5 tips every budding entrepreneur needs to know
People often believe that building a new business can be one of the hardest things that they will encounter in their lifetime. However, the team behind the brand Disguise Yourself Pretty feel that once you have a strong idea and a plan, it is actually one of the easiest.
Here, the people behind the brand give their top 5 tips to budding entrepreneurs.
We are looking for X, Y, Z and the kitchen sink
It can be so easy when recruiting to adopt tunnel vision and only focus on what you are looking for and the experience that the role requires. However, we soon learnt that it is better to focus on what you do not want and to take a chance. Everything can be learnt and we find that if a candidate lacks experience but can talk to people and exerts enthusiasm, well then at times they can soon surpass those that have been working in the industry years. Remember, experience is beneficial but it does not reflect natural talent and sheer determination.
‘You worry far too much’
This is probably said to one of our team on a daily basis and to be honest, it is probably true. However, we tend to turn worry into a real positive thing. For young entrepreneurs, it is inevitable and our advice would be to use it to drive you, take risks and even sense check essential decisions that you feel like you will have to make on at least a weekly basis.
SEO over design (initially)
Many web designers & developers do not consider SEO before a site build, often these sites will struggle to be found, even if they look amazing.
Making sure search engines can find, crawl and index the site’s content should be the most important factor for any online & e-commerce businesses.
Common issues include the use of:
AJAX
Flash files & other media
Site search / site categories
Search engines & humans alike should be able to work out the subject matter of a page within the first 2 seconds.
Major design concerns that may affect SEO include:
Page Layout
Navigation / Menu
Site structure & URL structure / hierarchy.
Another major factor that often gets overlooked is the hosting. Site speed is a constant SEO issue that, if anything, will continue to one of the most important ranking factors Google and other search engine use in the algorithm.
I am a great networker
In our opinion, it is cringe. Of course, you have to meet people, of course you will ‘bump’ into people that will play an instrumental role in your business however, there is nothing worse than watching someone fly around an event making it rain with business cards for the sake of it. Make your interactions meaningful. If you meet one person at an event that will end up helping your business in every way imaginable then surely that is better than meeting 10 who are working within industries that cannot aid in any way at all.
Don’t be a dick
It is self-explanatory and to be honest, the best advice I have been given since embarking on my career as a whole. Always be kind. The whole ‘Devil Wear Prada’ vibe is so 90’s.
