From selecting the best employees to putting together an awesome workspace, the little decisions are the ones that add up and will make you successful in the long run. Take a look at a roundup of 10 of these solid primers below. Have tips of your own? Tell us in the comments.
1. What Founders Wish They Knew Before Starting Companies
The entrepreneurship journey isn’t an easy one — developing a product, scaling a business and growing an audience are intimidating tasks that necessitate endless hustle, ambition and passion. And even if you have all of those qualities in spades, there’s still a good chance your venture will fail.
1. 起業する人が会社を始める前に知っておきたいこと
起業の道のりは楽ではない---商品の開発、ビジネスの規模の決定、顧客の開拓といったことは、尽きることのないやる気、野心、情熱を必要とする手強いタスクだ。そして、あなたがそうした性質のすべてを確実に持っているとしても、あなたの事業が失敗する可能性は十分にある。
![[deleted user]](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/695023b4efd563721d13716b1457bc73.png?d=identicon&mode=crop&r=PG&s=42)
１設立者が会社をスタートする前に知っておきたいこと
起業というぼうｋンは易しいものではない。製品を開発し、事業規模を見積り、顧客を増やしていくことは、絶え間ない精力的な取り組み、野望、熱情を要する脅威的な課題である。さらにこれらすべての要素を確かに持っていたとしても、あなたの投機的事業が失敗する可能性はまだ残っている。
But one in 12 startups succeed, and these businesses are healthy, growing and maybe even profitable. But that’s not to say there weren’t bumps in the road. We’ve asked some founders for things they wish they knew when they started their companies, in the hopes that it’ll help you and your startup avoid a fatal flaw.
Read the full story here.
2. 10 Tips for a More Beautiful and Functional Home Office
If you work from home, you owe it to yourself to set up a proper office space. It’s vital you have somewhere to concentrate that’s separate from your home life — and is hopefully a nice space to spend time in. A good working space is even more important if you operate your small business out of your home.
To help you out on this rather specific front, we have pulled together some useful tips from experienced home-workers and chatted with home office expert Lisa Kanarek, founder of WorkingNaked.com.
3. 4 Ways to Grow Your Customer Base
Once your startup hits the market, there’s reason to celebrate — but this is only the beginning. The next step is growth, either indirectly through user acquisition or by bringing in additional customers. You know your product is performing well and has a few happy users or customers, so how do you get the word out?
The challenges faced by early-stage startup are unique. There is no existing user base to piggyback on with network dynamics and little data to determine the most effective entry points that lead to a paying customer. Also, many startups are too small to bring on a PR staff, and most founders are not educated in the best tactics for reaching out to media. The good news is that social media can enable you to reach potential customers without depending on traditional outlets, and sometimes these tactics will work hand-in-hand.
4. 4 Hiring Tips for Your Lean Startup
There’s a ton do when you’re first starting a company. Each co-founder or employee executes several job descriptions jumbled together, and it seems a simple solution to just hire a new person and delegate away responsibilities, never to be worried about again. This becomes especially relevant post-funding, because it suddenly becomes plausible to hire with the intended result of getting more done faster.
But this isn’t necessarily true, according to Eric Ries, creator of the Lean Startup methodology. “As you add people to a team or project, there is an increase in communications overhead that makes everyone slightly less productive,” he explains.
It may seem counterintuitive to do anything slow when following lean startup methods, but Ries’ point stands: To continue executing effectively, you must not introduce a point of friction to your team. Finding the right person is paramount, and worth the wait.
5. 6 Ways to Get the Most Out of Freemium for Your Small Business
One of the most difficult things about bootstrapping a startup is utilizing the right resources to optimize efficiency and promote growth. And, it doesn’t help that the best tools for the job often come at a pretty hefty price. It’s easy to feel shortchanged, especially when the apps of your dreams feel like a mouse-click away.
But don’t despair. Over the last few years, startups benefited from the so-called “freemium” model — a company offers the basic functions of an app suite for free, and then charges more for premium features and bigger storage space. A classic example is newsletter platform MailChimp, which is free for a few subscribers, but as your userbase — and business — grows, so does the cost, increasing incrementally according to your number of subscribers. Taking advantage of freemium options can help you put together the enterprise arsenal of your dreams while also maintaining that shoestring budget.
However, it’s important to note that choosing freemium doesn’t automatically guarantee satisfaction. Here are some tips and tricks that will help you hedge your bets within the freemium system — and benefit like a high-rolling VIP.
6. 10 Must-Have Tools for Entrepreneurs
For many entrepreneurs, the startup journey transforms them into more of a generalist than they likely were in a position at a larger company. This calls for specialized tools. The vocation-centric applications and programs no longer cut it.
Productivity is essential when you have a lot on your plate. Time is money, so when an app is able to help you do more faster, it becomes worth paying for. Other apps will streamline communication or collaborative processes and reduce the friction of working in tandem with team members.
Of course, no entrepreneur is all work, no play — taking a break will give your brain a rest, and it’s important to have options on hand that let you re-center your chi.
7. 4 Ways to Budget Your Business Like a Pro
Nobody likes to talk about budgeting. Even more, budgeting is sort of a drag to do — but all can agree it’s incredibly important.
他のアプリはコミュニケーションや共同作業を効率的にし、仕事のチーム内の仲間との衝突を減らすだろう。
勿論、仕事ばかりして遊ばない企業家はいないー。適度な休みはあなたの脳をも休めるし、そして選択肢を持つには重要な事だ。
そしてあなたの手に、選択肢を持たせる事は重要である。キーを繰り返し集める為にも。
7.4 プロフェッショナルの様に予算を立てる方法
予算計上が好きな人はいない。ましてや、予算計上をするのは障害のようなものだ。だが誰もがとてつもなく重要だと同意できる。
A few companies have launched software to make budgeting faster and easier. Plus, options for interaction with fellow entrepreneurs on sites like Twitter and Quora enables relevant feedback so you don’t pay excessive amounts for a service you don’t need. Read on to discover a few ways you can manage your company’s spectrum of debits and credits without too much stress.
8. 8 Tips for Building Your Brand on the Cheap
When starting your business, we know there’s a lot to handle and think about. There’s your (growing) team, your intellectual property, product management and a pinched budget, all while you’re trying to navigate the waters of entrepreneurship.
8.8 安価にあなたのブランドを作るための秘密情報
ビジネスを始めるとき、扱い、考えなければならないことが多くあると私たちはしっているのである。そこには（成長している）チームのことや、知的財産のこと、生産管理や予算の欠乏などがあり、また、その間中あなたはそれらの事業家の困難をうまく切り抜けさせることを試みているのだ。
