Starting your own business poses a number of unique challenges you rarely see in the regular, 9 to 5 type of jobs.
A traditional job requires you to finish a certain task in a given amount of time.
While entrepreneurship deals with finding just the right elements and combining them into a cohesive structure that will one day become a successful company. That could be researching the market, finalizing the product, finding the adequate workforce or managing the company itself.
Whatever that is, it’s important for business owners to identify the individual challenges and complete them one by one in a specific order.
Market research.
You’d be surprised by the number of wannabe entrepreneurs who have seen that a particular product is doing exceptionally well and decided to cash in on the craze.
Now, there are some bad business moves you can and most likely will make while trying to get your business off the ground. But deciding to sell a specific product or a service just because it’s trending is one the worst moves you can possibly make.
Just imagine how many people have seen that product and gotten that same exact idea as you have.
Not only is the market already being supplied with that product, but it will soon be oversaturated with numerous copies made by people looking for some quick cash.
What you need to do instead is perform the market research first and see for yourself what type of products and services are currently in high demand.
Once you have identified the demand, then and only then can you proceed towards supplying it.
Product manufacturing and subsequent placement.
Every product is developed in order to meet a particular need or a want. Just because your product is wanted in one location does not mean that it will be needed in a different location.
Even if it is wanted doesn’t mean that it conforms to different cultural, financial and practical preferences.
For example, products that feature electrical parts or need to be plugged into a socket can only be viable for world-wide production only if you have different options for different electrical voltages and power sockets.
You need to carefully consider the market your product is intended for and remember that not all markets are the same.
Acquiring the necessary funding.
You might have performed your market research and developed your product. But without adequate financing options, your dream of starting a business will continue being just that, a dream.
Building a business from the ground up requires a certain amount of money. Growing and expanding a business, however, requires an even larger amount.
You can choose between taking out a credit or a loan, which requires an impossibly perfect credit score. Or finding a reasonable financier that won’t take a significant chunk of your company.
Fortunately, the majority of cash related problems, including difficulties with obtaining the necessary funding or inconsistent invoice payment issues can easily be resolved by using cash flow financing.
Management issues.
Starting, growing and running a successful company cannot be accomplished without making some tough decisions.
Product lines get canceled, departments get closed, new employees need to be hired, old employees might be underperforming and some will even have to be terminated.
These are just some of the most common challenges business owners face on a daily basis. Unless you have the stomach and the professional resolve to stand behind your decisions, your business will hardly be able to reach commercial success.
On the other hand, you need to be careful and avoid micromanaging. Each company employee should have their own tasks and someone up the ladder who will be tasked with looking over them. This does not necessarily mean you.
Human resources issues.
The majority of problems related to human resources revolve around hiring workers who are inadequate to complete a task. Or those not being clear about the task specifics and failing to address performance issues.
Some business owners will hire friends and family rather than going through more qualified options or provide vague job descriptions for a specific position. Which can only lead to poor performance and ultimately, result in the company failing.
It’s important to find the right workers for the job. So make sure you accept interviews only with candidates who meet the basic job requirements.
Of course, there are numerous other challenges. However, these five have proven to be the most pressing issues faced by entrepreneurs and small business owners.
Every task related to starting a business has its own place in the grand scheme and need to be accomplished in a specific order using specific means.
Research the market, develop the product, secure financing, hire adequate workers and avoid micromanaging.
Lastly, be careful and diligent in your work, as any form deviation from this business-starting master-plan will only result in additional issues and end up destroying your company.
About The Author
This article was written by Victoria Lawes.