a business certainly isn’t an easy task, but it is possible. With well thought out plans, good tech entrepreneur advice, and trusted partnerships, you can soon realize your dreams of starting a new business.

Essential Tech Entrepreneur Advice: Know These Top Mistakes You Can Make

Apr 22, 2019

No one ever said that being a tech entrepreneur was easy. As you look through endless listicles of tips and tech entrepreneur advice, the plethora of information can quickly overwhelm you. Oftentimes, knowing what not to do is more helpful than a list of hundreds of tips for entrepreneurs. Take a look through these most common mistakes tech entrepreneurs can make and you’ll know the missteps you need to avoid in order to find success.

Mistake 1: Fearing the leap of faith

There are smart business moves and then there are business moves made out of fear. Making certain commitments, such as signing the dotted line of a partnership contract or giving the green light on product development, is often the most daunting part of being an entrepreneur. However, you need to embrace these leaps of faith in order to keep moving forward. Tackling these milestones can help you overcome other fears that can be hindering your success, such as having a fear of public speaking. Research has shown that those who fear public speaking make on average 10% less than those who don’t, which makes conquering this fear something you can’t afford to brush off.

Mistake 2: Taking on an unmanageable workload

While you may feel that you need to wear many hats in order to drive a young business to success, taking on too much at once oftentimes leads to failure. For this reason, choosing a manageable workload is one of the most useful pieces of tech entrepreneur advice. Set boundaries early on and identify which tasks and responsibilities you can give to other team members. As long as you’ve built a trustworthy team around you, you shouldn’t have any hesitations in delegating the workload. If you are wary, you should probably start with actually finding a team you trust.

Mistake 3: Ignoring important feedback

Feedback is what allows all industries to continue growing and developing. This is especially true in the tech industry. From the very beginning, tech entrepreneurs should proactively seek professional feedback. They should also reach out to customers as soon as their services or products hit the market. While you will likely hear a fair bit of criticism, those words also contain the most helpful directions on how you can improve.

The mistake that seems the smallest is too often the downfall of an entrepreneur. By avoiding these common entrepreneur mistakes and following the top tech entrepreneur advice, you and your business will soon be on the road to success.

Public Speaking Mistakes Even Extroverts Can Make

Apr 17, 2019

The fear of public speaking is deeply ingrained in the psyches of many budding entrepreneurs. But even if you’re confident in front of a crowd, you may still fall victim to some of the most common public speaking mistakes that plague young professionals.

Whether you’re a lawyer or an entrepreneur, practice avoiding these public speaking pitfalls before you stand up in front of a crowd.

Speaking too softly

It’s common for public speakers to rely on only the boom of the mic to express their message. Unfortunately, speakers might not realize they’re speaking too softly until it’s too late. Emblazon your presentation with passion and drive in order to make your message hit home. This includes projecting your voice, with or without a microphone. Practice by standing up straight, pushing out your chest, and speaking from your diaphragm, not your throat. This will ensure that you are heard whether you’re using a microphone or not.

Finishing on a dull note

This is a trap even the most experienced public speakers can fall into. Without a proper takeaway action, your audience members want to know what to do following your presentation. If your audience leaves wondering “now what?” then you need to go back to the drawing board.

Correct these common entrepreneur mistakes by asking your audience to take action after your presentation. Do you want your audience to change their lives? Improve their surroundings? Like your page on Facebook? Giving them an action item will give them direction following a powerful presentation.

Failing to rehearse beforehand

The key to public speaking is sounding confident and assured. If you’re stumbling over your words or stuttering on stage, your audience’s attention will assuredly falter. According to market research, what you say is not nearly as important as how you say it. It’s estimated that a presentation’s effectiveness is 38% voice, 55% non-verbal cues, and 7% content. This makes practicing your speech beforehand vital.

Practicing can help you ensure that your body is doing what you want it to do when you want to do it. Rehearsing will help you get your timing just right, stop nervous tics from happening, and identify points of emphasis throughout your presentation. These entrepreneur mistakes can be hard to correct, but they can be mitigated with practice.

Whether you’re a tech entrepreneur or an international public speaker, avoiding issues with public speaking are among the most common entrepreneur mistakes. The next time you want to wow a crowd, rely on Rafferty Pendery’s entrepreneurship blog for more information.

The Top Qualities Excellent International Speakers Need To Embody

Apr 15, 2019

The best tech entrepreneurs know more than just how to run their business and sell their products. They also know how to speak. With three out of four people suffering from speech anxiety, combining acute business acumen with effective public speaking is easier said than done. While you won’t be able to become a renowned international speaker overnight, you can start by knowing what qualities it takes. Discover the top qualities of international public speakers and you will soon be on the way to embodying these characteristics yourself.

Focusing on the message, not the money

While becoming a paid international speaker wouldn’t be a bad thing for most people, it shouldn’t be the driving force behind you getting on stage. If you’re mostly concentrated on what you can get out of the endeavor, you won’t be putting your efforts behind your message and that will show. Without a good message, you’ll never make that coveted cash or grow your business in any way.

Effectively marketing yourself

Once you feel like you’ve nailed the right message, you need to have the initiative to start promoting yourself. Add “speaker” on all of your social media profiles and build a website specifically for this role. To position yourself as a trustworthy source, you’ll want to constantly release content by blogging, making videos, and writing guest posts for other sites. Remember to also talk to others in person about your speaking engagements. Even in this tech-driven world, word of mouth can still be a very effective marketing tool.

Constantly Improve Your Speaking Skills

All of your other efforts will be useless if you can’t capture audiences with your speaking skills. Even if you think that your skills are pretty good, it can be worthwhile to hire a speaking coach and read professional resources on effective public speaking. You can also record yourself giving a speech and watch it to observe your body language, hand gestures, and speaking habits. This may feel strange, but this strategy makes it easy for you to spot places where you can improve.

Being an international speaker can present you with many opportunities, both for yourself and for your business. Contact Rafferty Pendery to find out more about how you can start your journey today.