What To Expect In The First Year Of Business
Common Start Up Obstacles and How to Avoid Them
Written by Brenda Stokes for Gaebler Ventures
Every new business owner faces challenges. Some challenges are harder than others and some are even avoidable. The key to keeping the stress at a low level and ensuring the smoothest start up possible is to know the obstacles and how to avoid them.
Michael Crawford of Crawford's Photography recently started his photography business.
He says, "I started out as small as a photographer can start out. I had a simple digital camera in my hand and solicited my co-workers to take photos of their children, for their engagements, and even landed a couple weddings. To avoid many of the obstacles that could have happened, I set small goals."
Crawford had very little start up money. He has faced obstacles in his business such as the risk of losing what little bit of money he had to start with. He is, however, overcoming those obstacles.
It is unfortunate that many start up businesses fail because of the obstacles that stand in the way of the business owner. They fail because the business owner doesn't know how to deal with those obstacles.
Some of those obstacles include:
You don't have the Nest Egg to start. Ideally, you should have 4 to 6 months of income to draw from while waiting for a return on your business. However, it is ideal for you to have a year since a start up business can take up to a year to show results. In many cases, a steady income can take two years to occur.
The way to work around this start up obstacle is to have access to inexpensive credit. You may also see if your spouse or significant other can manage the bills until you start bringing in some income. You may also wish to look at investors.
You can afford health insurance for you or your employees.This is one of the most complicated start up obstacles. It is rather risky to go without health insurance and private insurance is expensive.
If your spouse does not have insurance through their job, it is possible to join a union or professional organization that will enable you to take advantage of group insurance. If you do not have access to such a group, you can choose private insurance with a higher deductable.
The risk of a start up business is just too much to take. In this case, you simply need to sit down and calculate the risks. List the risks, but list the benefits and write down how you can manage each risk. Start up businesses succeed when they have solid plans in place.
Entrepreneurs tend to be risk takers and, while many fail, many succeed.
You don't know what you want to offer through your business. Sometimes the anxiety takes over and anxiety can be one of the worst start up obstacles a person can encounter.
To work around this obstacle, do your homework. Look at what makes you tick and what you can do well. Look at your passion, your likes, and your dislikes. When you are passionate about something, you are more likely to succeed at it.
There is a lack of confidence. This obstacle is rather cut and dry and the way you can work around it is to take baby steps. Set a large goal and smaller goals to get there.
These common start up obstacles either make a person's first year in their business a nightmare or they fail. For those who survive, they think about what they could have done better in order to make the start up of their business easier. For others they never figure it out, which means they may not have been entrepreneur material to begin with.
Brenda is a graduate of California State University and a professional writer covering a variety of business topics. To learn more about Brenda, check out her website at The Digital Inkwell.
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