Don't be fooled into thinking that it is easy to find a mentor who can really help your business grow. It takes time, and ideally they need to really understand your offering to the tech industry.
As previously mentioned, developing relationships with key business professionals is also extremely important as it allows you to tap into their expert knowledge. Again, you need to invest time in developing these connections with successful people in your industry, but it will be worth it.
7. Network, network, network!
Building up connections is vital to the success of any business.
You need to start communicating with relevant contacts as it will help to get your company known to the public and generate a reputation. This could be connecting with your target clientele or other industry professionals. The more people you know, the more business opportunities will start coming your way.
Successful networking will allow you to construct strong relationships with highly influential people who will have a wealth of expertise that you can benefit from.
8. What's your recruitment strategy?
Put a disproportionate amount of time aside to find the right people.
Seek complementary skills and those with the right attitude, as building up a competent team will ensure that you have a strong, talented workforce that will help to drive your business forward. Creating the right workforce is essential and can be described as a type of investment.
You can't run the business on your own and you need people who are skilled and competent in the tasks that you require them to complete. If you put the effort in to get it right, you'll save yourself a lot of money and time in the long term.
9. Grow cautiously
Build up cash reserves to give stability for the rainy days.
When you're starting up, your cash flow may not follow a steady trend but your expenses may be high, and at this early stage you need to plan for unforeseen financial problems such as changes in market trends. It can be tempting to buy the latest technology especially when you're starting up a tech business – but ask yourself whether it's something you really need.
For example, why spend hundreds of pounds on Adobe Creative Suite if you only need the most basic image resizing tools? A free open source image editor like GIMP will do everything you need it to.
10. Ask for help
Don't be afraid to ask for help and advice from those around you.
Starting up your own tech business is not an easy task to take on and there will be hurdles along the way. By asking for advice from others around you who have already been in your position, you can pick up a range of useful tips and hints based on their experiences. This can help you deal with problems that you may encounter or can even guide you away from mistakes that others have made.
What's more, you can also ask for help with funding – there are a wide array of funding options available to help tech businesses start up and grow. Look into this and see what you can tap into. The government, for example, provides funding and programmes to make loans available to more small businesses, so take advantage of this.
- Howard Simms is the co-founder and operations director at Apadmi
