When it comes to establishing a business, you need to focus won two key areas – security and growth. Since most new businesses fail in their first year of operating, security is a high priority. Once that is in place, it’s time to move on to creating more security by creating more revenue.

Security

The first pillar of business is security; this is the basic infrastructure of your business and the processes and system you set up to generate revenue and profit. There are many aspects of business security, but if you want to protect your livelihood in the short term, you need to focus on cash flow and invoicing. These are the processes that are going to support future growth.

Cashflow

Cashflow refers to the money moving through your business. You sell products and services online, offline, or in a combination of the two, and you have business expenses such as infrastructure that can be taken off the end-of-year taxes. But if you don’t get payments for clients promptly, it can take money out of the system and threaten the future of the business.   

Invoicing 

A solid invoicing strategy is the best way to ensure you are paid promptly, and you can protect the first pillar of your business, its security. There are two ways to create an invoicing strategy, you can create a dedicated team to follow up on unpaid invoices after a period, or you can outsource the process to a third party. Alternatively, you could use OnPay Solutions AP service.

Growth

The second pillar of a successful business is growth. Once you have your basic infrastructure secured, you need to look at ways to grow the business. Remember, it is not about being greedy; the more revenue you can generate for your business, the easier it is to control cash flow in the first pillar and secure your business. Growth strategies include investments and marketing.

Investments

If you want to grow your business, you have to speculate to accumulate, which means investing the right amounts of time and money in the right areas. Of course, your investments will depend on the type of business you run and your industry. In most cases, investment can be made in digital marketing and accounting services. Growth sometimes depends on creating more time. 

Marketing

No growth strategy is complete without marketing. Marketing is the way you promote your business and brand to a wider audience and start to grow your customer base. There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to marketing, and you will have to track your progress carefully to ensure that you get the data-driven results you expect. But it’s the way forward. 

Final Thoughts

It might seem simplistic at first but thinking about your small business in terms of two pillars is a good way to frame your overall business strategy. At first, you will be concerned with generating revenue and securing your business before your move onto the second pillar and start to grow.