It is widely believed that the first 100 days in business can either significantly contribute to long-term success or have a detrimental impact. In South Africa’s economic landscape, there are many opportunities to start your business, but there are also some unique challenges to be aware of. In this guide, we will help new SME owners focus on the core elements that are the most important in the first three months.
Day 1-30: Lay the foundation
A well-laid-out foundation for your business will help you build a magnificent company. When you start your business, there are a few key priorities you need to get into place.
- Understand your market: This is crucial to the success of your business. If you don’t clearly understand your market, then your offering may fall flat. You need to validate your offering, speak to your early adopters and customers to get feedback, and gather insights on what is working and what needs to change.
- Finalise your business registration: You will need to register your company with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC). Next, you will need to get a B-BEE certificate if you wish to do business with state-owned enterprises, the government or big corporations. Finally, you will need to register for tax.
- Set up a simple accounting system: There are many cloud accounting systems available. They all start with reasonable starter packages. If you invest in an outsourced accountant or bookkeeper, you may want to choose a system with which they are familiar.
- Secure a business account: One of the most basic mistakes first-time business owners make is not separating their business finances from their personal finances. This distinction is critical as it gets you into the discipline of viewing your business finance as owned by the business and not you. You are the first employee of your business, and you will pay yourself a salary from your business.
- Build a lean but functional digital presence: You need to have a digital presence, as most people will search for your business online. You can start with a basic website, a Google My Business page, and one social media platform. Don’t get too extravagant with your digital presence until you have the resources to manage it properly.
Quick tip: Perfectionism will be the death of your business before it takes off. Focus on getting a minimal viable product out to market and work on perfecting it from there.
Day 31 – 60: Build momentum
Now that the foundation has been laid out neatly, it is time to move into month two. This is where the momentum in your business starts to build.
- Start selling: Cash flow is the lifeblood of your business. Use simple selling methods to get your product in front of your audience.
- Use low-cost marketing: Word-of-mouth marketing is your biggest ally in the early stages of your business. If you do a great job, your customers will talk about your product and services to their friends, and your business will gain invaluable trust. You can also ask for referrals, create WhatsApp groups and use social media platforms where your customers are present to advertise your product.
- Strengthen your customer relations: You must deliver value. If your customers don’t feel like they are getting value for what you offer, then they will not buy from you. Be responsive. This will put you leaps and bounds ahead of most competition. Lastly, ask for feedback. You can only improve your service or product if you get feedback. This may sometimes be a bitter pill to swallow, but you need to try to remain as objective as possible and see how you can grow from the feedback.
- Document your systems: As you grow, you will need to tell your employees the systems you have in place. Systems will also help you to be more efficient. You can start by creating Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for repeatable tasks.
Quick tip: Don’t wait to scale to introduce efficiency – you should start small and systemised. This will make your company easier to scale.
Day 61 – 100: Stabilise and strategise
Now that you have built momentum and made a few mistakes along the way, you can move into the last 40 days and start to stabilise and strategise.
- Review your financial performance: Look at your cash flow, profit margins and expenses. Is the money coming in easily? Where are you spending too much? And do your profit margins need to be adjusted?
- Identify operational bottlenecks and fix them: Look at how your business is being run and see which systems you can refine and improve.
- Plan for growth: Start to strategise how you will market your business over the next three months and what partnerships you can explore to help grow your business.
- Consider small business funding: Depending on your growth strategy, you may need some extra funding. Look at Small Enterprise Development Agency, National Youth Development Agency, banks, private investors or alternative lenders.
- Upskill your talents: Attend local networking events, go to workshops and do online courses which are relevant to your industry. This will help you to keep ahead of the trends.
Quick tip: Build resilience in your business by planning for slow months and keeping your overheads lean.
The first 100 days are about learning fast, staying flexible and building a strong foundation. Every successful business started somewhere, and don’t underestimate the wins you have made in the first 100 days. Keep tracking, reviewing, adapting and connecting with entrepreneurs. Your entrepreneurial journey has just begun.
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