In the rich tapestry of entrepreneurship, few paths are as rewarding and wonderfully complex as embarking on a family business venture. The blend of kinship and commerce offers a special mix of opportunities and challenges, creating a truly unique journey.
Start right
Whether you are going into business as a family group, husband and wife, parent and child or siblings, it’s important to consider how you are going to start, and what roles each family member will have. Getting on well with each other is essential and how you deal with conflict is an issue that you should confront well in advance of any battles. Obviously the product or service that you choose to trade in is your starting point, and the skill sets of individual family members will dictate their roles.
Whatever business you choose you’ll always need someone who’s good at basic accounts and admin, someone who can do marketing and the expert who has the skill to produce the product or service you are trading. If you need help with accounts, analytics, HR, or record keeping, take a look at the amazing tools on our website… https://xpert-technologies.co.uk/ Our software is designed to help SME’s and makes it much easier to manage your business and streamline your processes.
Find the niche
No matter which market you are exploring, the real magic happens when you let your uniqueness shine. Small family businesses have a special charm by being themselves and catering to unique, specialized markets. Imagine having a story to tell with every product and service! Create a truly unique business by making your customers feel like part of the family. By focusing on specific, carefully crafted offerings, you can deliver exactly what customers crave, standing out from the big guys who try to do it all. This approach will help you build lasting relationships that stick in people’s minds, paving the way for growth and success.
Start local
Having a local audience means you can immerse yourself in your community. Start by supporting other local business by buying from them, you’ll soon find they will return the favour. Supporting their social media profiles will be appreciated too. If you can spend a few minutes each week being ‘sociable’ online using your business profile, the more it will be paid back.
Catering to your local community will serve you well, and if you are filling a gap in the market, you will find that marketing yourselves will be a dream. If you are starting a business that has competition locally remember that ‘niche’ is best, and find that special ingredient that no-one else is offering.
Creating a sense of community within your business and projecting this image in your marketing will encourage local customers to support your business. If you can get involved in supporting local events you will naturally become an integral part of your community and create a loyal following.
Support local
Making one local cause for your chosen charity will also build connections within your community. It could be a charity that has helped your family in the past or just something that you feel strongly about. Creating goodwill is the key here. Offering good value for money is a great way of drawing interest, but being a good neighbour is effectively the image you want to project. You don’t have to be a long established company to do this either. Offering donations to your local food bank, homeless shelter or cancer charity is a great start and they will be happy for you to share their images on social media. Go one step closer by choosing a charity that’s related to your business. Put their logo on your website and share their news updates on your social media profile.
Share your story
When you are building up your local customer base, people will be interested in your family and how your businesses started. Share your story on your website and show how the local community is a factor in your success. It could just be that you attended the local school and had an inspirational teacher. Showing pictures of your old school or your original products is definitely of interest.
Talk about your skill set and show your path to success. Did your business start as a hobby? Show how your journey has gone from the shed in your back garden, to where you are now. Maybe your business is now located in a building of historical interest, or you are providing a service that is a traditional local trade. It doesn’t matter if you only have a tenuous link to your local area. Make your business a local point of interest and openly declare your love for the town you are in.
Creating a legacy
Handing on your business to future generations is a great investment in their future. Families often share common interests and it makes perfect sense that the trade or profession that you are drawn to will be just as fascinating to your offspring. Creating wealth will take commitment and hard work, and if your goal is to hand on your creation to your children then the motivation to succeed will be much stronger. Who knows, you may be creating a dynasty that goes on for generations to come.
Size matters
Naturally, infusing the pride you feel for your family into a business setting just feels right, and the idea of building a legacy for the next generation to carry forward is truly inspiring. Of course, we know that families aren’t always perfectly harmonious, so success in this arena requires everyone’s determination and hard work.
Consider how many family members are going to be involved in this venture and get professional advice on how to structure your business. Depending on the size of investment from each family member it might make sense to start as a limited company, but a good accountant will help you with this. You’ll be surprised at the depth of knowledge an accountant can offer to new businesses and at Xpert Technologies we have a wealth of knowledge to offer. Contact us for an informal chat, we’d love to hear about your new business venture… Contact – Xpert Technologies (xpert-technologies.co.uk)
