There are plenty of tips out there for starting your business, and some of them are actually contradictory. “Go ahead and take the leap!” says one while another advises, “You need to carefully plan everything before you start.” Once the business is underway, one article might continue to argue for a more risk-taking approach while another may give more conservative advice. The truth is that there is no one single right way to take your first steps as an entrepreneur, and your approach might vary depending on your own temperament and the type of company you want to start. Instead of following any one person’s advice, here are some things to consider.
Table of Contents
Your Passion
There is a school of thought that you need to love the business you start. In fact, some people would argue that this love alone is enough to drive you to succeed. Unfortunately, not only is this untrue, but if you are too in love with your idea, it could blind you to mistakes along the way. You need to be passionate about succeeding but not necessarily about what your business is. Of course, passion is not necessarily an obstacle, and you may, for example, very well build a successful tour company that specializes in a region of the world that you love. However, if you do feel emotionally connected to what your business is about, you should think carefully about the hard-nosed decisions that you will need to make and how you can separate your feelings from the facts in making those decisions.
Your Money
One solid piece of advice for running your own business is that you need to keep both your personal and business finances in order. This doesn’t mean that you can’t possibly succeed if you tend to be financially irresponsible, but it will certainly be a disadvantage. However, some people do have more tolerance for financial risk than others, and you should think about where you fall on this continuum and how this will affect the decisions that you make. It’s also a good idea to look at where you can save money to put toward your expenses. There are plenty of solutions that might not occur to you immediately, such as consolidating multiple student loans. You can avoid missing the due dates and the penalties that accompany that error if you only have one due date to worry about. You may also have lower interest rates with a consolidation.
Your Support System
As the saying goes, no one is an island, and you will need both personal and professional support. Again, the key here is to avoid one-size-fits-all solutions. Not everyone will need a bookkeeper, an attorney or an accountant, but you also shouldn’t dismiss any professional help out of hand. Sure, you can do your taxes yourself, but you might be surprised at how much stress an accountant relieves. Mentors can also be a huge help. In your personal life, look to your friends and family to talk you through dilemmas and help pick up the slack when you are too busy or overwhelmed. However, be sure that you don’t take them for granted and that you return the favor.
