Starting a Small Business Course

Did you know that 20% of businesses fail in their first year and 60% within the first three years! It’s a grim figure, but don’t let that stop you–those with an entrepreneurial spirit can overcome all odds! Perhaps one of the most important mantras for small business owners-to-be is this… ‘Fail to plan, and you plan to fail.’

That’s where our Starting a Small Business course will help. This online professional development course is packed full of crucial small business advice, strategies, and information to improve your small business skills.

So, before you embark on that steep learning curve that is starting your own business (an exciting ride), make sure you’re equipped to make smart business decisions.

In this starting a small business course, you will learn about business planning, marketing, budgeting, bookkeeping and record keeping principles.

You will also learn about the legal requirements, restrictions, and costs of running a small business and develop proven sales and promotional tactics to maximise profitability.

Learning Outcomes

Outcomes achieved by undertaking a starting a small business course include:

The nature of small business
Skills required to operate a successful small business
Legal requirements, restrictions and the costs of running a small business
Components of a legal system – lawmakers, interpreters, enforcers, administrators and advisors
Protection of consumers
Trade practices, trademarks, brands, business and Ips
Business regulations
Employment law and contracts
Handling disputes – negotiation, arbitration, mediation
Taxation for small business
Aspects and considerations associated with starting or buying a business
Small business marketing process
Planning for a successful small business
Record keeping and bookkeeping principles
Sales and promotional strategies in small business
Marketing plans
Analysing market opportunities
Market research
Budgeting for small business success
Business planning process
Developing a 12-month business plan
Implement your small business plan
Identify factors that affect profitability in small business
Understand the risk of failure
Business structures – sole trader, partnership and companies
Insurance – private, property damage, life insurance, business insurance
Franchising – pros and cons

And more!

20 Reasons Why Start-Ups Fail

A survey by CB Insights found that there are 20 main reasons why new businesses fail. The following reasons for failure are based on an analysis of 101 start-up post-mortems!

No market need (42%)
Ran out of cash (29%)
Not the right team (23%)
Got outcompeted (19%)
Pricing/cost issues (18%)
User un-friendly product (17%)
Product without a business model (17%)
Poor marketing (14%)
Ignore customers (14%)
Product mistimed (13%)
Lost focus (13%)
Disharmony among team/investors (13%)
Pivot went bad (10%)
Lack of passion (9%)
Failed geographical expansion (9%)
No financing/investor interest (8%)
Legal challenges (8%)
Didn’t use the network (8%)
Burn out (8%)
Failure to pivot (7%)

5 Strengths of the Small Business

It goes without saying that success follows hard work and determination. But there are a few critical strengths that lead to success in the small business model.

Entrepreneurial spirit

You’re not born with an entrepreneurial spirit, nor can it be taught– it’s something you develop within yourself. An entrepreneurial spirit is a mindset, and it’s crucial to the success of a small business. It’s a way of thinking that embraces change, critical questioning, innovation, dedication to service and ongoing improvement. Above all else, entrepreneurs are optimistic. It’s this positive mindset that sets them (and their businesses) apart.

Education

Starting a business involves a steep learning curve, but you can dodge curveballs! These are the unexpected obstacles that can get in the way of success and can lead to failure. The best protection is knowledge because if you start making bad business decisions early on, it can be hard to turn it around. So, what are the essential topics for small business owners? There are many, but top of the list include marketing, sales, planning and strategy, record and bookkeeping, budgeting and management. At the very least, undertaking a starting a small business course with education in these areas is a must for anyone considering a start-up venture.

Flexibility

The size of a small business allows you to adapt quickly to changes in the external environment. It’s an opportunity that medium to large enterprises don’t enjoy. It’s one you should leverage as a small business – make decisions quickly, develop close relationships with customers and respond to their changing opinions, experiences and preferences.

Focus on market niche

If you serve a niche market, you can target a very select market as a small business. You can compete with larger businesses by becoming specialised to deliver a high level of product or service!

Reputation

As a small business, you can gain an enviable reputation for quality and service because you’re servicing a narrow market niche.

5 Australian Businesses Success Stories

If you’re looking for some inspiration, look no further than these hugely successful Australian start-ups!

Whole Kids

Whole Kids is an Australian-owned organic food company started by a husband-and-wife team in Melbourne. The business idea came to them when they couldn’t find any healthy snacks for their nieces and nephews. As a result, the idea of creating organic, healthy snacks for kids was sparked and started with the money they’d saved for a house deposit. It’s an investment that paid off! Whole Kids now has the most extensive range of award-winning organic snacks for young children in Australia. The products are stocked in all leading supermarkets, including IGA, Woolworths, Coles, Big W and Chemist Warehouse.

Canva

Melanie Perkins, Australian technology entrepreneur and CEO and Co-Founder of Canva, is one of the youngest female CEOs of a tech start-up valued over A$1 billion! As of 2020, Perkins was the third richest woman in Australia. Her inspiration for the business started with a simple idea to make a simple design platform for schools to create their own unique yearbooks. As a result, Fusion Books was born – and still operates successfully today. But it was just the beginning as Ms Perkins had a bigger dream; to compete with the likes of Microsoft with an accessible and user-friendly design platform. Canva was created with a little help from tech-investors, and is now a 3.2-billion-dollar company!

Airtasker

Airtasker is a community platform that connects people who need to outsource tasks and find local services with people looking to earn money and are ready to perform tasks. This Australian start-up now boasts over two million users in Australia, but it started from very humble beginnings! Founders Tim Fung and Jonathan Lui started Airtasker in 2012 on Fung’s living room floor and then operated out of a ‘shoebox’ office. Now, the company generates $100 million of transactions a year, employs 165 people, has expanded into London, and operates in six different countries.

Tribe

Founder, radio and TV presenter James Lund was inspired to create Tribe – a tech start-up company – when he fell in love with the power of social media! His idea to connect brands with micro-influencers who could promote their products and services organically started as just a concept – the platform has now secured A$5.3 million in Series A funding. It is now on the way to listing Tribe on the ASX.

The Iconic

An e-commerce fashion business launched in 2011, The Iconic was co-founded by Adam Jacobs. The Founder, who brainstormed ideas name ideas on a picnic table in inner-Sydney, went on to enjoy enormous growth – and is expected to reach A$1 billion in sales this year!

If you want to start your own small business, get ready for a steep learning curve and prepare for an amazing ride with starting a small business course like our Starting a Small Business professional development program.