What Are Some Common Tips for Starting a Small Business?

Last Updated: March 7, 2024

6 min read

Table of contents

Key points:

You may want to use a business credit card for company expenses to better track startup costs.
Shop around for a low intro APR credit card offer that could save you interest and earn rewards.
Maintain good business credit habits by using your card for small business expenses and paying it off in full each month, if possible.

Having a solid plan, good credit card habits, a growth strategy, excellent time management skills, and a dose of self-care may help small business owners get off the ground. Sounds almost easy, right? Of course, the reality of running a successful business can’t be summed up in one sentence.

That’s why entrepreneurs may want to consider the following tips when starting their own small business:

Separate personal expenses from business expenses

While it may be easier to use your personal credit cards to fund startup costs, keeping a personal credit card account and another specifically for your business can help you track your business expenses, but funding your entire business through credit can set you up for some serious debt. You should use your card to make smaller purchases. If you pay all your bills on time, it will go a long way in maintaining your business credit.

Choose the right credit card for your business

Shop around for the right card for your business. If you’re approved for a credit card with a low introductory APR offer, you can pay that off in smaller, more manageable pieces for several months to a year. A card with cash back or travel rewards can also support your needs. Just keep track of your debt and make sure to pay it in full by the end of the introductory offer, or you’ll be paying a much higher interest rate on whatever debt you still have.

Maximize your time

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when you wear multiple hats as a small business owner. Being pulled in several different directions could hurt your productivity if you’re not careful. It's a good idea to get organized, set firm routines, and develop detailed processes for any task you need to perform repeatedly.

Embrace energy peaks. Do the important, concentration-heavy, billable work when you’re most energized and alert. Save less-taxing tasks like replying to messages and invoicing for when you’re winding down late in the day.
Track your time. Understand how long each task or type of project takes so that you can better estimate your time, create more accurate project bids, and hire the right number of subcontractors. This may also help increase your profit margin by ensuring you don’t undercharge clients for your time.
Delegate often. Farm out the tasks you dread, those that don’t directly earn revenue, and those that don’t fall under your area of expertise. The time you save and peace of mind you gain will be well worth the money spent.
Embrace timed sprints. Breaking beefy projects into bite-sized pieces and using a timer can help cut through the inertia. Work for 25 minutes, followed by a 5-minute break. Repeat, taking a slightly longer break after every sprint.
Clock out at the same time daily. Recognize that you might not accomplish much more after 7 to 9 work hours each day. To stay efficient and productive, replenish your personal battery by prioritizing recharge time and making self-care non-negotiable.
End the week by planning ahead. Starting the workweek without your priorities clearly delineated could mean falling prey to merely reacting to the messages filling your inbox. Before you log out each Friday, create a to-do list for the following week.
Refine your infrastructure. Set aside a couple days once or twice a year to evaluate the systems, processes, and tools you use to work more efficiently. When an app, program, or process no longer serves you, update, tweak, or replace it accordingly.

Did you know?

Having a credit card to cover some business expenses can also help you take advantage of cash back rewards. For instance, with the Discover it^® Cash Back Credit Card, you can earn 5% cash back on everyday purchases at different places you shop each quarter like grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations, and more, up to the quarterly maximum when you activate. Plus, you earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases—automatically.

Learn More

Invest in growth strategies

Finding new sales opportunities may help avert the risk of closure. These strategies can help you focus on growing your business as efficiently as possible while still maintaining your current obligations to customers.

Start with existing customers. Sales is often thought of as an activity focused on finding new customers, but repeat sales are just as valuable. If you can find a way to sell more products and services to your existing customers, you can increase their lifetime value and create a stronger foundation for your business growth.
Get referrals. Your current customers can be a source of new business leads. If your customers are not already spreading the word about your business, encourage them to do so by openly asking for referrals.
Boost profit margins. Maybe you can improve your business profits by cutting costs or raising prices. You don’t want to cut back on essential elements of your customer experience or cut corners so that product quality suffers. You might lose some customers by raising your prices. However, higher prices are a way of sending a signal to the market that your product or service is a higher-quality, premium option. Don’t be afraid to experiment.
Clarify your brand. Building a brand is a strategic choice to figure out what your small business stands for and why your business matters. Evaluate strategic choices about how you describe your business, what image and personality your business presents to the world, what your core values are as a company, your sense of mission, and why it matters to your customers.
Know your customer’s journey. Every business has a sales funnel, the process by which you take potential customers through each stage of deciding to buy from you. Sales funnels look different depending on the business or type of product or service. Evaluate your sales funnel and how you approach the way you talk with customers.
Partner strategically. Connect with other small business owners, industry associations, and networking groups to get your name out there and connect with prospects who need (and want) what you sell.
Use social media marketing. Experiment with targeted ads, testing different times of day or days of the week to reach your audience, and being more creative with your content.

Take time off

When you’re running a successful business, vacation time can be rare. It’s natural to worry that being away might negatively impact your business, but maintaining work-life balance is especially important as a small business owner.

If you’re overdue for a vacation, consider whether you’ll close your doors temporarily while you’re on vacation. Staying open can keep revenues coming in, but you have to be comfortable handing over the reins to your management staff or employees temporarily. If you’re hiring extra staff to cover the gap while you’re gone, that has to make sense financially.

Plan for vacation

Before you go on vacation, go through your to-do list and clear up any lingering items that need to be handled: run payroll, check accounts receivable for outstanding invoices, pay vendors, and clear out your inbox.

If you’ve smartly planned your finances and credit usage, have maximized sales and marketing plans that support business growth, odds are your business will be fine while you decompress—and return refreshed and ready to take on even more ideas and challenges to help grow your business.

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