As babes in arms many of us learned from the nursery rhyme ‘little red riding hood’ that building a house a straw was not a good idea and building on shifting sand is also setting up for trouble.
In this penultimate episode of the series Safaraz discusses the importance of building a business on solid foundations.
The vital ingredient for any business is to have customers because as Safaraz says: ‘if you do not have customers, you do not have a business.’
To have a business there must be a product or service that people want. So, the product or service is one of the elements that provide for solid foundations.
But it is no good having a great product or service if people do not know about it because there will be no customers. So, a second component in the solid foundation is marketing. Businesses have to spend money on marketing and see it as an investment not a cost.
Then there is money. A business that does not take in more than it spends will run out of cash and fail. This is unlikely to be the case from the start and having access to cash in a third factor that makes for a solid foundation. Many businesses underestimate the amount of money that will be needed and being undercapitalised is a feature of failure.
Businesses are made up of people and having a solid foundation means having the right people with the right attitude.
It also means having the right culture. Culture is a set of values and behaviours that underpin a strong brand.
Getting these vital components in place from the start hugely enhance the likelihood of success.
There will be tough times and belief, a commitment to hard work, an ability to persevere and ability to learn are also part of the solid foundations.