Always Keep These Things in Mind before Starting a Business

Starting a business is like stepping on a bandwagon. People think that starting a business can be an easy task, but trust us, it's not as simple as it may seem. 

James Tao — Co-Founder & Management Consultant at Tao Management Group, LLC

You need finance to start a business, but there are a lot of other things that you need to learn before starting a business.

1) Never cheat your customers when it comes to the quality and quantity of the products. There are companies that try to deceive their customer by selling underweight goods to make higher profits, however, this move can lead to the compromised image of the business and even a total boycott. People will stop buying your products if they find out that you have been cheating them. You should never misrepresent the facts regarding the weight and quantity of the goods. Never deceive your customers and always mention the right information on the covers of your products.

2) Never start a business if you don't have knowledge about it. Are you planning to start a pharmacy? If you think that you can simply open a pharmacy, then you are wrong, because it is important to know about the field you're going to start a business about. If you want to deal with medicines or food then you should have enough knowledge to set up a business and make the right choices in the future.

3) Try to keep balanced prices. Never overcharge your customers, offer prices that are relevant. Your product should be worth the price you want to sell it for. Try not to over price your goods and let everyone have an access to them.

4) Advertising is an important aspect when it comes to running a business and implementing the right marketing strategy. However, we often fail to recognize the boundaries, we try to exaggerate the facts to incline customers to our products. This might backfire. Yes, you read it right. Exaggerating the facts to get higher sales might actually lead to lower sales because the customers will get disappointed if they are not provided with the facts and figures. Moreover, the advertising should be morally appropriate as well.

Three Types of Roles Played By Managers in an Organization

There are three main types of managers in a business organization. Line managers, staff managers, and functional managers. Line managers are those who have authority over others in a hierarchical structure. The staff managers are specialists who are employed to give advice to senior line managers. They might be economists, specialist market researchers or scientific experts advising on the environmental impact of certain products or processes. They act in an advisory capacity only and have no authority to make decisions in other departments of the organization. 

James Tao — Co-Founder & Management Consultant at Tao Management Group, LLC

Functional managers have special authority. They have the authority to make a manager accept their advice. All the managers play three types of role in an organization.

The managers have to play information roles. They are well connected within the organization and act as channels of information to be carried from one department to another. 

The managers have to play interpersonal roles. These responsibilities arise from the manager's formal authority. Managers have a figurehead role. For example, a chief executive represents the company at conferences. Managers have to play the role of a leader also. A manager is responsible for hiring, firing, training and motivating employees. They have a liaison role as well. Managers spend a lot of time meeting with other managers in order to know what is happening in all the departments of the business organization. Senior managers spend time interacting with people outside the business also. The managers get to be in a position to inspire and influence people both within and outside the business.

Managers also get to make all the decisions of the business. They have the authority and access to the information and details about the business that means that they are in a better position to take all the decisions of the business.

The managers play all these roles and control the business in the best possible way. They should make sure to give some space to the employees and let them experiment in the workplace, this will motivate them to work hard towards the goals of the business.