Month: December 2015

Thinking of Starting a Business? 7 Ways to Overcome Common Barriers

Millions of people dream about starting a business. However, it’s really surprising that most people never really get their business ideas off the ground.

Why?

Part of the problem is fear fueled by misinformation. Many aspiring entrepreneurs give in to their fears about dealing with business risks and the possibility of failure.

Thinking of Starting a Business? 7 Ways to Overcome Common Barriers
CC BY by symphony of love

Most guides for entrepreneurs also contribute to the problem by focusing a little too much on the risks of launching a business as well as failure.

Of course, it’s not going to be easy to succeed in business. Yes, there will be lots of challenges, setbacks and failures along the way.

However, it’s really important to keep in mind that many entrepreneurs who have gone through this process have survived it and even managed to succeed.

You can’t avoid doing some research before starting your business. So, do yourself a favor before you start reading guides and tutorials: do not let these business guides scare you and keep you from pursuing your entrepreneurial dreams.

There are so many myths about starting a business that create unnecessary roadblocks for aspiring entrepreneurs.

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Some guides for new entrepreneurs can be so overwhelming. For example, the US Small Business Administration (SBA) offers the following resources to “help” you learn what it takes to start a business.

One section offers to help you determine “if entrepreneurship is for you”  —  before you even start! 🙁

In fact, many entrepreneurs with various characteristics and skill sets have succeeded in business. In addition, you can acquire and improve your skills in the process of running a business.

What if you don’t have “all the right characteristics” for entrepreneurship? No worries!

Becoming an entrepreneur is like going through personal development — on steroids.

Many entrepreneurs who started out not having all the necessary characteristics for entrepreneurship when they launched their businesses worked on themselves and became successful anyway.

What happens if you actually decide that entrepreneurship is for you after going through the SBA checklist? There’s another set of 20 questions you’re supposed to answer. ;-(

The sad thing is that most people thinking about starting a business will probably give up on their dreams after trying to answer these 20 questions. The reality is that even seasoned entrepreneurs can not answer most of these questions before starting a new business.

Here’s what you need to do…

You will get more answers about entrepreneurship being right for you or not… in the process of running your business.

After you launch a business, you will learn new skills as well as improve your characteristics and ways of dealing with business-related issues. You will fine tune your strengths and figure out ways to get around your weaknesses.

You will learn by doing. You will learn by launching your business.

I have to warn before you click the US Small Business Administration (SBA)…  if you’re not feeling overwhelmed, scared or discouraged about launching your business, you will be after reading these SBA guides.

7 Ways to Overcome Common Barriers for Starting a Business

1)  Keep things simple and just start your business.

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2)  Lack of startup capital keeps some entrepreneurs from starting a business. Here are my suggestions to get around this barrier:

  • Do whatever it takes to save $50 to $100 to start your business. After you set aside this tiny startup capital, do not spend any money unless the expense is absolutely necessary for starting and growing your business.
  • Use no-cost and low-cost ways to launch an online micro-business. Small scale business ideas can help you start a business with big profit potential but small financial risk.
  • You can use free affiliate programs as well as free search engine optimization and free social media marketing strategies to generate sales online. You can also provide services online and generate income to grow your business.
  • If you make any money, you can put that money back into your business to keep it growing. It’s possible that you may not make any or many sales when you’re just starting; so, focus on learning how to improve your sales skills. If you’re starting out with terrible sales skills (It’s okay. We’ve all been there), keep working on it and keep improving. In the meantime, it’s probably a good idea to focus on providing services online to generate extra income.

3)  Don’t fall in love with any business idea. Having a profitable business is not about what products and services you think should sell well. It’s about what your customers are willing to buy.

4)  Do some research on your business ideas, but don’t over-analyze what business ideas you need to try. Test them all and get proof of concept.

Get validation that your business ideas are viable by letting your sales and profits guide you. Let the market tell you which business ideas have the best potential for success.

5)  Some people try to get validation for their business ideas from their family and friends. Instead of getting encouragement, most people get a crushing blow to their entrepreneurial dreams.

Keep in mind that entrepreneurship is not for everyone. In spite of millions of employees experiencing layoffs, terminations and long-periods of unemployment during changes in the economy, many workers are still convinced that having a job offers financial security.

What makes matters worse for aspiring entrepreneurs is that people who are committed to working in a traditional job will work hard to “knock some sense” into anyone considering to pursue entrepreneurship to have a better financial future.

Although it would be nice to get validation from family and friends, the reality is that it’s more meaningful to get validation for your business ideas from your customers. Get proof of concept from the market based on your sales and profits. (See #4)

6)  Don’t focus on money at first. Focus on learning about marketing. Your marketing knowledge as well as your choices regarding the marketing strategies you’re going to use can make or break your business.

So, educating yourself about marketing is the best thing you can do for your business. It can increase your chances of having a profitable and successful business.

7)  Start learning how to make money and generate profits. You probably won’t make a lot of money or you may not even make any money at all when you’re a new entrepreneur. So, don’t focus on how much money you’re making (or not making) at first.

Focus on learning as much as you can about strategies for generating sales and profits. Your business income will grow as you become more proficient about marketing and money-making strategies.

Conclusion

There are many health and psychological benefits as well as financial rewards for becoming self-employed; so, it’s definitely worth it to deal with the challenges of becoming an entrepreneur.

Starting a business doesn’t have to be complicated and overwhelming. You can keep things super-simple. The more you know and the more experienced you become, the simpler things will be.

This is the biggest fear of most new entrepreneurs about launching a business:  what if your business fails?

If your first business venture fails, you need to know that this has happened to millions of entrepreneurs… and you will survive it just like most of us.

For many entrepreneurs, it can be a relief to finally experience their first business failure… They can get it out of the way instead of being so afraid of it.

It’s usually a big relief for most people to finally experience what they feared most and to realize that it wasn’t as bad as they thought. You, too, will be fine after experiencing a setback or failure.

Most successful entrepreneurs have had at least one business failure or more. It’s important to keep in mind that you can start a new business again with better skill sets and more knowledge about becoming successful.

Think of your early business attempt(s) as the best entrepreneurship training you can ever have. If you don’t give up and you do whatever it takes to bounce back from any setbacks, your failures will be your stepping stones for success.

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Starting a Business: Advice and Tips

One of the biggest problems for online entrepreneurs and marketers is getting stuck in over-preparation and analysis paralysis.

New entrepreneurs often worry about having tough competition. However, your biggest enemy will not be your competition… it will be yourself. You can get in your own way because of your fears and other issues.

Use the tips and tutorials to boost your knowledge and skills. However, don’t get stuck on just reading. Information alone will not lead to transformation of your business and your income.

Learn just enough to get started. Learn by doing. You will transform your ability to act upon what you know. You will transform your ability to seize opportunities.