With the
economy the way it is these days (yes, I know it’s supposed to be getting
better, but …), many people have found themselves needing to find extra income
to support themselves and their families. People have lost their jobs, have
taken a cut in pay, have found themselves in foreclosure and much more. They
are desperate to find ways of generating income. So, what do they do? They turn
to what they know best and open their own businesses.
I repeat, they do what they do best and open their own
businesses. However, I’m betting what they know best is NOT how to run a
business, but how to make the widget, or balance the checkbook, or cook a
wonderful meal. Yet, sadly, this is not the stuff a business is made of. What a
business is made of is marketing, advertising, customer service, branding,
finance, employee management, and so on and so forth. Making that widget is
great, but it’s not going to get people in the door buying. There’s a whole
other world out there that needs to be considered before you open your door. The
factors which are involved in starting and running a business are multi-faceted;
but the number one question that comes to mind is “Can I deliver?”
It’s not only about the ability to run a business, though.
Something I’ve seen a lot of lately is a belief that when you go into business
for yourself, you become the “boss”. You set the hours – there’ll be lots of
free time, you only answer to yourself – no more bosses yelling at you to get
things done, or watching over your shoulder to see that you do it right. You
can set your own pay check, giving yourself a raise. But, I’m sorry to say,
that’s just not the case. Many entrepreneurs have never worked so hard in their
lives. They are up at the crack of dawn and fall in bed in the deep, dark hours
of the night. Unlike an employee where you work a certain number of hours and
at the end of a set time period get a paycheck, small business people work and
work and work and pray and hope to get a financial reward SOMETIME in the
FUTURE. A person who starts his or her own business needs to be aware that they
are going to work very, very hard without seeing any sort of income for quite
awhile.
I often run into people who, once they’ve started that
business, think that if they open the doors, others will come. Recently, I
moved my business into a great new space, full of potential. I was so excited
and just KNEW that it would soon be filled with small business people, excited
about creating new ideas and energies. But, so far, I’ve only had a handful of
visitors, with promises of more to come down the pike. It takes time to build a
reputation, to create a bond with your potential customers, and to show them
they need what it is you’re offering.
A friend of mine, who is quite a successful small business
person, was talking with me the other day and I asked her how she had gotten to
that space. She sells a product/service in the technology field and it is
definitely one of those areas that people are reluctant to buy until they know
you. She told me that for the first year she never focused on her sales.
Instead, she spent her time writing blog posts, and newspaper articles, press
releases and showing up in chat groups on Facebook and LinkedIn – she was
showing herself as the specialist that she is. She didn’t make a dollar that
first year (well, not in any grand sense of the word). But, after people
started to recognize her name and think of her as someone who they could trust
and rely on to provide them with proper technology, she started gaining
supporters/followers and now she has a very successful enterprise.
What I’m getting at here folks, is that if you want a
business, not just a hobby, you have to work at it – with patience and
determination. Don’t think that a 9 to 5 job is where it’s at. Go to networking
meetings, get out there and talk with others in your area, put off that lunch
with your best friend (or yes, even think twice about a family outing, at least
this time). Realize that you should probably check out the local business
Meetups or referral groups. Don’t think that you know everything there is to
know about running a business: there’s always some new or different way to
think about things, or run business projects. Get involved in the community.
Plan for lots of HARD WORK and then, maybe, just maybe, down the road, you’ll
have a successful business like my friend.
