Loans with discounted rates or free direct deposit programs for small business account holders.

See also: 23 Tips to Start Business Selling Car Replacement Parts in Nigeria

Awnings/Canopies Business

13. Secure a loan or other type of investment.

Successful businesses need capital to get off their feet.

Be sure that you have arranged and secured enough fiscal backing to cover all of your small business’ operating, production, and marketing costs until your business is in a position to generate and operate on its own profits.

• Be sure to investigate the various interest rates applied to small business loans.

14. Ensure collection methods are in place.

Be sure to account for how your business will collect on bills due and outstanding debts to your company.

A successful business needs constant cash flow.

Being unable to accept customer payments or waiting on those who owe you money will disrupt your business.

• You will need to decide if you will accept cash, credit cards, checks, or some combination of the three from your clients and customers.

Read also: 10 How to Watch CCTV Camera through Internet in Nigeria

Awnings/Canopies Business

15. Manage your inventory efficiently.

Inventory management can make or break a small retail business.

So manage it carefully to ensure that you’re maximizing every dollar spent.

Invest in small inventory quantities at first and continuously monitor inventory numbers.

So you know what’s selling and what isn’t.

Rotate inventory frequently to remove slow sellers and replace them with new items.

16. Get your license.

Remember to register and acquire your small business license in the particular industry of your business.

This step is important to ensuring that you’re running your business legally and according to industry regulations.

Be sure to register for permits related to particular services you offer, like home repair or tax preparation.

Which could require registration and certification.

You will not be able to hire effective employees if your business is not operating with the appropriate licenses and permits.

• Not all businesses require licenses.
• Be sure to check with your local small business administration to see what your business requires.

See also: 20 How to Get GTB Banking Job in Nigeria

17. Stay organized.

Organization of your time, employees, finances and inventory is one of the keys to successfully run a small business. Develop a spreadsheet that helps you keep track of all the important details so you don’t have to keep them straight in your head, and make time — at least once a week — to review everything.

18. Awnings/Canopies Business

Organizing weekly, bi-weekly or monthly meetings between you and your staff can help ensure that everyone is on the same page and will help you avoid wasted time or overlap in the various responsibilities of your team members. Meetings can also help you analyze who is and who is not adequately performing the duties assigned to them.

See also: 5 Tips to Earn Fast Money in Coupon Business in Nigeria

19. Delegate responsibilities.

You can’t do everything yourself, so delegate the various jobs and responsibilities to qualified employees.

Small businesses often require employees to take on many tasks and responsibilities that may not fall firmly in their areas of expertise.

• It is often helpful to break your business’ overall operations down into specific functions and delegate those functions to various employees or members of your team.
• Also, when delegating responsibilities, make sure you are assigning oversight of a specific function to a qualified individual. For example, you would not want an accountant representing you in a legal matter or a lawyer balancing your financial books. Thinking of your business functions in this way should also help you identify your needs when you are in the process of hiring employees.

See also: 5 Top Questions for Doctors @65 in Nigeria

20. Be involved.

Once you have decided who should be responsible for the duties in your business.

You need to remain involved to make sure all of your employees are following through with the tasks that have been assigned to them.

Also, you need to be responsive to the needs of your customers.

Make sure you are aware of customer needs and feedback.

And don’t back away from engaging with your customer base.

Even if that duty has been assigned to an employee.

• From time to time you will need to hire or fire an employee. Make sure you are aware of all state and federal laws that deal with employment equality and anti-discrimination laws in your area as they pertain to the hiring, firing, disciplining and treatment of employees.
• Leaving customer feedback strictly in the hands of your employees is a dangerous managerial tactic. Employees may benefit from presenting you with skewed information about customer satisfaction or product usefulness, which, in turn, will lead you to make bad managerial decisions for the company as a whole. As such, do not simply accept what your employees tell you about your business without seeing evidence of their claims. It is your company and you have put yourself in a position of risk, so be proactive in overseeing business results.

See also: 28 Tips to Become Successful Tailoring/Dressmaking Entrepreneur in Nigeria

21. Employ targeted promotional and marketing campaigns.

It is important to get the word out about your company.

Make sure the money you set aside for marketing is well-spent by conducting demographic research.

This will help you tailor your marketing plan to be as effective as possible.

• It is helpful to think of promotions and marketing relative to the capacity of your business. Paying to run a commercial on a national network does you little good if your business is only designed to operate at the local level.
• Think about who is most likely to buy your product and why they would buy it. For example, if you are selling dentures, it makes little sense to include younger people in your marketing considerations.

Awnings/Canopies Business

22. Network as much as possible.

Gain the support of other local small businesses by networking with other small business owners.

Join small business associations and participate in community events to raise awareness of your business.

Participate in community functions so potential clients will be aware of the services you offer.

See also: 22 Tips to Write a Proposal for Conducting a Seminar in Nigeria

23. Know your business.

Stay on top of what’s new or trendy in your business so your small business can stay competitive within the industry.

Subscribe to periodicals or online newsletters to stay informed about current events in your small business’ industry.

Staying at the cutting edge of your industry will help you draw customers away from competing businesses.

24. Offer references.

Compile a list of satisfied clients that are willing to serve as references to potential clients.

This will give future customers the ability to verify your work and customer service.

See also: 18 Tips to Start Charter Buses Services in Nigeria

25. Be accessible.

Make sure potential clients and customers can get in touch with you and your business whenever they may need to.

The best way to grow your reputation as a respectable business is to be responsive to your customers’ needs.

• Large businesses can afford to be unresponsive and lose a handful of customers from time to time. Small businesses cannot. As a small business owner, it is up to you to make yourself and your company accessible to potential clients and your customer base. This may require you to make your personal cell phone number or email address accessible to clients as you attempt to grow your business.

Awnings/Canopies Business

26. Deliver what you promise.

Your small business will need to offer a product or service of some kind to be successful.

However, if you want to grow your business by growing your customer base.

You have to give people not only what they want, but what you promised them.

If your product or service does not match what you advertise consistently.

You will have incredible difficulty in growing your customer base.

See also: 9 Tips to Start Campus Bus Shuttle Services in Nigeria

27. Awnings/Canopies Business

Delivering what you promise begins with how you tailor your approach to sales.

If you or your sales team is offering or promising too much.

Your customers will be understandably disappointed.

When they receive or use your product or service.

Leading to negative reviews and bad word-of-mouth about your business.

Remember, good sales tactics should be centered around identifying.

And understanding your customer’s needs.

And making them see the realized benefits that your product has.

Not lying to your customers and clients about the potential of your product.

Read on: 40 Tips to Become Food Production Entrepreneur in Nigeria

28. Turning Competitors Into Collaborators

Once you’ve finished assessing the competion.

Be sure to speak with somebody who is already in the business.

If you think owners of nearby awnings, canopies.

And shade structures businesses will give you advice, think again.

Why would they want to educate a future competitor?

See also: 14 Tips to Start Landing Page Specialists Work in Nigeria

29. Awnings/Canopies Business

But, a person who owns an awnings, canopies, and shade structures business.

On the other side of the country will be much more likely to talk with you.

Once they realize that you are not going to directly compete with them in their community.

Indeed, many experienced entrepreneurs enjoy offering advice to startup entrepreneurs.

If you are persistent, you can find a business mentor who is willing to help you out.

Read also: 20 Tips to Write Painting Business Proposal in Nigeria

Awnings/Canopies Business

30. Assess  franchise opportunities

The odds of doing well in business are much better when you join the ranks of franchisees rather than going it alone.

Prior to starting an awnings, canopies, and shade structures business.

You would be wise to assess whether franchise opportunities in your space might help you on your entrepreneurial journey.

The link below gives you access to our franchise directory.

So you can see if there’s a franchise opportunity for you.

You might even find something that points you in a completely different direction.