As with any endeavor, starting a business has two sides. While you’ll have complete control over your work schedule, long hours will become a mainstay. Your earning capacity can increase, but you will give up the security of a steady paycheck. Running a business can be a highly rewarding experience, both personally and financially, however, there is no guarantee. To help entrepreneurs like you overcome the fear of uncertainties, this article by kevinhq.com provides a list of tried and tested strategies to implement for your business.
Dig Deep into the Details
All successful businesses follow a roadmap that includes steps to be taken for reaching set goals. This roadmap is formally called a business plan, and should include the following details:
Executive Summary: The summary should include brief details regarding your product offering, target audience, unique selling point, and customer problem(s) your business will solve.
Funding Requirements: Along with the cost of launching the business, you’ll need to factor in recurring expenses of utilities, inventory, software subscriptions, and miscellaneous expenses, as reported by Cloudways. Ideally, create projections for at least 1-3 years.
Product Details: Hone in on what makes your product unique in the market and the benefits it’ll provide to customers. Within this section insights related to the cost of production and pricing should be included as well.
For every business decision, you’ll need to compare its risks to the reward. While experience is the best teacher, there are various other ways to improve business acumen to better your decision-making ability and tackle uncertainties with confidence. These include:
Reading books written by successful entrepreneurs that cover general topics and tips on running a business within your niche.
Becoming a member of local and national level entrepreneur/small business owner associations such as the Social Enterprise Alliance, Entrepreneur’s Organization, United States Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and more. These organizations hold regular networking events, seminars, and workshops to help entrepreneurs remain up-to-date with business trends and grow their networks.
Upskilling yourself in business areas where you need to build expertise, which can range from managing business operations, marketing, sales, etc.
Start Small
If you’re on the edge about diving head first into entrepreneurship, the smart choice is to start the business as a side-hustle. As a result, you can continue working a steady paying job, while laying the foundations of the business and preparing for an easy future transition.
The security of a fall-back option will reduce your fear of undertaking business risks. Additionally, in time you’ll have a clear picture regarding business performance, providing clarity about whether pursuing entrepreneurship full-time is a good option or not.
Enlist Professional Help
It is a common misconception among entrepreneurs that they need to do everything themselves. No entrepreneur is an expert in all areas of business, but by delegating responsibility to professionals, they ensure that all areas of business have the required expertise. Here are key business areas you should consider delegating:
Business Formation: Registering a business name, establishing a business structure, obtaining licenses, and meeting filing requirements at the local, state, and federal levels are a few of the many pre-launch necessities you’ll need to manage. Using an online formation service will streamline this process and ensure there are no discrepancies in your documentation.
Cybersecurity: As reported by Readwrite, one successful cyberattack costs businesses $25,000, which is not an amount new businesses are equipped to endure. To safeguard your business from the threat of hackers consider implementing an IT security data protection and recovery solution.
Additionally, create a data recovery plan that lays out actions to be followed in the event of an attack. This can include discontinuing operations for a specified number of hours, recovering back-ups to secure servers, submitting a cyberattack report to law enforcement, and more.
The fear of failure is an emotion shared by all entrepreneurs. While it is difficult to eradicate this fear completely, by implementing these strategies you’ll develop a business with strong foundations, which increases the chances of success and keeps risks to the minimum.
