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Starting A Business With Many Rivers | Your Business Coach

Whether you’ve started your own business, dream of starting a new business, or you’re looking for a business coach, that’s where Many Rivers comes in.…

Online tools have evolved a lot over the past few years making it possible for anyone, to cost effectively, set up an online shop for your business.

Following are some tips from Lifehacker to help you take your idea towards a profitable online business.

Building your online store

Gone are the days of having to pay thousands of dollars to a web design company to put together your online store. With a platform like Shopify you can be up and running with a professional looking online store within hours, and all for a basic cost of USD29 per month.

Other great aspects of using Shopify include that you get the first 14 days for free, you don’t need any coding skills, it’s easy to scale and there are beautifully designed templates on offer.

There are also a lot of handy third party integrations you can take advantage of with Shopify to ensure your store is running smoothly, including PayPal (which handles payments easily, though you’ll pay a small cut of your transactions) and Shipwire (which will stock and ship your products if you choose to manufacture your own.)

Shopify works well however there are many other services out there with similar features such as Squarespace and WooCommerce for WordPress. The key point is that building your own system from scratch makes no sense.

Ensure you select a platform that works best for your needs. Research what is out there and try the free trials to see what works for you.

Hosting comes free as part of a Shopify account.

Finding customers

There are several ways to start building a passionate community around your store, and all of them require nothing but some hard work and persistence.

Here is what worked for Lifehacker:

Start a Facebook page: Start attracting likes by promoting your store to friends and family and actively engaging with other pages and your own fans as you grow.
Mailchimp: (Email marketing platform) You can start with a free account to begin a simple email newsletter to your store’s subscribers. Keep customers informed of new product offers and other promotions.
Connect with bloggers: Try to identify where your ideal customers spend time online and reach out to those blogs/sites and offer to help them in some way. More often than not they’ll be happy to plug your site in return.
Google Analytics is a great tool to measure your site’s traffic and the percentage of people who are making purchases — and it’s entirely free

Can Many Rivers help you?

Many Rivers is here to help people start small businesses and grow existing businesses. To find out if we are the right fit for you, complete our simple Small Business Self-Assessment form here.

Thanks for your time and we hope you have found these tips helpful.

If you found the above helpful, there are even more tips from Lifehacker here ‘How you can create an online store for less than $200’.

“Remember you started with nothing and you can do it again”, Many Rivers business coach in Port Hedland WA John Brewin.

Focus on your strengths

Remember you started your business using your strengths and your strengths are still there. As your business has developed, has your knowledge improved or changed? How can you make sure you’re using your strengths to take advantage of new opportunities that might arise?

As a small business owner, it’s often left to you to do everything. By remembering what you’re good at, and why you started your business in the first place, you can make sure you’re using your strongest capabilities to grow or sustain your business.

Don’t overlook or take your strengths for granted. Here are four steps you can take to focus on your strengths.

1. Identify what you’re brilliant at

Strengths can include skills, experience, reputation, your contacts and circle of influence, your social media following, competitive advantage and your customers.

Make a list of the things you do in your business that make you shine. What brings you the most passion, enjoyment and a smile on your face.

Most businesses start with a business plan which includes a SWOT – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Now is the time to review your business plan and SWOT, Many Rivers clients can contact their local business coach to review these. This will remind you what you’re good at, and what you might need help with.

2. Develop your strengths

Joy Thacker, Many Rivers local business coach in Perth WA encourages you to “invest in yourself. Take the time to up-skill with free online webinars and training”.

Connect with somebody who is even better than you in your industry, they may be happy to share some do’s and don’ts. Research and schedule personal development into your diary or day. Make it clear when you you will make time to invest in developing your strengths.

3. Make a list of any systems and processes that your business uses

Document any processes, procedures and systems you use. If and when a time comes when you can use other people to do certain tasks, you will be ready to go.

Checklists and instruction manuals are a good way to document your procedures – and make a list of all of the online programs and systems you use day to day in your business. This might include an accounting package like Xero, your website and domain host, who you bank with and the social media platforms you use.

4. Can you outsource your weaknesses?

Once you know the areas you’re brilliant at, and the areas you need help with, you’ll see the things you might be able to outsource. And you will have all of your systems and processes documented already! Does your business have the opportunity to get help from a book-keeper or administrator to help you focus on the things you’re great at? Now you know your strengths, could you share some of your strengths with a potential business in exchange for their services?

Thinking about how you can focus on your strengths is always important, even more so now. If you are an existing Many Rivers client and have questions about developing your strengths, please get in touch with your business coach, they are here to help. You can click here to read a summary of the Top 10 Tips to protect your business.

For new clients, Many Rivers is here to help people start small businesses and grow existing businesses. We are here to support you the whole way. Please take the Small Business Self Assessment and see if we are right for you.

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Starting A Business With Many Rivers | Your Business Coach

Starting A Business With Many Rivers | Your Business Coach

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Starting A Business With Many Rivers | Your Business Coach

Starting A Business With Many Rivers | Your Business Coach

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