Starting a business is a difficult task on its own, but running it is an entirely different story. This is especially true for your first year on the market. You’ll undoubtedly face numerous other challenges and difficulties that you must overcome, in order to succeed as an entrepreneur. That being said, here are a few tips on how to survive your first year as an entrepreneur and what you might expect from it. 

Continue doing research

Starting a business requires market research. After all, you must test your business idea, determine the market demand for your products or services, as well as understand both your target audience and your competitors. 

The thing is that your job regarding research doesn’t end there. You must keep up with the research if you want to survive the year and every year afterwards. The main reason is that the market is a dynamic environment prone to changes. These changes can happen often, and they can happen suddenly. If you’re not able to adapt, you’ll lose both your relevance and your competitiveness. 

Take care of yourself

It’s advisable for new entrepreneurs not to quit their full-time job during their first year of entrepreneurship. You’ll definitely need more income to pour into your business growth and development. However, that doesn’t mean you should wait idly by until you burnout completely. 

Having a job while running a business will ultimately put a lot of strain on you, and you must find a way to take care of your wellbeing. When things get a bit too overwhelming for you, don’t hesitate to take a step back. You’re not of any use to anyone if you cannot even function properly. 

Expect the unexpected

It’s not about whether or not things might get bad when running a business. It’s about when things will go wrong and will you be ready for it. Expecting the unexpected is, unfortunately, part of the entrepreneur’s mindset or it should be at the very least. You might experience issues that can hinder your business in some way. 

For instance, you may have a power outage in your office or experience a more serious issue, such as a data breach. Therefore, being prepared in advance won’t hurt in the slightest. Make sure you have professional service people on speed-dial, this should include people or agencies specializing in IT, maintenance, repairs and others. Sydneysiders know the value of being able to contact a reliable Electrician from Western suburbs, for example, and have them on site quickly. That way even if things go awry, you’ll be able to resume mission-critical operations in no time. 

Focus on your cash flow

Finances are probably one of the biggest issues new entrepreneurs face. The fact of the matter is that 29% of all startups fail because they ran out of funds. After all, you must fund your business until it becomes sustainable, which is especially difficult during the first year when you lack market exposure and visibility to attract enough customers or clients. 

That’s why it’s important to focus on maintaining positive cash flow for your business and ensure you always have enough funds to support your startup at any given time. Otherwise, you might end up closing down shop sooner than you’ve imagined. 

 

The first year of entrepreneurship is always the most challenging one. You’re still inexperienced and prone to making mistakes that can ruin your business entirely. That’s why it’s important not to rush and carefully plan your strategies and tactics while also taking care of yourself in the process. As lucrative and flexible entrepreneurship can be it can also be very stressful, and there are countless pitfalls you must avoid in order to succeed.