This might be stating the obvious, but could be a major hindrance to you if you are thinking about starting a small business. Everything about this business will hinge around you. Staff, generating revenue, complaints and business health will all rest on your shoulders.
Everything will always fall on you. You will not have anyone to refer to or blame. In the end, as a small business owner you will take full responsibility for everything that happens in your business. Yes, you might have staff to take care of certain tasks for you, but when the boogeyman comes, he comes for you alone. Can you take that kind of responsibility on your shoulders?
Think about this for a second, before we paint the wonderful picture of being your own boss. Let us scare the hype and excitement out of you first so you can think clearly about starting your own business. Let us assume you will have a staff compliment of ten people working for you. Your work relationship over a year becomes intimate, you meet the families, you know your workers personally. The market does a nasty on you and you have to let one or two of your staff members go. Where there were friendships, there is now bitterness and anger. Will you be able to stand under this animosity? Will you be able to make that decision?
Here is another scenario. You will have to learn that your staff always gets paid first. You might have had a slow month and although you can pay your staff, you cannot pay yourself. Your bond is late, your car payment is late, the banks phone to ask for money, your life partner is fighting because you took this foolish jump into starting your own business. The pressure in your personal life is reaching breaking point. What will you do? Scream at your staff to work harder, or sit and sulk? Will you grab the spade and start digging? What I mean is, will you get of your business owner throne to go look for the work to recuperate the cash flow.
When your staff mess up and your clients call to complain, are you going to blame the staff for their incompetence? If you do, you are telling your client that you don't know how to manage your staff or your business. Obviously not, you say, but this becomes really difficult when the client gets personal, screams and shouts at you. Do you tell the client to shove it?
Knowing that the mistake is going to cost money that you cannot really afford, how do you deal with it? You cannot bully your clients, they are your bread and butter. If you are prone to lose your cool, you will have to change that very quickly. You cannot own a small business and be a hothead. Neither can you be the owner of any business if you are a softy. Assertiveness is key to managing your business successfully.
These are things that happen to any business owner, more so to the small business owner. It is imperative that you take these things into consideration before you start your business plan. Most small businesses that fold, do so because of the owners, not the staff and not the clients.
How do you treat money? When you hit that big contract, and make make a nice bundle, do you get that new car? Do you buy the new computer because the business needs it or because you want it? For the small business owner, the most important thing in his finances is cash flow. It is probably the most difficult thing to build up and to maintain. Cash flow is another swear word that will become part of your daily life. Cash flow calls for restraint when you really want to spend. It calls for 'waiting' when you really want to go ahead. Do you have this kind of restraint?
The good news is that there are methods and answers to overcome or strengthen all of the above. I will take you on this journey to develop yourself, your staff, your business and your clients into a streamlined, well planned, well organized, successful and profitable company. After sixteen years, and five successful businesses, I have room and authority to share with you my mistakes so you don't have to make them. I will share with you my successes so you can implement them and be successful yourself.
For those that want to start a small business, but don't have money to invest, I have a successful business model that I have used myself to start from nothing to success. I will start with that shortly, but first, there are a couple of things we need to discuss before you even decide to start your own business.
In the next article we will delve into is to be prepared. We will look at all the pitfalls above before venturing into the wonderful world of calling yourself a business owner. When you are prepared, you will not run out of water in the desert.
Marius Nel
Business Development Manager.
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