A new mumpreneur’s 10 do’s and Don’ts

1. Do “give it a go” follow your dreams or ideas (within reason) Many people have an idea or some ideas of what they would like to do as a business if they could, if they were free to do it, but by far the majority of people simply don’t get around to it. Go on just do it!
2. Do research your market before you commit to far and / or too much time and money. Early research could save you plenty of pain later on down the road. I looked at well over 100 business opportunities before I eventually settled on http://www.lullaby-babies.co.uk
3. Do use family and friends to bounce ideas off, get feedback, comments and insights into your plans. Again, its worth doing this free market research before you commit to a grand plan that nobody wants to buy into, or even needs. A chat with family and friends will tell you this information up front, warts and all!
4. Do use your own savings and investments (if you have any) or your partners / husbands savings to finance your business venture. Firstly, this will save an almighty mine field of red tape and application forms with banks, or other funders wanting to know the ins and outs of a .. you know, secondly, using your own savings that are probably earning next to nothing in the bank, will provide a better return in the medium to long term for you.
5. Do keep a good oversight of your general accounts, i.e. costs and expenses. It is the easiest thing in the world to spend when starting off in business. Many of these costs are essential in starting out, but some can and must be avoided. The minute you have a website, and email address, you will uncover a whole host of people keen to relieve you of your hard earned money.
6. Don’t fall for every email offering you various things you didn’t know you needed, for example from SEO experts , marketers (we can get you on page one of Google!), marketing free trials of products that cost you money, and of course advertising offers galore at a very special price for you madam! Not really. Control yourself!
7. Don’t expect a flood of phone calls and web site visits the minute you open your doors! If you do, you will be sorely disappointed. If your business is a brand new business and not an acquisition, then you WILL have a very slow start. You must factor in your first year’s budget, that you will not be selling very much in your first few weeks / months of trading, and must therefore make financial provisions for this.
8. Don’t give up (to soon) Bearing in mind No 7 above, if you set up your dream business, and then gave up just three months into it, that would be slightly silly, a waste of time, effort and money, and also not giving it a fair run at becoming successful. You must give your new business baby time to grow and develop, BUT you also need to be realistic about flogging a dead horse as it were, and not get emotionally tied up in keeping something going, that will never earn a profit. If it’s not working after giving it a GOOD go, think of something else to try.
9. Don’t expect to be a millionaire within the first 12 months and on the Dragon’s Den panel in two years. Let’s assume you’ve beaten items 7 and 8 above, and are running a successful business, i.e. profitable. Most small business, generate only modest profits of circa one to two times an average salary, say £25,000 to £50,000. This is a decent result, but unless the business model can be scaled up, your millionaire dreams will be a few years off yet.
10. Don’t forget to enjoy SPENDING your money. It’s all very well re-investing in the business and paying bills, and for advertising and stock, but there is something really special about buying something for yourself with money you have generated through your own business, even if it’s only a coffee and piece of cake!