When starting a new business, you may be wearing a lot of hats. Entrepreneurs are used to doing whatever it takes to get the job done. It can be exciting and frightening at the same time.
As you get started, several new business challenges will start to appear – maybe things you’ve never thought about before. Dealing with these business realities effectively means anticipating these five key points.
Key Point One: You Can’t Do Everything Yourself
One of the things that weigh down many business owners is the idea that they need to do everything themselves. While the effort is admirable, trying to do things that you aren’t good at might be doing more harm than good. For example, failing to keep accurate records or making mistakes in your accounting and bookkeeping can cause problems long-term.
It’s so easy to get distracted or convince yourself you’re the only one that can do it right. However, many of the tasks will take away from the bigger picture: growing your business. An important aspect of business success is knowing what to delegate and what to take on yourself.
You may need to outsource some job functions so you can do your own thing.
Forward Progression Development can provide the business mentorship and expertise you need to fill in the gaps that take away from what you need to focus on. By providing affordable business solutions, Forward Progression Development helps businesses grow and develop as well as finding business credit and funding.
Key Point Two: You Won’t Earn Much in the Beginning
One of the most common new business challenges you’ll face is how long it takes to become profitable or earn enough to support the lifestyle you want. In most cases, it takes two to three years before you can start drawing a reasonable salary and expect to get a return on your investment.
This is something startups and new business owners need to keep in mind especially when you think about why businesses fail. The number one reason businesses fail is that they misread the marketplace and didn’t provide a service or product that consumers wanted. Assuming you’ve got that part right, the next business failure point is cash flow.
Just because you make sales doesn’t mean you get paid right away. Many businesses struggle with the lag time between when they sell their goods or products and the time it takes for customers to pay – especially if you’re providing credit. Late payments cost small businesses $3 trillion each year and it can take a toll on your finances and your mental well-being.
You should always have secondary sources of funding to keep your business going in case of late payments, unanticipated circumstances, or growth opportunities. Forward Progression Development can help prepare you for acquiring funding. As part of our business mentoring program, we can point you in the right direction of the best funding options that they can get.
Key Point Three: You Need to Study A LOT
Even if you have a business degree or worked in your industry for years, your experience and knowledge aren’t enough. When it’s your own business, there’s a lot that has to be learned. You may be strong on product development and weak in market research. You might be a great salesperson but need help with finance. You might be a wizard at technology but need help when it comes to eCommerce.
Even the most skilled and successful entrepreneurs don’t know everything. They succeed by surrounding themselves with others that have skills in areas they need help. When they face difficult questions, such as whether to set up their business as a sole proprietorship or bringing in partners, they reach out to experts.
Forward Progression Development can help provide business mentorship to help you make the right decisions about the tough questions you have to face. We provide a unique brand of personal mentorship. This kind of one-of-one business mentoring ensures a customized approach to identifying your unique needs and delivering the right solutions.
Key Point Four: You Need to Dedicate a Lot More Time Than You Think You Do
Many business owners already inherently know that their new businesses are going to eat a lot out of their time. When it’s your business and your reputation on the line, you can expect to work long hours and make sacrifices along the way.
Without this commitment to your business, it will be difficult to succeed. However, it’s isn’t just about working hard. You need to use your time smartly and create boundaries. It takes careful self-examination and support from those in your inner circle.
Time is precious. A lot of the learning that needs to take place can happen with Forward Progression Development’s self-study guide program. You can tackle these on your own time schedule. Even if you don’t have time to meet for business mentoring, you can still keep learning.
Key Point Five: You Need to Build a Team
No matter how smart you are and how hard you’re willing to work, it’s going to take a team to realize your dream of owning a business.
You’ll need expert guidance at various points in your journey. When you’re starting a new business, you might need a legal consultant or accountant to help you set up your business. You might need guidance on navigating state regulations on Workers’ Comp or licensing. You might need help developing a website, logo, or marketing.
Every successful business needs outside help on occasion, especially when facing new business challenges. The best realization is admitting you can’t do everything yourself.
Forward Progression Development helps fill key roles and knowledge gaps in a cost-effective way. By providing expert, on-call business mentoring, and guidance, we fill some of these important roles while you’re building your business to generate enough capital to create your own effective team.
Reduce the Burden
The burden of feeling like you have to handle everything yourself can be overwhelming. We can help.
Forward Progression Development provides real-life small business development, consulting, and coaching. We create customized development and strategic implantation programs to help your business grow. Contact Forward Progression Development today and let’s talk about how we can help.