What every startup business owner needs to know

Startup business owners have their work cut out for them, especially if this happens to be virgin territory for them.  They will be confronted by a number of tasks and responsibilities from all sides and they will need to learn new a lot of new skills in order for the business to survive it’s critical first few months.

Let’s look at a few things every startup business owner needs to know.

When it comes to agreements in business dealings, always have things documented.

Image source: businessfinancialconsulting.com

Image source: smallbusinessbc.ca

Startup business owners should know how big of a mistake it is to take people at their word, especially if the life of the business is on the line.  They should never base their decisions on promises.  If another business owner is truly serious about partnering up, he won’t really mind putting it in writing.  This is the importance of having contracts —everyone should be held accountable for their end of the agreement.

When it comes to the startup capital, always calculate with a safety net in mind.

This one is as basic as it gets, and yet for more reasons than they care to admit, so many startup business owners don’t put it in.  While everyone would want to start their dream business with as low a capital as possible (which may also prove attractive to potential investors), the financial safety net assures startups that it will  live to see at least a year, and will have the chance to get known and probably attain some measure of success. 

From 2001 to 2010, John Kang focused on research and investing in commercializing amorphous alloys through Liquidmetal Technologies, Inc. His efforts proved to be fruitful as the company entered into partnerships with large-scale companies such as Apple, Inc. and The Swatch Group, Ltd. For more on the work John does, visit this website.