Running a business is one of the hardest careers a person can choose. Even if they have a million-dollar idea, most entrepreneurs need to understand the different roles they will have to play. While a large company has different departments and experts to help, start-ups don’t have that luxury.

Before delving into starting your own business, make sure you know the different roles you may have to play. This post will explore the most common ones and give you the opportunity to help prepare for them.

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Accounting

This is one of the most important aspects of running any business. How much money are you bringing in? How much is going out? Are you over or under-budget, and are you managing your cash flow well? Cash flow problems are one of the top reasons new businesses fail.

This is why large companies employ large teams for this role. If you don’t have an accounting background or not a fan of poring over spreadsheets, bookkeeping tools like Freshbooks can help you automate tasks like invoicing, organizing expenses, tracking your time and following up with clients in just a few clicks. The goal is to spend less time on accounting and more time doing the work you love.

Human Resources

Human resources, first coined in the 1960s, is used to describe the hiring, management, and development of employees in an organization. You can’t build a great company without great people, so it is important to have a good HR team is important to ensure you hire the right people. Take the time to understand the laws and regulations given that HR is a highly regulated role.

Marketing

One of the top reasons businesses fail is lack of sales. The best way to increase sales is through effective marketing. Like HR and accounting, this is an area which many large businesses employee people to handle it for them. This won’t be an option when you first start out, and your marketing will be down to you. You can find some of the different jobs associated with this below.

Content Creation

Before you can start posting on social media or printing materials, you’re going to need some content to get you started. This can be a monumental challenge, and it will be hard to know where to start. Look at other company’s social media pages to give you some ideas. Software and design tools like Canva and stock photos can also help you generate content.

Optimal Social Media Post Scheduling

As any how-to social media article will tell you, there are a range of specific times to maximize when your audience will see your posts. Facebook, for example, is most popular in the mornings and evenings. To get the most out of your posts, it makes sense to follow the optimal schedule. Websites like Later is a tool that helps you plan, schedule, and manage content for Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

Monitoring & Engagement

Effective marketing engages with your customers. Monitor your posts, uses split A/B testing, and continually test for ways to improve engagement. Monitoring your posts will show what works and doesn’t work. There are loads of tools around the web which can help with this.

It’s easy to put a large amount of resources into marketing without any meaningful return on investment. Thankfully, e-commerce marketing services are becoming increasingly affordable. This means that even the smallest businesses out there can afford the same type of support large companies have.

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Time-Management

As an entrepreneur having to play multiple roles, time-management is even more important. It can be easy to find yourself missing important meetings and deadlines when you’re overwhelmed. There are a lot of smartphone apps on the market which can help with this, and it’s well worth using them when you’re struggling with time.

Administration

Aside from your accounting work, there will be a lot of other administration tasks which need to be handled within your company. Contracts will need to be signed, invoices have to be sent out, client requests need to be answered, and other administrative requirements have to be met.

Computers can make this easier, but you will still have to handle the bulk of the work. Streamlined processes can help with this, giving you the chance to speed through the paperwork which fills your desk. Ensure you double-check your work to make sure you pay attention to details.

Legal Requirements

Every business needs to follow local, state, federal, and even possible international laws. It will take time, research, and a little bit of support to get through something like this. There are companies which can handle the most vital areas, like product safety and employee relationships. It’s worth using services like this. Saving some money now can cost quite a bit of money down the line if there are major fines. Not knowing is not a good excuse.