Why, exactly, do you want to go into business for yourself?
* Is it because you cannot stand the thought of working for
an uptight, demanding, and perfectly dreadful boss?
* Is it because you cannot bear the thought of going through
another downsizing or restructuring, knowing that your job
could be on the line?
* Is it because you want to be your own boss, call your own
shots, or see more up side in your earning potential, with
the possibility of financial self-sufficiency?
These are all good reasons for wanting to go into business. In
fact, studies have shown that many entrepreneurs get their start
due to some life-altering experience such as losing a job or
finally walking away from a dead-end job or a demoralizing work
environment.
It is amazing how creative, resourceful, and innovative you can
be when, finally, you reach the edge and find yourself in a
survival situation professionally. In times like this, the
entrepreneurial spirit comes alive and you figure out that you
can simply do it on your own.
Does dissatisfaction alone in some area of your life constitute
reason enough to venture into business and the life of
entrepreneurship? Many potential entrepreneurs get to this
bridge and never cross because they do not know how to discover
and unleash the entrepreneur within himself or herself.
Many people resist giving credence to their entrepreneurial
tendencies no matter what the circumstances, ignoring the
potential for self-expression, independence and the fulfillment
of their dreams. Herein resides the real tragedy. Many people
experience paralysis from fear of the unknown and fear of
failure. Consequently, they never pursue entrepreneurship and
the potential freedom that it can bring to their lives.
Although entrepreneurship appears to offer many advantages for
personal and professional growth and accomplishment, why is it
that so many new entrepreneurs fail? In fact, studies have shown
us that out of every 100 entrepreneurs who start their own
businesses, 14 will succeed and a whopping 86 will fail in the
first five years. The odds, so to speak, are stacked against you
as a nascent entrepreneur. Therefore, if you are contemplating
starting your own business you should take it very seriously.
The two biggest reasons people fail in a new business are:
1) they don't know what they are doing, and
2) their business is undercapitalized.
When we say they don't know what they are doing, we mean they
literally don't know what they are doing in terms of running a
business day in and day out. It also makes perfect sense that a
new business might be undercapitalized (not having enough
working capital to run the business). In fact, many new
entrepreneurs, who don't know what they are doing have a hard
time finding either equity or debt capital for the reason that
lending institutions and savvy investors typically do not like
to give money to people who don't know what they are doing in
business.
In order to improve your chances of beating the odds, what is
important is that you educate yourself about business
development. There certainly is enough information out there on
how to start and run a small business. For instance, if you go
to Amazon.com and type in a search for books on
"Entrepreneurship'" alone, you will have over 21,000 book
choices. Nevertheless, where does one start in deciding what to
read, who to listen to, and what to implement?
In the more than 55 years of combined experience in the world of
business that my wife and I have had, and working with hundreds
of hopeful entrepreneurs, we discovered four basic stages to
business development that every entrepreneur must go through to
enhance their chances for business success.
1. Reflect
2. Envision
3. Create
4. Build
Most entrepreneurs, especially the 86 that fail, usually skip
one or more of these essential stages of business development
and find themselves in a heap of trouble before they know it.
Typically, a new entrepreneur will get and idea (envision) and
go straight to market (build). They simply unknowingly skip the
"reflect" and "create" stages, and charge into business with an
"if-I-work-hard-enough" attitude everything will be all right.
Well, statistically we know that not everything is all right and
it does not work.
|
