We are rapidly heading toward 2024. With the new year upcoming, it’s easy to think about goals you have and how you plan to reach them. Maybe you have an entrepreneurial spirit, and you feel like 2024 is the year you decide to start your own company or business venture.
If so, there are a few considerations that should enter your mind. We’ll talk about them in this article. Being an entrepreneur is undoubtedly an exciting prospect, but it’s not as easy as some of the more visible business moguls might make it seem.
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Energy Sector Prices Are Probably Going to Go Up
There are a few things that entrepreneurs need to know that apply only to particular sectors or niches. For instance, if you’re trying to open up a bakery, you probably won’t need to know if you have to replace a UPS battery.
However, there are also economic factors that will influence you regardless of what business you plan to open. For instance, gas prices will matter for nearly all companies, and if you plan on becoming an entrepreneur in 2024, they likely will for you as well.
The whole world sees wholesale gas prices rising at the moment, and that means nearly everything you do will become more expensive. From the cost of driving around to get supplies for your new company to the price of heating the building you plan to use as a base, you’ll need to budget for rising gas prices if you want to launch a new business next year.
The only companies that the rising gases prices will not affect are the carbon-neutral ones. However, you’ll more than likely find that achieving this status is very challenging.
The Housing Market is Experiencing a Downturn
There are different ways you can generate the money to start a business. For example, you might choose to sell your home and use the proceeds as stake money for your new company.
If you wanted to cash in on the fragile US housing bubble, you might have missed your chance. That is because if you’re keeping an eye on sites likes Zillow and Redfin, you’ll see that prices are starting to drop, or they have stabilized after frantic rising throughout 2023’s first half.
That’s not to say that every entrepreneur will rely on selling a house to stake their new business. You can always go to a more traditional option, like securing a bank or credit union loan. However, that’s only likely to work if you have both a solid business plan and an excellent credit score.
Student Loan Debt Will Be Due Again
Other would-be entrepreneurs will have to think about their debts, even as they try to launch a new company. If you have no debt and you’re going to start a business, you’re one of the lucky ones.
Let’s assume that you’re not one of those fortunate few, and you have some student loans from your college days. Getting that degree might benefit you, but now, you have to start paying back what you borrowed.
You might have had a lengthy reprieve for close to the past two years. President Biden extended student loan deferment for all of 2023 for everyone who owed. Now, however, he has made statements indicating that he feels the economy is strong enough so that those with student loans will need to start paying in 2024.
You can argue about whether student loan forgiveness is a good idea or not, but for the moment, that’s irrelevant. The point is that budding entrepreneurs will need to start paying student loans again next year, so you must factor that into your budgeting.
Banks and Credit Unions Are More Likely to Lend Money Again
Earlier, we mentioned bank and credit union loans as more traditional ways for would-be entrepreneurs to secure money to get their startup off the ground. For much of 2022 and some of 2023, lots of banks and credit unions saw very few individuals who were willing to ask them for money for business purposes. That was because the economy was in freefall, and pandemic fears were widespread.
The pandemic is not over, but nearly the whole country has opened up again, and commerce and economic recovery are taking place. That means banks and credit unions are eager to bring in some enterprising individuals who are willing to take on new business loans.
As an aspiring entrepreneur, that’s great news for you. You should be able to find a credit union or bank from which to secure a chunk of money if you have the qualifications we mentioned earlier.
Workers Are Holding Out for Better Wages
You should also think about the fact that in America, many workers are continuing to hold out for better wages rather than return to so-called “unskilled labor” jobs, such as in the fast-food industry. Maybe you don’t have any plans to open up a McDonald’s franchise in your city, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take lessons from this worker uprising.
The fact is that the US minimum wage has not gone higher in decades, even though inflation continues unchecked. What does that mean for you as an entrepreneur? It implies that you only have a chance of attracting workers for your new company or business venture if you pay them a living wage.
What is a living wage? That depends partially on where in the country you plan to start up your business. Some workers state that they need $15 per hour to even consider a job in 2024. Others are looking for $20 per hour or more.
If you offer your workers better than competitive wages and useful benefits, like a decent healthcare plan and plentiful vacation days, that should help you attract plenty of applicants. It’s something to remember as you start to plan what staff you need to get your company idea off and running in the new year.
About Carson Derrow
