Starting Your Business - Advice and Guidance
Running A Small Business
by
Tony Jacowski
Running small business is no small feat,
considering that one has to handle so many daunting tasks. From getting the
business up and running, to planning, financing, marketing, managing employees
and accounting, it adds up to a huge task. To top it all off, all of the
responsibility falls on squarely on the lap of the small business owner.
Running a Small Business
Above all else, we need to
answer two things: 1) Is running a small business for me and 2) why start my own
business?
IS RUNNING A SMALL BUSINESS
FOR ME?
Running a business is not
for everybody, as it takes a special kind of character. Additionally, you can’t
totally risk-proof your business, but you can improve through sound planning.
Start by asking yourself following questions:
1. Are you a
self-starter or do you need someone push you into action? If you can’t plan,
organize and follow up by yourself you probably won’t make a good small business
owner.
2. Are you a good
decision-maker? You will need to make a lot of critical decisions quickly. You
can’t depend on someone else in this area.
3. How good are your
interpersonal skills? Since you probably can’t afford the luxury of a specialist
(at least in the beginning), you will need to do all the talking with your
customers and vendors and you will have to get along with them. Remember that
your prime concern is the well-being of your business and you have to be able to
deal with multiple personality types with the patience of a diplomat. Can you
realistically do this?
4. Can you justify
your business plan? If you can’t be pragmatic in assessing your plans and other
business situations, you will be doing an injustice to your business. Being
unbiased is crucial, even with yourself.
5. Can you handle
extreme pressures? Pressures can potentially demotivate you to the point of
quitting, if you don’t have the personality to handle them well. Remember that
you will probably need to work around the clock, especially at the peak times
for your business. Can you do this without being frustrated?
WHY START MY OWN BUSINESS?
Perhaps the first answer is
to become your own boss. Hard work eventually pays off and you alone will reap
the benefit. Your earning potential is unlimited. For some people, a new
venture is exciting as they get variety in their work and thrive on challenge.
Planning and Starting a
Business
Good planning means to get a
workable business idea (one that suits you and your skills) and organizing key
events to get the business started and running. You should plan through
brainstorming, collecting information and analyzing it. Your options are
franchising, buying an existing a business or starting one from scratch (risky
for a beginner, but doable). Decide on the type of ownership at this stage.
Getting an appropriate name and licensing through the government are the final
steps.
RUNNING THE BUSINESS
Funding your venture is the
major task. You can look into financing it through loans from Small Business
Administration. SBA has a lot of programs suitable for small business owners.
Getting work is the next big
task. The SBA helps in getting government contracts subject to qualifying
factors. You will need to do your own marketing. Keenly observing the behavior
of customers and competitors is key to helping your business succeed. Good
services and incentives will help you to retain and expand your customer base.
Important Points
You can’t ignore the
importance of legal aspects such as taxation, copyrights, employee relations,
accounting principles and insurance among others. You may need to hire
professionals for at least some of these. Of utmost importance are your
financial obligations like monthly bills and loan repayments. At the very
least, you will need the services of an account to handle your finances.
You can be successful in
starting and running your own small business. It takes a lot of motivation and
some risk tolerance. Running your own small business can be extremely
gratifying. Knowing that you have what it takes to succeed is the first s
Tony Jacowski is a quality
analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solution's
Six Sigma Online
offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma,
black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.
Article Source:
ArticleRich.com
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