Is starting a business really the solution?

Why do you want to start a business?

So why do you want to start a business? It’s a question not many budding business owners ask themselves. All too often you hear stories of the over enthusiastic, hasty entrepreneur who has decided over night they should be in business or they have the winning idea… following which they set up shop, open doors for business to find the reality is not quite what they thought it should be… it is then they find themselves asking “why did I want to start a business?”.

Starting and running a business has many advantages, as follows.

•   Allows for greater flexibility and freedom
•   Puts you in control of your future
•   It is one of few means where your earning potential is unlimited
•   It can be a source of great personal satisfaction and fulfilment
•   It can be fun and exciting

However if you are unaware of what you are getting yourself into or if you decide to start a business based on the wrong motivations you will find yourself asking “Why did I want to start a business?”. Whilst I am all for encouraging women to start their own business, I am just as keen to encourage fore thought and consideration. Before embarking on starting a business it is important to ask yourself to fundamental questions:

Why do you want to start and run business?
Are you ready to start and run business?

1. Why I want to start a business

On one hand
•   I have a great business idea
•   I know there are people who want what I can make and or do
•   I want to be my own boss
•   I want a better lifestyle
•   I want to make a lot of money
•   I know someone who is making a lot of money doing this
•   I want to retire to somewhere sunny in ten years
•   I want to make a difference to my community

On the other hand
•   I have lost my job, I’ve been made redundant
•   I don’t like my job
•   I earn too little to pay my bills
•   I can’t get a job
•   I want an easier life
•   I don’t know what else to do
•   Someone has told me I should do it

If you have mainly ticked the reasons listed in on one hand, great you already have the best possible start. Starting a business with the right intentions is the key to success. I suspect you have a great deal of determination and passion for your idea, and potential business. I would encourage you to thoroughly research your idea.

If you have mainly nodded the reasons listed in “on the other hand”, then perhaps jumping into starting a business right here and now is not quite the best solution. It is important to start a business for the right reasons not because you are desperately seeking a way out of a current predicament. To be able to weather the challenges starting and operating a business can bring, it is important to start with the right frame of mind. If you have recently lost your job, chances are you may feel a little down on your luck. Such feelings are further compounded by the difficulties faced getting your business off the ground. In business you will find not everyone you approach will buy your product or service, this form of rejection can be a little hard to deal with, especially if you are already overcoming insecurities from the loss of employment.

If you have agreed with the answers in on the hand, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t start a business. I highly recommended undertaking a greater level of research, possibly more than you normally would do. You will discover the more research you undertake the greater level of confidence you will have for yourself, your abilities and your idea for a business.

2. Are you ready to start and operate your own business?

Even though you have established you have the right intentions to start a business, the next question is just as important. Are you ready to start and operate your own business? It is important to assess your readiness. If you discover you are not quite ready, “great”! You have realised a gap exists. Now you have every opportunity to get yourself in the best possible position to start and operate a business. So how do you ascertain whether you are ready or not?...

Are you flexible?
Starting and operating a business never runs to a regimented routine. Whilst there is a certain amount of structure required to start and operate a business, self-employment requires you to readily adapt to changes in circumstances. It is important to develop and practice the effective time management.

Do you enjoy taking risks?
If you are not a risk taker you can still start and operate a business. You need to realise your adversity to taking risks and undertake necessary research to satisfy and dispel your concerns. To start and operate your own business you need to have some confidence and be comfortable taking risks. The best risks to take are calculated risks. Start small and organically grow, there is no need to rush into starting and growing a business. Realign your idea to your level of risk adversity. If you spend too much time worrying you won’t have any fun.

Do you enjoy autonomy?
Working from home can be isolating and lonely. A customising to work alone is often one of the biggest adjustments made by those who decide to work from home. Many come from a working environment such as an office and are use to human contact and daily interaction. If you believe you could suffer from loneliness, you might like to consider taking on a partner, or rent a shared and or virtual office, where there are other people you can talk with. If you find you can’t leave the house, join one of the many on line forums where you can at least virtually communicate with like-minded individuals (probably in the same situation as yourself)

Can you multi task?
When starting an operating a business you need to wear all hats. You will find you need to take on all roles to successfully establish your business. If you are not well organised and struggle to multitask consider how you could better structure your day. What activities could you outsource to eliminate the complexity of your day?

Are you organised?
If you thrive in chaos, you will need to find ways to introduce a little organization into your life. It is difficult to start let alone run a business if you are disorganised. You will soon loose customers if you cannot deliver on time or as promised. Consider how you could bring about order and structure into your day. Try establishing a routine, use a diary to record your to do list and allocate specific times to get things down, if you fail to complete an activity you can re-schedule.

Are you happy to make mistakes?
The inevitable truth is you will make mistakes, possibly regrettable mistakes when starting and running your business. Such mistakes are unavoidable, how else will you learn? However it is important to remember its not about the mistakes that you make its more about how you respond to such mistakes. If you can learn from your errors in judgement fantastic! If you tend to dwell on the past, you might need to consider the services of a coach to help you over come such barriers to success.

Are you a people person?
Do you enjoy meeting new people and networking? An essential ingredient in the success of any business is the ability to meet and greet new people. If meeting people in particular selling is uncomfortable for you, I suggest you start by attending a few non-confrontational networking events. Your attendance at such events will help to establish your confidence, you will find you will become more familiar with meeting new people and talking about yourself and your business.

Are you a deep down cynic?
Many outwardly project themselves as the fountain of optimism. Yet when the going gets tough they get out. When starting and running a business you need to maintain a high level of determination. If you are easily disillusioned you might want to consider finding a suitable mentor, even an intangible mentor some one you seek to mirror. Affiliating yourself with someone who has been through the highs and lows can help keep your determination to succeed on track.

Can you take constructive criticism?
It doesn’t matter what you do in life you simply won’t satisfy everyone. You will receive negative and sometimes hurtful criticism. Even I have had negative feedback from time to time. The key is can you take it on board? It is not meant to be personal, hence why you need to learn how to grow from such criticism and how you use it to improve your business.

After considering the above questions you may decide you need to undertake further research into your idea to ensure you have the necessary skill set to successfully set up and run a business. Even if it takes a bit longer to set up your business, the time will be well spent developing the skills you need to strengthen and support your abilities as a business owner. I speak from experience on this matter, I started my photography business on pure adrenal and excitement. I had to learn on the job a number of important skills that make a for great business owner. I wrote Show Mummy the Money, to help others discover the secret to starting and running a business.

We will show you how you can make money in the new economy!

Our aim is to Show Mummy the Money!

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