Disclosure: This post is a collaboration with Twill, but all thoughts and experiences are my own.

I really enjoy running my own business but it's not without its trials! Many of the ideas I had when I began have been transformed into what my business is now.

Things I thought I wanted to offer or the ways in which I wanted to work with my customers have changed. This is even before covid came along and turned everything on its head.

Starting a business means you learn new skills, make mistakes and have to consider everything from branding to Customs Clearance. So what are the key aspects of running a business I wish I'd known? Things which would have helped me as I was starting out?

There's no 'best way' but in recent years I've realised that it's easy to chase every trend, feel the pressure to drop your prices or stop an activity. However, having your own business is about knowing what works for you.

1. Create the right foundations

It's wonderful to have a business plan, a good idea and hope to go on to earn a lot of money. However, at some point, you will realise that there is a certain amount of background work which needs to be done. There are foundations to put in place. These are not the fun, shiny parts of running a business but they will allow you to scale in the future and take up other business opportunities as they arise.

Firstly make sure you have a process to onboard new suppliers or even to hire employees and always use a contract. Creating these will take time at the beginning but once done you will have everything to hand when you need it. You could lose a producer of a product or find a printer is too slow at meeting your customers’ orders and may need to adapt to a new firm quickly. Having these processes in place will mean there is less downtime for your business, saving you money.

Be aware of your business costs and what is really essential. As a small business every little counts. Are you paying several companies for each part of the creation and shipping of your products? Or is there a solution with one provider who carries out multiple actions for you? For example, I pay one shipping business a fee to take my orders electronically, provide a blank clothing item, print it, pack and ship it to my customer.

Don't leave these cost details to someone else, you may employ someone to help with your finances but remember no one cares about your business quite as much as you do. Don't lose yourself in the fun creative part and forget why you are embarking on this in the first place.

2. Don't devalue your products

We are being inundated with messages at the moment about dropping our prices. How high inflation is and the increasing cost of living.

Consider how many years of experience you have, how well you want to preserve your business name and good reputation. Along with your desire to make this into a long-term sustainable business.

This is not done with a tiny profit margin. If you lower your prices at a time when your other costs are increasing your profit will diminish to a level where you may not be able to operate. If it's not a profitable venture your good business idea will be over. If you want to know more about accounting issues, you can find relevant information at dubai-accountants.com.

More importantly, when you lower your prices it's very hard to raise them again in the long run when your audience has got used to everything being cheaper. It can be hard to justify an increase.

Instead, try these tips:

Despite the current difficult times, people are still buying what they want or need and many products are in high demand. Your audience may slightly change during this time and that's ok.

Focus on making sure your products are of great quality to justify what you charge. Be proud that they are worth this amount.

Create a small range of products which cost you less to produce and call them your 'essentials' range or similar to show your customers you have prices for everyone.

Don't use free shipping as this becomes a financial drain with different countries to consider. Think about discounts which benefit you and the customer. Buying three products and getting one for half price for example, can sometimes be profitable but offers value.

3. Get help

One of the biggest mistakes I made was thinking I could do everything. When you start a business you learn website development, product development, you have hex codes pinned everywhere, are trying to brand yourself, create content and more.

You can't do it all. Begin joining groups online and in-person where you can network with other businesses. Look at local business Facebook groups in small towns but also big worldwide communities such as Being Freelance.

Partly so you feel you have a sounding board when times are tough and you can go over important aspects of your business. Most importantly though, the benefit is often that people in these groups have a skill you need.

I now have a small team of people helping me with editing articles, uploading products, creating pins for Pinterest and doing invoicing. It's taken years for me to make myself find people, train them and delegate. I now use recommendations from other business owners to find the right people.

This is the only way to scale your business, one person is not enough.

4. Logistics Services

Assistance can come in many forms and not just as an individual you meet locally. When scaling your business consider how you could work globally. Often your company will attract a market you aren't expecting and you can maximise this with the right partners.

I thought my products would appeal to bilingual families based in the UK, however, my biggest customer is Italian-Americans. This has meant I had to quickly adapt and work out how I could ship mainly to the US with online shopping.

Being able to ship your products abroad may seem daunting, there are logistics and customs arrangements to think about. This term just means the organisation of your shipping process and how to keep products moving smoothly.

There are firms who specialise in this aspect and help small and medium-sized businesses in different industries.

Twill an international logistics firm, assist businesses to grow from their local market to an international one. They have resources and excellent support to help you understand the process. Working with them means your Customs Clearance complies with local regulations and checks the process along the way.

5. Use tools available

It can seem like the minute you launch your business there are plenty of costs to consider. However, there are many free or low-priced tools which will make the running of your day-to-day business more successful and save you time and money.

Social media and email marketing have become a huge part of our lives and are such valuable business tools. Though it can feel all-consuming having to post sometimes on a daily basis, try creating content in batches and then scheduling the posts, this will free up your time to spend elsewhere.

There are many scheduling tools such as Planoly or Buffer which allow around 30 free posts per month without paying for a subscription.

When training members of staff who work remotely, meeting in person is great but not always possible. I always struggled with handing over work because it was quicker to keep doing it than training someone else!

Now I use a brilliant tool called Loom video. With this, you can record your screen and yourself, or just your audio. This means you can talk and do the task on video that you would like someone to learn. You are then given a link to share with them so there are no large video files to try and send via email. It's a brilliant site and videos of up to 5 mins are free.

Bonus tip! Be flexible

One of the superpowers of small/medium-sized businesses is that you can be flexible. This is where large organisations struggle because there's so much bureaucracy before making any changes. The most agile companies are those which really flourish.

During covid, we saw which businesses moved online and started thinking differently. My local book shop started offering takeaway coffee and had a screen in the doorway, you placed orders at the counter and then everything could be delivered.

Transportation services started offering food deliveries and more, especially to those in suburban areas or with limited mobility.

Sometimes being in the right place at the right time with the right mindset is what sets you apart. Depending on your type of business this can mean that your company sees increasing demand.

Recently someone described small businesses to me as a flock of birds. They may start flying in one direction but if something happens they can swerve and curl, and move in any manner which best suits them.

This is a lovely, positive way to think about your growing company and know that you can survive and stay profitable in 2022.