Did you know only 50% of businesses will survive longer than five years?

That can be a daunting thing to hear. However, the main reason for this is that people create businesses without much of an idea of how to make them successful and see them thrive. If you go into it with a clear idea of how to achieve your business successes, you’ll have a much better chance of it thriving.

Here are all of the things you need to know — and not all of them are huge!

Set Realistic Goals

Setting realistic goals is a huge part of business success. Although most people would like to see their business become huge within a year or two, the road to success is likely going to be a long one.

Setting goals that are unrealistic may mean you lose motivation and become weighed down, so it’s a good idea to consider some things when asking yourself what you want to achieve:

• How much can I reasonably get done in this period of time?
• What does the success of other businesses look like in my industry?
• What am I going to do to achieve this?

Being honest with yourself from the start is key.

Familiarize Yourself With Laws

Familiarizing yourself with the laws surrounding starting your business is huge. Make sure you don’t make a silly mistake and have everything in place that you need to. Consider health and safety laws, disability laws, and so much more.

Financial laws are important too. For example, don’t class people as independent contractors if they should be employees — you may find yourself facing a pretty hefty bill and fine from the IRS if you do!

Hiring a lawyer can be a great idea, as they’ll be able to examine things and tell you if you’re missing anything.

Create a Great Company Culture

Make sure your employees actually enjoy working for you. It’s impossible to learn how to grow a business without the support of the people around you.

You can do this by ensuring they feel valued. Give your employees good feedback from time to time, so it’s not all just criticism. Employ safety measures such as COVID testing, training, etc., to ensure they feel safe.

You can also ask for feedback and find out what you might do to improve that company culture.

Most of all though, you should always be an approachable force in the company — even as the boss!

Advertise Yourself Well

Advertising is key to business growth. You might have the best product or service in the world but if you don’t get the word out there, no one will ever know!

There are a few different ways to advertise.

Word of Mouth

Tell everyone about your business!

Make sure your friends and family are recommending you to everyone they know. Give people positive experiences so they have no reason not to recommend you.

Social Media

Set up social media accounts and engage with followers, customers, and other brands. This is one of the most essential ways, as people spend a lot of time on social media and may stumble across your brand!

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is key, as it’ll get you ranking on Google and open you up to customers both local and far.

Make sure you research the best practices and design your website in accordance with them. This will usually involve laying out information well, including images, making sure the website loads quickly, and finding keywords to match up with search terms.

Care for Customers

Caring for customers is as essential as caring for employees. So how do you do this?

Mostly, it involves listening to them. You can’t please everyone, but you should still be listening to feedback and deciding what you can implement and what would genuinely improve your business.

It also means trying to provide them with the best experience possible and taking the responsibility to fix it if something goes wrong. Respond to reviews on Google and try to improve every day.

Get a Tax Advisor

Getting a tax advisor can make a huge difference in your business.

Not only does it save you from having to navigate complicated tax laws that change on a yearly basis, but it can save you money. You may miss expenses or tax deductions that a professional advisor knows about and even though you’ll have to pay them, it can end up working out better for you when your bill is lower.

Consider Branching Out

Think ahead: do you eventually want to branch out to other countries?

This likely won’t happen right at the start but as you begin to grow, you might want to do this. Just make sure you’re aware of what’s necessary. For example, branching out to Australia will mean hiring a resident director to follow their rules.

Many businesses end up going international. It can be very beneficial.

Achieve Your Business Successes With This Guide

Achieving your business successes can seem daunting, but it’s all about breaking them down and focusing on what’s realistic.

Consider your financial goals, take care of both your customers and your employees, and outsource what you need to (such as taxes and other aspects of the company). If you take it one step at a time, you’ll be meeting all of your business goals in no time and watching as your company flourishes!

For more business tips and other advice, check out the rest of our site.