ColourHR Celebrates its First Birthday!
Most first birthdays that I attend involve the new parents congratulating themselves that they’ve survived the first year! The first year is tough – sleepless nights, financial strain, and constant doubts as to whether you’re making the right decisions.
Well I’m here to say, starting your own business has sometimes felt very similar.
As ColourHR reaches its milestone first birthday, Nicole and I have been reflecting on the past 12 months, what we’ve learnt, what we’ve achieved and where we’ve made mistakes.
For anyone thinking of starting their own business, or owns or runs their own business here are a few tips that we’ve learnt so far:
Back Yourself
Imposter Syndrome is a real thing. Many successful business owners I talked to have felt the same way from time to time. When you start your own business, doubts can start to creep in. That’s why it’s so important to back yourself and surround yourself by people who support you.
Network, Network, Network
Everyone says it, but it’s true. You have to put yourself out there and network! This doesn’t have to mean doing the hard sell. It’s just about meeting new people and creating those connections in a way that is authentic and feels comfortable for you.
Do Your Homework
GST/ Provisional tax/ ACC/ Insurance….the list goes on. Make sure you understand what your obligations are as a business owner to ensure you have everything covered and you’re remaining compliant.
Celebrate!
Making sure you’re celebrating the small wins is super important! Whether that’s landing your first client, getting your website live or even having a successful coffee meeting. Setting goals each quarter will help to keep you on track of your overall business plan
Save those pennies….
We learnt early on from speaking to other business owners, how important it is to put some money aside. It’s important to think about accruing for tax and GST payments as well as putting some funds aside in case you have a slower month. Set up some additional bank accounts for this and get into some good habits early on. It will ‘pay off’ in the end!
Plan Ahead
Making sure you have good plans in place is super important, even before you’ve launched. Ensuring you have capital aside, have a clear plan and targets set, and considered the contingencies are all really important to ensure you stay afloat.
Once you’re up and running, making sure you take the time to keep checking in on your plan/ strategy and setting goals will help to set you up for success.
Be Flexible…’Pivot’
If something isn’t working, try something new! Making sure you have some key goals that you’re constantly monitoring – whether that’s revenue targets, customer numbers, or social media stats is key. Remember, it’s about working smarter, not harder!
Value Connection
It’s one of our values here at ColourHR! Being appreciative of opportunities that are presented and being grateful to clients who choose to work with you is important to ensure you’re building long term relationships. Think of ways you may be able to help them – perhaps its referring great people to work for them, or connecting them with other contacts that will help them to grow their business.
We’d like to take the opportunity to thank all of the wonderful clients we’ve had the pleasure of working (and continue to work with) over the past year.
Play to your strengths….and outsource your weaknesses
One of the challenges of being a business owner is the number of hats you have to wear (our wardrobe is full of them!). Thinking about everything from strategy to marketing to HR to finances can be really stressful. Outsourcing to experts is a good option to ensure things don’t get missed. It also enables you to focus on your core business.
And if HR isn’t one of the many hats that you want to wear, give us a call at ColourHR – we’d love to help!