Take a look at four of the most common obstacles first time small business owners face and learn how you can overcome them.
By Megan Totka
Entrepreneurship comes with many rewards, but it also comes with some challenges. According to Yahoo, approximately 543,000 new businesses are started each month. If you’re one of those budding entrepreneurs, you will see that there are continually obstacles to conquer, from beating out the competition to making a profit to establishing your company’s authority.
1. Abandoning your career
Many entrepreneurs struggle to manage a steady job and an entrepreneurial career. If you do not have any experience running a business, you may want to toy with the idea of ditching your current career. This will give you freedom to run the new business, but will cut off your steady income, making the trade off a tough one.
Take your time and consider all of your options before you decide which direction you want to go. Make sure you follow your instincts.
2. Financial issues
Getting the cash you need to start your new venture is not an easy task. Whether you’re trying to secure financing for your restaurant or boutique, make sure to be patient. Your great idea alone isn’t enough. You also must have a detailed business plan and a solid pitch to boost your chances of finding an investor. Similar to the experienced entrepreneurs with an established network of potential investors, you must work hard and dedicate time and effort into the creation of a business that’s attractive to those potential investors.
3. Building a business team
If you’re running a business solo, this obstacle won’t apply to you. If you are looking to have a few trustworthy team members helping you, you’ll have to be sure you choose the right ones.
When selecting individuals to be a part of your team, balance the benefits and costs. Learn how to motivate summer hires for the long haul. Carefully examine their character and personalities. While a person might have the potential to excel at a task, if he or she doesn’t have the interpersonal skills necessary to thrive in a small business environment, you won’t benefit much for hiring them.
4. Fatigue
If you work full time, you have a schedule to stick to. The job likely requires your presence for 8 hours every day. You have sick days and paid holidays, get your paycheck and the cycle starts again.
If you would rather run your own business, these things will change. Many business owners spend more hours working than their employees because the entrepreneurs fear the business may fail in their absence. As a result, they spend many weekdays and weekends working to solve every issue.
While this tactic may be effective in the infancy stages of the business, eventually fatigue will set in. If you want to find business success, it’s vital to find the good balance between work and play so you don’t wind up exhausted.
If you have an excellent small business idea, do not let it go. While the road might be filled with challenges, the destination will make it all worthwhile. Like Confucius said, take your idea and turn it into a job you enjoy, and you will never have to work a day in your life.
Megan Totka is the Chief Editor for ChamberofCommerce.com. ChamberofCommerce.com helps small businesses grow their business on the web and facilitates connectivity between local businesses and more than 7,000 Chambers of Commerce worldwide. She specializes on the topic of small business tips and resources and business news. Megan has several years of experience on the topics of small business marketing, copywriting, SEO, online conversions and social media. Megan spends much of her time establishing new relationships for ChamberofCommerce.com, publishing weekly newsletters educating small business on the importance of web presence, and contributing to a number of publications on the web. Megan can be reached at megantotka@gmail.com Website: www.chamberofcommerce.com
Obstacles stock photo by Fred Ho/Shutterstock
