Avoiding Common Mistakes in Small Business Ownership

by

Owning a business can be very intimidating, even when owning a small business. The pressure to be successful is always a hindrance, especially when competing with larger businesses. There are common mistakes small business owners make along the way that could have been easily avoided. In order to ensure the success of your small business, it is imperative to avoid these mistakes:

 

Failing to Plan

No matter the size of the business or how it got started, there must always be a business plan. This is vital to the success of the business and what will help it stay on its feet. Although it can be a bit tedious and seem pointless, it’s the most important step to running a business. Make sure to do the proper research and identify the market potential. Before your business takes off, be sure to have a business plan, marketing plan, and financial plan in place.

 

Undervaluing the Business

Whether it be lack of confidence or lack of proper market research, a common mistake first-time business owners will make is undervaluing their products and services. This could ultimately lead to a business’s failure because they’re not realizing their uniqueness and the value of what sets them apart. In order to avoid this, it’s important to do extensive market research to understand your value. Instead of realizing you’ve been undervalued when it’s too late, identify your best selling start price ahead of time. 

 

Hiring Too Late

When a small business first gets off its feet, often times there aren’t many employees. This is normal, but shouldn’t last for very long. When the business finally gains momentum and starts to take off, often times they haven’t hire the right amount of employees to assist with the growing demand. Waiting too long to hire can lead to hiring incompetent employees which can reflect poorly on your business. It’s important to delegate small tasks at the beginning instead of waiting until you are desperate. 

 

Not Having a Website

In today’s new technology age, not having a website for your business is a death wish. Every business, no matter what kind it is or the products they sell, must have an online platform. Not only does this give your business instant marketing, but it also establishes itself as professional in the eyes of consumers. There are many web-hosting companies that will host your site, design, maintain, and market it for you for very low monthly prices.

The Age of Entrepreneurship

by

danielle-macinnes-222441-unsplash

When people think about entrepreneurs just starting in the business world, it often seems like a younger person’s game. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Entrepreneurship can come at any age and at any point in your lifetime. The key is to have the right idea that will thrive and create success.

Although many people may think it’s best to start at a young age, it’s important to note that the medium age of successful founders is around the 40 to 50 range. Beginning as an entrepreneur in this industry at a later age brings a more extensive amount of life and work experience.

One of the biggest aspects of becoming an entrepreneur later in life, is you have the time to play and become more financially stable. Young business owners may not always have the income to fall back on if their ideas falter, which is why waiting until you have the support both financially and within your family or a spouse, could help your chances of success drastically.

Another aspect of beginning entrepreneurship later in life is most people have experienced failure in some way by this point in their lives. Having the opportunity to experience failure gives you an edge over others in not being afraid of your ideas floundering. Great entrepreneurs have personality traits in which they can keep their eye on the prize despite bumps in the road.

The skills and life lessons you learn in your early years of being a businessman or woman helps to shape the kind of leader you will be later in life. Because you will make many mistakes along the way, it creates a stronger and more confident business mind, thus, making this the perfect time to start your own business. When you can take a tip from entrepreneurs who have come into the game later in life, you can see how the experience has helped them become more successful.

Don’t let your age define how you continue throughout the business world. Just because you didn’t begin a company at a younger age doesn’t mean it’s too late and you won’t become successful in your endeavors. If anything, waiting until later in life means you are more prepared and have the experience to become successful in your chosen path for entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurship Success: Leave Your Ego at Home

by

emma-matthews-1296167-unsplash

People often ask the question, “what does it take to become a successful entrepreneur?” The truth is, certain personality traits and qualities help in shaping a successful entrepreneur. Although some of these traits are instilled in us from birth, many can be learned and developed over time. It’s essential to understand the specific qualities that make an entrepreneur successful. One of the most significant aspects of successful entrepreneurship is removing your ego from your business.

Starting a new business is hardly a feat for one person. Although there are leaders out there who believe they can do it better and all by themselves, it simply is not true and will not create a sustainable business. Entrepreneurs can’t let their egos get in the way of the growing business. It’s essential to assemble a team of hard workers and leaders who understand and share the same goals and vision you do. Creating a support team of people who help you every step of the way will ensure success in your business.

Every position in a business is just as important as the next. Even though some founders may think that because it is their idea and vision, they are the most crucial component of the company. This is, quite frankly, very untrue and anyone who has worked in a business setting understand that success only comes when people work together and no one believes they are above the rest.

You can take some great tips from the book by Michael Strasner, Mastering Leadership, Shift the Drift and Change the World, on entrepreneurship and either embracing success or instead, leaving it behind when your time is up. The key to growing your ideas and business is making sure to commit to your idea fully. Once you do this and realize there is no fallback plan and this idea is the end goal, it will be far easier to pour your entire self into it. And, not just yourself, but your team.

No matter if you win or lose, creating a teamwork environment in which you can utilize your traits and leadership skills to share your vision and goals, is successful and can inspire others to follow their dreams of entrepreneurship.

 

Entrepreneurial Ideas for Success

by

cheerful-colleague-desk-1169953

It’s evident that all entrepreneurs want to be successful in what they are creating and putting out into the world. But not all entrepreneurs are successful the first few times around and need to continue to have the mentality to push forward through their failures in order to create something great. In our current economy and all different economy’s, it’s essential for entrepreneurs to develop products and ideas that will move us forward.

Entrepreneurship should produce and propel our economic growth. It’s the reason why we need entrepreneurs in this world to make sure that we can create new ideas that are productive. Some fail to consider this aspect and do so because they want to be their boss and have a money making product.

When starting your own business, it can be very much formed around a personal choice. This is true for many entrepreneurs, but along with the personal choice must come value. There should be value in the reasoning of starting your own business and creating a product. Think of your audience and what the value of your product and company is to them. It’s important to fully consider your audience because they will be the reason your business succeeds or fails.

You may think people know what they want, but in all seriousness, it’s not necessarily true. Part of being an entrepreneur is showing people what they want and need. This can be done by either creating something entirely new or refining something they already know and updating it. This can help your audience to see the product they already know in a different light. Your audience needs to know the value in what you are creating and find it useful and something that will fulfill their needs.

Many entrepreneurs are bogged down by the aspect of beating their competitors and being able to compete in a particular market. The real part is to make sure your potential customers see value in what you are offering and find that it excels past your competitors. Competition should come second to what your customers need and what they will want to invest in.

It’s essential to remember that your product must have value in order to succeed. Creating something that is going to add to our economic growth is one of the best reasons to become an entrepreneur. Of course, everyone will have personal reasons attached to it, but if you can add value and satisfy the needs of your audience, you can have a higher chance to succeed.

 

How Entrepreneurs Deal with Failure

by

estee-janssens-418169-unsplash

Being an entrepreneur means you will deal with failures many times during your career. This is not always the case for everyone, but more often than not, you will, unfortunately, fail at some point. The key to failure as an entrepreneur is learning how to handle that failure, pick yourself back up, and start again. As it is with life, the way you deal with these setbacks shapes the person and professional you are and want to be. Thankfully, there is a large number of entrepreneurs who came before you, sharing their wise words of wisdom for pressing on and dealing with your failures gracefully.

Just because you will experience failure doesn’t mean it’s going to be a significant failure. Unfortunately, most new businesses will fail within their first few years of starting out. But failure can also come in the form of other losses, such as the loss of a big client. It is essential for entrepreneurs to learn from these failures which takes us right to our first lesson.

Taking the time to write down a list of the decisions you made when you failed will help to understand what you could have done better and will do better next time. It creates your failure into a learning experience in order for you to grow from the setback. Handwriting the list will help the points sink in and stick with you for future growth.

Giving yourself time to destress from the situation will also create a better atmosphere and positive outlook for yourself and your company. Entrepreneurs are busy people that work at a very fast pace, high-stress environment. Giving yourself mental clarity by removing yourself from the failure can give you time to rethink, reevaluate, and figure out your next move.

If you look into some of the most famous entrepreneurs and how they started out, you will find that most of them repeatedly failed time and time again before they became successful. Their biggest early failures paved the way for some of the most successful companies in the world. It is essential to remember that failure is just a roadblock and stepping stone on the way to success. It is necessary in order to weed out entrepreneurs who are willing to pick up the pieces and keep going and the ones who do not have the mental strength to do so and become successful.

How to Start Your Business: Six Steps for Success

by

5steps-business-blogging

Some people call it a calling. Others call it the only option. Regardless of how you put it, there are thousands of people all across the nation taking a leap of faith and starting their own business. This is a very difficult and arduous task that requires hard work, determination, and perseverance. But for those who survive beyond the bleak months or year of pain and failure, they will find themselves at the end of the tunnel reaping the rewards on their road for success.

Starting a business and becoming an entrepreneur is not easy. It takes a special kind of person to overcome the obstacles of failures and go surpass the ideas of settling when looking for success. If you are still interested in starting a business, here is a guide that will aid you throughout the process. These six steps will help pinpoint the dos and don’ts during the beginning stages of your journey.

1. Planning and Developing Winning Ideas:

The next big idea is what drives a business in the first place. Every business begins with an idea. The idea can be a variety of things. They can be something you are passionate about or they can be something that can change the course of everyday life. No matter where the interest lies, there is a way to create it into something great. Remember, Google and Apple didn’t just come out of nowhere. They came from products, or even problems, that have were the markers for their great creation. Once you have picked and assessed your idea, it is important to see the strengths and flaws of pre-existing companies within the chosen field. Understand their take on your concept. Figure out what they were missing or what you can do better, faster, and cheaper. Reflecting on those concepts will allow you to eventually market this concept into a full blown business.

2. Creating a Business Plan

Every great business has planned out the logistics and objective of their overall company. Remember, your company is a novice in comparison to both relevant organizations and competitors. At this stage, it is important you iron out some important questions that will later need answers when you full establish your business. Take into consideration these questions:

  •  What are your company’s objectives?
  •  What are you trying to do?
  •  Who are you trying to sell to?
  •  What are your goals?
  •  How much money will you need to start up? How much money will you need for the campaign?
  •  How many employees will you need to get this off the ground?
  •  What are you planning for advertising?
  •  What are your projections for month three, six, and twelve?

All of these questions can be answered in a well-written business plan. This plan does not have to be terribly long. Rather, the plan itself needs to help you figure out the path for your company and any obstacles you will need to face during the beginning stages once it launches. It will give you an outline of specific things that need to be done so that you are on the right direction for success.

3. Assessing your Finances: Determine how much you need to start

Like the famous saying goes, everything comes at a price. Besides your time and effort, there are costly expenses when building up a startup. Assess your business plan and identify how much you are going to need to cover these immediate expenses will play a large role in how your business is running by month three. Regardless of how much you have, you want to optimize your funds in the most efficient way. The idea of ‘stretching out your dollar’ will be the best mentality to embrace when launching your business. In the past, there have been many businesses that have invested much of their funds on unnecessary or frivolous expenses. By having a well thought-out business plan and a deeper understanding of your finances, you can leverage these expenses. If the expenses are more than you anticipated, take a look at commercial loans or investors. Make sure at this point that your business model is already developed and know what you will use that money prior to any investor meetings.

4. Registering your Business

When registering your business, make sure you have decided on what kind of entity and field your business is in. There are certain legal and structural logistics you need to file, especially in your taxes. Once you have determined the type of business you have, register on the SBA website.

5. Building Your Team

Now that you have established your idea, created a business plan, planned out your expenses, and registered your business, it is now time for you to think about the managerial aspect of your business. Here, think about the type of people you want and the skills they need to have to help thrive your business. If your business is for a tech company, you should be thinking about web developers and IT workers. If you business is for sales, you should be thinking of strong communicators and business minded individuals. Having a grasp of the people you want will ultimately put you at pace if growing your business.

6. Grow your Vision

Here is the stage where you have now established the team, finance, and idea for your startup. What you need to do at this stage is be a leader. Allow your team and company to run on a long-term vision and goal. Make sure you have internalized this goal so that no matter whom you talk to, everyone is on the same page for success.