Business Success - Starting Your Own Business

What is a person to do? The economy and job market is one of the most difficult in decades.  Many people are looking to start their own business. People come from all walks of life with the desire to be their own boss. Nationally, entrepreneurship is at a 14 year high.   

The trend of being in your own business is leaning towards those people who were previously employed.  It used to be that most people who were working became intrigued with running their own small business.  Now a majority of people who are laid off, excessed, downsized, or encouraged to retire early, are seeking alternatives to employment by starting a small business of their own.  Many people dream of having their own business.  The reality is sometimes your own business is “buying a job”.  There are long hours, and great responsibility that go along with being a small business owner.  The failure rate of new small businesses is very high. One in three businesses fail after the 2^nd year. About half of all start ups do not succeed into their 5^th year.  Some businesses have a higher failure rate than other businesses.   Clothing manufacturers close their businesses at the rate of 19%  a year.  

It takes a lot of initiative and hard work to run a successful small business.  You need a good mixture of being savvy, confidence, knowledge and experience about your industry, products, competition, and of course some luck.  The challenges are numerous when it comes to starting and running a small business.

More people with a college degree and beyond started their own small businesses than people who had a high school diploma or less.  In 2009 the biggest age span for starting a small business was in the 34-44 year old age group.  The trend seems to be showing that well educated, upper earning income people are the majority of people who are starting their own small businesses, probably due to the economic times that have hard hit this base of wage earners.  One of the reasons people want to start their own home or small business is because their choices become more limited, as their unemployment benefits may be running out, or their age may be against them for finding viable employment.

As of June 2010, the U.S. had 14.6 million unemployed people, a dramatic increase compared to Dec 2007 when there were 7.7 million unemployed workers, when the recession first began.

Checklist of things to do before starting a new business:

• ·         Evalulate your strengths
• ·         Assess your weaknesses
• ·         figure out your business objectives
• ·         what are your personal needs
• ·         how can business and personal combine for your success?
• ·         Go over your financial resources
• ·         Look at the risks financially
• ·         What are your costs to start the business?
• ·         Where will you locate the business?
• ·         Conduct some market research
• ·         Who are your customers?
• ·         Who are your competitiors?
• ·         Create a marketing strategy and how you will implement it

Despite the statistics about starting a business and making money from your small business, you can make a profit and succeed beyond your wildest dreams. How do you make sure you make a profit?  Turning a profit is among the highest of priorities when running a business.  Profits mean survivability.  Profits come from making the correct strategic decisions that you make for your business.

Most people who run their own business say, you can leave the business at the end of the day, but the business never leaves you.  There are always things to do, in a business.  There are numerous challenges to running a successful business.  Ask yourself these questions:

• ·         do you have the guts and fortitude to stick it out?
• ·         do you have the commitment and dedication it takes?
• ·         are you a strong leader?
• ·         can you deliver on your promises?
• ·         can you sacrifice a guaranteed income?
• ·         can you put in the long hours it takes to run a business?
• ·         are you able to interact with a variety of people?
• ·         do you have a lot of commonsense?
• ·         are you open minded to new ideas and to willing to always learn?
• ·         do you have good organizational skills?
• ·         are you competitive?
• ·         do you have a lot of energy?
• ·         are you optimistic?
• ·         do you believe in yourself and do you have self confidence?
• ·         do you have the necessary skills, knowledge, and team to make the business a success?
• ·         are you ready?

An important consideration in starting your small business is the financial calculations.  Do you know how much money you will have to invest to get your business started.  (hint: it is always, always, always more than you anticipate). Know where you will get the necessary money to keep your business going if profits come slower (and they usually do) than you expect.   It is better to overestimate the costs of doing business to ensure you can stay in business if things do not happen as fast as you need them to.   It is probably safe to assume lower or no sales the first year, and that you may very likely run the business at a loss for the first year or two.

Running your own small business can be very stimulating and rewarding.  You can steer the business in the direction you want it to go.  Your thoughts, your imagination, and your determination can help you achieve rewards you may never know if you stay as an employee. Being in your own business can give you a freedom and a joy that makes the hard work and unrelentless difficulties all worth it.

There are some important questions to ask yourself as you prepare to be a business owner:

• · What are your reasons for starting this business and becoming an entrepreneur?
• · Assess your personal traits, experience, skills, passion, strengths, and weaknesses
• · How do you handle multitasking, as the role of a business owner, wears many hats
• · Are you cautious enough to avoid the pitfalls of being in business?
• · Are you brave enough to withstand the rough spots you will go through?
• · Do You Believe in yourself enough to make this work?
• · Can you withstand the negative comments you might endure?
• · Can you set small milestones of accomplishments, so you can appreciate your own progress?
• · Are you Realistic about the economy, the money it will take, and the time?
• · Do you believe you deserve to be in your own business and enjoy success?