So, you want to start your own business, huh?
It’s a massive step that you’ve decided to take and one that is filled with sacrifice and reward. Owning your own business is one great way to develop cash flow that will fuel what you want to do with your life. It is not the be all and end all but if you do it right it can be the start of something very big indeed. I am still learning about business, I make no secrets about that. In the few years that I’ve been running my businesses and the years that preceded in which I did piles of research I’ve learned a few important things that a lot of books and a lot of ‘experts’ don’t tell you. I’d like to share some of them with you now.
1. Why?
Before you take the jump ask yourself ‘why am I going into business?’ It is paramount that you know why you are doing it. Is it because you can do it better than your current employer? Is it because you’ve discovered a way to make a lot of money? Is it because you don’t like working for other people?
There is no right answer, but you need to know why so you know where you are starting from.
2. You’re just an apprentice
If you’ve never owned and operated a business before, you have a lot to learn. You will have to familiarise yourself with accounting, taxation law, human resources, suppliers, debtors, creditors, marketing, scheduling, sales, management, networking, planning, meetings, negotiation and much, much more.
Understand that your first business is your apprenticeship. Sure, you may think you know enough. Here’s the truth: you don’t. Be receptive to feedback from successful business owners, ideas from family and friends, and comments from customer. Read books, surf the web, get familiar with your industry, join an association, and find a networking club. Do whatever you can to learn about business.
3. It’s gonna take sacrifice
Here’s the big one. You are going to have to sacrifice a lot to achieve success. Business is an all-consuming beast. Many friendships (and even marriages) have come second to business. I’m not suggesting that you divorce your spouse and stop seeing your friends (far from it). However, you will – more than likely – see your friends less (at least in the early days) and you may have some tension with those close to you (they might not understand your passion and laser-like focus).
Going to the movies, Friday night drinks, your favourite hobbies and alike will all have to take a backseat for you to get started properly. Sure, you can start a muse-style business but this might not be the best thing right off the bat as they take a lot of nous and experience. Muses don’t necessarily take time but they do take smarts.
You have to be able to delay gratification. You won’t get everything to work on day one but if you keep at it and sacrifice where needed, your dedication will pay off.
4. Who cares?
You may have the best idea in the existance of space and time but who cares? Just because you think it’s great doesn’t mean there will be a demand for it in the marketplace. Before you spend your nest-egg starting up, do some research. Perhaps spend some money on PPC advertising to see if there’s a demand for what you want to provide. Research your prospective industry, is there room for you? Tightly define you niche; there’s no use in being general, be specific, the more specific the better. Selling training courses to human resource managers of five-star hotels is a tighter target niche than selling training courses for human resource managers.
So, ask yourself “who cares?”
And then “will they continue to care?”
And best still “how can I make them care?”
5. You will lose sleep
Unless you are super-human owning your own business is going to cause you to worry. It’s unavoidable when you start out and it’s predominantly related to the fact that you are unsure of yourself, your chances of success and most importanty what to expect. Worry diminishes with experience. Unfortunately, by definition you can’t be experienced when you’re a beginner.
Worry will cause you to loose sleep. I don’t consider myself a worrier but I do find myself looking at the ceiling when I should be asleep. I’m simply mulling over issues and trying to plan my next step. As I said before business can be all-consuming. I like thinking about my business so it doesn’t bug me too much (except when it really cuts into my sleeping time).
Be prepared to lose sleep. Whether due to worry, or planning, or thinking, or working long hours, it is highly likely that you will lose sleep. Deal with it as best you can. And be sure to get back on track as soon as possible. Your sleep is important to your success. The better you sleep, the better you will perform.
