Aug 23, 2019
Are you an employee who has been on a regular nine to five job and is fed up with the same boring routine? Want to escape the nagging boss who does nothing but spoil your day? What about the insignificant yearly increment which may never come? You might even be nursing misgivings at the prospect of never being able to amass enough wealth in your heydays.
If you have ever entertained these questions or lines of thoughts, then starting up a personal business might just be around the corner. While entrepreneurship sounds like a great deal of fun, embarking on it properly is a whole lot harder. The belief that you will be the one calling the shots, work the hours you wish and ultimately experience wealth beyond your imaginations has motivated many into starting their own business. However, the reality is that you need to put so many things in place before you can think of a startup.
Statistics have proved that eight out of ten startups call it quits within the first 12 months, pointing to the fact that entrepreneurship is hard work and is not an all-comers affair. It might be that you already have a great idea of the kind of services or product you want to sell but the fear of the unknown still holds you in its clutches. There are many would-be business owners who never came to be because they were afraid to leave the comfort of their secure and steady jobs, besides the uncertainties of the world we live in has deterred quite a good number of people from launching a startup.
However, before taking that bold step, ask yourself some relevant questions and the answers will give you all the insight you need to forge ahead. Below are some really good questions for you to answer
Many entrepreneurs made the conscious decision to launch a startup because they had an unbearable boss or because they got fed up with corporate politics. Although neither of these scenarios might be the case with you, it’s vital to identify your reasons behind starting a business. Starting a business is hard; you will need to do the jobs of ten people at the initial stage, so you really have to ensure that you are completely ready to put a sign outside, saying you are open for business.
The misconception that entrepreneurship is always associated with a big paycheck has pushed so many into the startup world. Although that may come true someday, it will most likely take a while. At the onset, your business might not even see any profit and when the yields start showing, the notion of investing it back will come to play. If you pay yourself all the monthly earnings of the business, then you may just have created another job for yourself. Entrepreneurship means reinvesting while focusing on growth.
Initially, you will spend money on things like office space, hosting fees, employees and much more, before embarking on a startup; so, be ready to invest your personal capital into the venture. Even the investors who sponsor businesses will want to know how much personal commitment you have put into your own venture and they see this to mean that you believe in your own vision. If you don’t show willingness to invest in your own company, why should an investor?
You must be ready to double up as a lawyer, accountant, customer service, HR and more. Passion is what pushed you into a startup and the business needs to survive via your ability to adapt and assume new roles. Launching a business means providing goods and services to your customers and it also extends to mean wearing many hats at once and some that won’t fit.
Hiring and firing is your prerogative and firing sucks, but it is something you just need to do to make the business grow. You need to be ready to have really hard discussions with employees about wages, equity agreements and ultimately when the time comes to make hard decisions like ‘the sack’.
It takes a very long time to grow a business and your patience will be tried. Entrepreneurship does not come with a ‘get rich quick’ plan; rather, it calls for a serious dedication and conviction as well as a long-term plan for the startup to grow.
Having to answer to other people in your former job could be the reason you were able to surpass targets, get early to work and close late. However, with your own business, you will be accountable to no one but yourself and if you are the type that lacks self-motivation, entrepreneurship is not for you. Getting the business to succeed has to be your daily mantra, fueled by your passion which you have to show by getting early to work and closing late.
Entrepreneurship might not be your forte if you are dedicated to your movie nights and jolly hours. One truth about building a strong business is that it consumes serious time. From day-to-day, you will be faced with decisions like, ‘should I go hang out with friends or should I go for an extra hour of prospecting?’ Your friends may be applying the pressure on you to join them but you just need to learn how to say no and mean it.
Of course, you need a viable business plan, success does not just come to people, they plan for it. Don’t make the mistake of investing more time planning for a family vacation than you would planning your financial future. People who don’t have ready business plans can leverage business plan software for help.
Before embarking on a business, you must delineate your target customers, don’t get distracted by other preparations like your company logo, new marketing, website, or even the grand opening. Having a defined target market is key to the success of a new business. It is not just enough to come up with a product that you think people might like; you need to sell solutions too. Identifying customer’s problem and proffering solutions in the form of products and services have been known to work wonders in the past.
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