Starting up a business entails a lot of responsibilities, which also means having to deal with a lot of challenges along the way.
Whether you are a new entrepreneur or you’re creating another business, there are some struggles which cannot be avoided. But if you want to succeed, you must see these obstacles as mere stepping stones toward your goal. Some of these challenges may be harsh. However, these help you become stronger as you build your dream.
- Abandoning your day job. Many entrepreneurs started out as employees, but they have seen how difficult it is to rely solely on their 9-5 jobs. They’ve seen that the only way of making a huge improvement in their lives is by taking the risk of starting their own business. As I have mentioned, starting a business is a gamble.
- Financial capability. You may have prepared enough resources to start the business, but we also know that the ROI depends on how the public accepts the products and services that you offer. More importantly, as months pass by, the money coming in may not be enough to pay for the overhead expenses like the store rent, taxes, utilities, and employees. Many businesses close after a few months because they have overlooked the possibility that they might still additional resources to continue.
- Finding the right people. The time that you will spend in searching for the right employees can be daunting, especially if you have no experience at all in managing a team before. You also need to determine if their culture fits the business, their cost to the business, and their ability to work as part of a team.
- Becoming a leader. As the founder of the business, you are expected to come up with a lot of ideas. It is your responsibility to find ways on how you can become more competitive in the market and make alternative plans. The more inexperienced you are, the more pressure you will feel.
- You must learn to remain true to the mission and vision that you have regardless of the new strategies that you come up as the business progresses.
- Implementing rules. You may be a “cool boss”, but that shouldn’t be a hindrance in making all your employees follow a certain set of rules. It can be difficult, for example, to decide on certain things like the number of vacation days allowed for your employees, the proper protocol when filing a complaint.
- Longer working hours. A hardworking entrepreneur may choose to be always on top of everything. Being “hands on” all the time may require you to be away from your family more than you have ever been. You need these times to think about the existing situation of the business and what more you can do to improve the business.
- Letting go. Nothing is constant in this world except for change. And if it’s taking you too long to implement a certain plan, it is likely that newer and more innovative ideas have already been done by your competitor. Take time to create your plan and find ways on how you can put it into action, but not too long as you might just end up throwing it out the window. Consider how fast the public’s interest changes and modify your plans in such a way that it can conform to the current situation in the market.
There is nothing that you can do to avoid these challenges. All you have to do is to learn how to keep calm amid the storm.
Armando Bartolome’s writings appear on GoodNewsPilipinas.com every Thursday.
(Armando Bartolome is known as the Philippines’ Franchise Guru, a mentor to numerous micro entrepreneurs who are now themselves big names in the industry. This article is reposted with the author’s permission and was previously published on The Business Mentor column posted by ABSCBN News. For questions and more information, you may contact Armando “Butz” Bartolome by email: philfranchiseguru@gmail.com or on Twitter @philfranguru. His website is https://www.gmbmsglobal.com/ )
