If you think the hard work's over once you've launched your business, think again. Making sure it stays afloat for that crucial first year provides a far greater test and there are many balls you'll have to keep in the air.

The three key challenges many new owners struggle with are selling, cashflow and managing employees.

The success of your new venture rests largely on achieving your sales targets. Whether it’s you or one of your team who is responsible for selling your products or services, you must have the necessary sales techniques if you are to convince people to buy from you.

Whether it’s selling or purchasing, knowing how to negotiate effectively could swing things in your favour. Not only do you have to win new customers, you also have to hang on to them, which means customer care and being able to deal with customer complaints must be integral parts of your business’ DNA.

It’s not necessarily a question of how much you charge or how much margin you include, the well being of your business rests on your ability to keep your cashflow healthy. Cash is reality.

Working with benchmarks and key performance indicators can enable you to judge the performance of your business. Regularly updating your business plan enables you to remind yourself of key goals and how well your business is performing. Working with your business plan enables you to react to developments in your market and business and modify your business development strategy accordingly.