There are plenty of things that they don’t tell you, when you decide to start up your own business. It’s no easy task, and it will change you as a person too. However, it can be extremely rewarding and you may notice that you work a lot harder for yourself. Read on for some slightly surprising barriers that you might meet along the way, as well as be aware of the channels that can be the outlet to success once you embark on the path to entrepreneurship.
Worry Bags
Your business will be preying on your mind 24/7, which can make you exceptionally boring to be around. When all that’s running through your head is how you will be able to fund your next project, conversations can get fairly one-dimensional for those around you. Your business will take over everything, and you’ll be putting-in a lot of (wo)man hours, which can impact all of your relationships. Hopefully, friends and family will be understanding! Efficient time management will help you keep your sanity. Delegate and outtarget if you can, the more you focus on essential activities, the faster you will grow. Identify priorities and work on what matters most now.
Risk Assurance
Risk assessment and management is a key part of keeping your business healthy. For some – who hire professional companies to take care of this for them – it’s just another cost that they didn’t factor in. For others, you can do your best to risk manage yourself, but it’s always worth taking a look at the risk assurance packages insurance companies offer, to see if your business will really need a helping hand.
Constant Learning
You will be constantly learning on the job, whether that’s how to update your website or how to create a powerful, informative blog. Being your own boss means that you have to fill many roles at once. This can be challenging, but if you pick things up quickly, it shouldn’t be too hard. When you’re constantly learning, it can make your work life more engaging and fun; plus, it expands your skill-set.
Product Development
If you’re hoping to create your own product to sell, you’re about to learn what goes into making something new to sell. Blood, sweat, and tears are behind every retail transaction, and it costs more money than you think to create a product. You’ll have a new found respect for every item lining the shop shelves. And what’s more the more you make data your friend the better it would be. There will pricing models, transaction details, revenue models and more to be discussed with your team or lenders, sooner or later, the better you are at crunching numbers the more farther you’ll go.
At this time, it would be good to take a course or two to understand product development lifecycle management.
Acquaintances
Your family and friends will be greater allies than you realise. You’ll be surprised at the useful skills your acquaintances have; it could be web design, business management, or copywriting (for example). Find out what everyone does for a living and see if you can enlist the help of your nearest and dearest – even if that’s just taking the time to explain important concepts to you that might help your business grow. There’s a lot of support needed along the way, make the best of it to ask for small favours, you’d be surprised to know that family and friends feel happy to support you in some small way they can.
Business Plan
Your business plan is going to be a useful tool. However, with time, you’ll find yourself writing a new one, as your first business plan is always going to be a tad optimistic. The great thing here is that you will have learned a lot in a small space of time, and your future hopes will now be more realistic. Take it for what it is: a positive move towards your business goals. Here’s some more information on writing your first business plan.
No wonder there is a huge list of to-dos and tasks that may seem daunting, but the satisfaction is immense when you see your business going live!