Starting your first business can be a thrill and a challenge. And you should analyze both feelings first to embark on a good business. It is a thrill because it might be a transition from being an employee, where you have a lot of bosses telling you what to do, when to do it and how to. And this transition promises a freedom of doing it all by yourself without anybody’s influence. As employees there are rules we have to abide by. We have to get to the office at 8 or 9 and leave at 5.
This routine goes on for the whole of our life unless we get out of the job and start something of our own. The other burden is having to please our bosses. We get a bad feeling whenever our boss shows us a disappointed face. We always link his feelings with our performance and feel insecure. Starting our own business can make us break free off all these. The other reason that makes start-up businesses a thrill is that you expect financial freedom.
As employees, we have to wait for our periodic paycheck to spend on anything. But when you start your own business, you don’t have to wait to get paid to spend money. You have everything in your hands and you can spend whatever you want and whenever you want. You also get thrilled by the mere idea of being a business owner. All these thrills have some price, and that is what you should focus on.
The challenges manifest themselves in various ways depending on your capacity and potential. One of the common challenges is lack of finances. Often times, people have a very sound business plan but they don’t have the money to translate that into action. People have to raise some money from their savings or other possible sources of finance. Bank loan is one of the options, which people consider easy to get. But we often overlook the challenge in paying them back.
Loans for start-up businesses should be planned with great care. Lack of experience and uncertainties might make it difficult to pay the money back. It is advised to start a small business with some money down and get loans in the future for its expansion after testing the performance of the business and its potential. The other challenge is having a very good and feasible business plan. Everything is full of uncertainties, and a business plan should address that as much as possible.
This is usually the challenge with people who have money but lack a sound plan. It is always good to consult people who have been in business for sometime, as they have first-hand information they have paid a price for. A good business plan should be with a good SWOT analysis adhering to the real business environment.
