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Whether you are making your side business a full-time experience, or contemplating the start of something new, choosing entrepreneurship is a risk. According to a report, two-thirds of businesses survive two years, half of all businesses will survive five years, and one-third will survive 10 years. The longer a company has been in business, the more likely it is to stay in business. Entrepreneurs have to constantly ask themselves how profitable will the business be, will customers like the product, how long will your business exist and will you be to give yourself a steady paycheck. Every entrepreneur has to overcome obstacles to make their small business succeed, listed are the four most common.
1. Cash Flow and Funding
Cash Flow is essential to small business survival, yet many entrepreneurs struggle to pay the bills. According to a U.S. Bank study, 82 percent of business failures are due to poor cash management. Cash flow doesn’t just mean the amounts of money coming in and out, but you have to take timing into account too. For instance, if the business is operated on an invoice system, you deliver the goods or services and then they pay the invoice at a later date. If you have to buy a product or build it before you can sell, it can hurt your cash flow. Obtaining financing can be difficult for a start-up business especially if you don’t already have a network of investors and don’t have a line of credit at a bank. With a variety of ways to fund your venture such as small business credit cards or loans, a merchant cash advance or crowdfunding, researching which option is best for you is important.
2. Hiring and Delegating Tasks
Hiring a team for a new business can be difficult if you don’t have any management experience. With managerial experience it can still be stressful trying to fill certain roles especially when you are under pressure to fill those positions as fast as possible. The hiring process can take several days by reviewing resumes, having interviews and searching through unqualified candidates to find the right team. Once you have selected your team, you must still offer an attractive benefits package to keep the best people long-term. Once hired you will need to start delegating task which can seem daunting when you have been taking care of everything yourself. If you are specific and write down detailed instructions for what needs to be done, your employees will help you get each task done right the first time.
3. Emotional Control
Entrepreneurship is stressful and a range of emotions will present themselves all at once, but you must learn to control them. The pressure can be overwhelming and you have to prepare yourself for the roller-coaster ride of feelings you have in the early stages. For example, if you get a phone call after hours or on the weekend, it probably means trouble. You can’t ignore it, but instead remember you are in charge, take a deep breath, answer the call and deal with the situation. When things are not going right entrepreneurs often get self-doubt and want to give up. Being able to overcome self-doubt is necessary. It often helps to have a good support system and a list of goals and tasks you need to achieve each day.
4. Driving Targeted Traffic
How will the public know about your new business or product? You need to create foot traffic in your brick-and-mortar store or online traffic for your Internet start-up. You have to create a marketing strategy that targets your specific audience and choose the best ways to market your products or services. This could be with print, online or mobile advertising. You will have to find an unique voice to set yourself apart from other small business.
Entrepreneurs have to make hundreds of decisions a day and they will experience a wide-range of emotions. You can overcome these obstacles will a specific mindset and persevere through the tough months to reach your goals. Building something out of nothing is not simple, but the challenges will grow less intimidating and more controllable with time. Entrepreneurship is a challenge, but it can be a rewarding challenge.
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