A small business requires some money to start with, but besides that. It requires time, dedication, and pushing through as we struggle to succeed. It often can be confusing, a lot of self-doubt, and a ton of hard work. It takes more than just working hard; it takes more than just family and friends supporting you.
It’s not easy, for sure. But is it worth it?
An entrepreneur is someone who has the courage and conviction that their idea for a business is one worth pursuing. More than that, though, they are the people who have taken that first step into leaving their job in order to pursue it full-time in hopes of one day starting it up and becoming successful.
Especially in a tough economy, starting a business is no small feat. It’s certainly not an easy process.
Whether you’re looking for a side hustle or aiming to run a full-time operation, the hardest part of starting any small business is just taking that first step. Once you’ve done that, there are countless resources available to help you unlock other levels and get your enterprise off the ground.
But before that, let’s quickly bust some cold hard truths related to small businesses that often come up before you actually start.
The Cold Hard Truth of Business
# 1: Most Small Businesses Fail
As the business’ founder, you’ll need to reach out and obtain new customers, possibly persuade a bank to give you a loan, design your brand so that it stands out from the competition, and assemble the best people for your team. To tell you the truth, it’s not easy at all. You will have to work harder than in any other job, including the 9-5 ones. Most small businesses fail, and from that viewpoint, your chances of survival are fairly low. But the chances of success in a small business are just as high as your skills and knowledge in the fields of marketing, sales, and management.
# 2: If you don’t sell anything you won’t survive
It would be wrong to say that you do not need sales to make a business successful. But in fact, in a small business, it’s not enough to sell well. You will have to convince your customers that you are worth buying. It takes an exceptional product or service that really captures the imagination and compels people to buy it. The key is to have a truly great idea that fits their lives and needs. There are many techniques being used by small businesses now, such as blogging and social networking, that can help you get your name out there and gain something other than money by selling your products. You build a community of supporters.
# 3: You’ll never make anything out of nothing
It’s true, nothing can be created out of nothing. And therein lies the difference between not starting a business and starting one. Having a small business should not be mistaken for having nothing. You simply shouldn’t let that thought come into your mind. It’s mostly about making the most of what you have, and the second important thing is available capital. Most people tend to think the other way around.
# 4: You need to know how to run a business
You don’t really need to have an MBA, and it’s not rocket science. The most important thing is to know what customers want nowadays and give them exactly that. You will learn and adapt to your business eventually. But the most important thing is to understand the most basic one; the concept of money. Eric Ries’ “The Lean Startup” offers a simple and dynamic method for entrepreneurs to test, evaluate, and continuously modify their vision and goals rather than fail by adhering to an initial business plan. Or maybe, Carlos Ariel Then‘s masterpiece, “Learn: Drop the L and Earn.” The latter is a life-changing book and a great way to develop an entrepreneur mindset. Books help guide you on your path—choose wisely.
# 5: No one will just give you business just because
Yes, no one is going to give a damn until you prove yourself. There’s no better way to prove yourself than by giving people a reason to say yes. That is where you need to stand out, and that is where your product or service needs to shine. It’s not the size of the business but the durability and quality of your ideas that are important, and those are what will attract leads or sales. In order to stand out from the crowd, you need to be creative and innovative, and most importantly, have something new (that does not suck).
The truth: your understanding of money shapes your business, no matter its size
What do you know about money? You might think that you have a solid understanding of it, but there’s always room to learn more. It’s true that you can get by with not knowing the specifics, but if you want a better business career, it will help to spend some time learning about money.
Your favorite YouTube gurus are just click baiting you to get more views and seldom provide the keys to success. What you’ve got to do is do what every other successful person has done since the creation of writing, buy books to learn about the subjects that will help you. Try to learn something that is not known by everybody, differentiate yourself.
Other than Carlos Then and Eric Ries, books by authors like Tony Robbins, Hal Elrod, Tomas Slimas, Dale Carnegie, and Josh Kaufman offer great insights into how money works, how to make more of it, and how to use it in the most appropriate way.
Reading books is old school, yet still the most effective way to actually grow your business, regardless of its size. You can get tons of “helpful” information from free video sharing platforms that help everyone, hence no one. A book, though, will not just serve you, but teach you the correct working mechanisms of business.
History repeats itself over and over again in consumer behavior. If you know how money works, though—how markets function, how people make financial decisions, and how money flows into an economy—then you’re well-equipped to anticipate these trends and capitalize on them for the benefit of your business.
Size of your business does not matter—your basic understanding of money does. Starting a small business can go smoothly if you know how to use the right tools for your well-being. So try picking up a book that will set your business up for success!
