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It might be possible to work full time and start a new business at the same time, but I doubt it. You need to be able to see customers during the day light hours.
If your hours are very flexible, Maybe. If you are on a 40 hour week with a time clock.... forget it!
Starting more than one at the same time......well, it would be a newsworthy event if any of them made it.
I do stand corrected and thank you. I was so stressed about getting my prices up that it really stands out in my mind. Hence my next comment.
If you are lucky enough to be able to have 2 mentors or a round table listen to all opinions and make your best judgment. Each business owner had different experiences and different solutions.
Setting a price is one of the hardest decisions to make.
It is. Better to be gradual about it than to simply jack up prices overnight. It goes without saying that customers are less apt to notice incremental change than dramatic ones.
You will always be learning. Always look for more information. I am always interested in other peoples experiences. This is an interesting thread and I wanted to re-read it. Below is a previous post that in my opinion included excellent advise so if you glanced through this post, take time to read it again.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cpg35223
I'm a serial entrepreneur, MAT. At the same time I consult for a large number of businesses, either directly or through my clients. Starting your own business is terrifying, exhilarating, energizing, draining, and about a dozen other emotions at the very same time.
Every start-up is different, but I've come to realize that there are some broad defining principles for it to work. Let me see if I can capture those in this post:
1) You can read every book on the subject, but the first day you are in business, you realize you know nothing. There are some posters on here who've not yet taken the first step but want to pontificate to those of us who have walked the walk for years. They don't know beans about anything and don't realize it. Until you actually start doing it, you just don't understand it. So embrace that fact and look upon it as a learning process, one where you learn a lot about yourself at the same time.
2) Be prepared to work really hard. Most people understand this on an intellectual basis. But the reality is something different. The most common thing I heard when I started my first biz 23 years ago was, "Oh, that will be great. You can work your own hours." Yeah. 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays. Sundays. Even the odd holiday. So if you don't like working, don't do it.
3) Even though you'll work really hard, it will be a labor of love. It really is the same mentality at work as being a parent. As a parent, you might carp and moan about the work load and the demands, but would you really give up your kids for anything? Of course not. And just as there's no reward for parenting quite like a kid who is out there doing wonderful things, there's quite no reward like a business that really begins to be successful. It's a giddy feeling.
4) Be prepared to be very flexible. You don't need to be an expert on accounting, marketing, or a host of other disciplines, but you need to be conversant on those subjects. In that sense, outside of your core expertise, you need to be an intelligent generalist, a person who knows who to hire for what, and what general instructions you give them to send them on their way.
5) Be a good salesperson and marketer. Right now, it's early July. Typically a dead time in my business. Do you think for a minute that I'm sitting around and goofing off (Aside from CD postings, of course)? Hell no. I have new biz meetings lined up, proposals out, and networking to be done. It really is a 365-day-a-year effort. That means you cannot go out there, land a few clients and quit selling. I have clients with whom I've worked for 10 years now, but even the best-served clients go away by sheer attrition. So you really need to hone this ability.
6) Be a good people person and a good manager. If you cannot connect to people, if you cannot be a person that people like, don't even bother. What's more, your first two employees will be your most important ones. Treat them well, pay them well, and inspire them to work their butts off. Because anyone who signs on with you rather than an established firm is taking on a major risk in their lives. Something has to be motivating them besides the paycheck. And that something will need to be you. I cannot tell you how many start-ups I've seen where the owners were such unpleasant pinchpennies and slavedrivers that they created really miserable working environments for employees, who then leave at the first possible opportunity. This is incredibly stupid. I worked for one couple like that and, after a year, I started looking for the exits. I left them and created a $5 million company out of thin air over the next six years. I'm the kind of motivated, intelligent, and hardworking person they should have been delighted to have on their staff. Instead they drove me away with a sheaf of rules, skimpy paychecks, and mercurial management. Don't be that kind of business owner. And don't make a rule that's not absolutely necessary.
7) Be a clear, precise communicator.
8) Actually have a reason for going into business besides making money. As in have a clear, core idea that separates you from the raft of competitors. This works at the most fundamental level. In our area, we have tons of nail salons. But a new nail salon opened up and is, evidently, pulling in lots of customers. Why? They serve margaritas to customers after 5 p.m. This place is packed at all times. Because if you don't have a clear differentiator, then you don't give prospects a good reason to use you instead of the company they've used all this time.
9) Be funded ahead of time. Yeah, I've heard all the heartwarming stories about somebody starting up out of his car and becoming a billionaire. For every one of those anecdotes you've heard, there are 100,000 others who sputtered and died quickly because of a lack of cash. As a business owner, you need money and oxygen in that order. No, you don't need hundreds of thousands in seed capital for most businesses, but you better be prepared to hire critical staff, fund a basic marketing effort, and lots of other things, while being able to feed you and your family. So a good plan is to start saving now for the business you want to start in another year or so. And slash your personal expenses to the bone. That will take the pressure off.
10) What to skimp on. Fancy offices, equipment, company cars, office supplies, and all the showy accoutrements of biz. Yeah, that stuff will impress the friends, family, and neighbors -- right up until you go out of business. Operate out of your house if at all practical. Keep your overhead as low as possible and still keep a decent image in the marketplace.
11) What not to skimp on. A good accountant. A good business attorney. Employee salaries where practical. Because really good, self-motivated people will be like gold. And a decent salary, along with a vision where they can make really good money in the future, is what it will take to get them on board with you.
12) At all times, be brave. The first day you start your business, I guarantee it will start this way. You will spring out of bed, get in the shower and begin thinking, "What am I doing? Have I lost my mind?" This is known as Entrepreneurial Terror, and it's perfectly normal. In fact, I would argue that if you're NOT doing this, you have problems. Because this is the basic impulse that will keep you moving forward, even when nothing is going right. At the same time, you have to master that terror, not be paralyzed by it, and really be prepared to slog ahead. For, if you are a decent person, the world wants you to succeed. Just keep making smart decisions, keep banging on doors, and don't get greedy.
Hope this helps. Every few months a headhunter calls me with some job offer somewhere. And I gracefully turn them down. Because I love working for myself. With the exception of a one-year period way back, I have earned my own money for 23 years. While I have worked grueling hours and had some awful moments, the spiritual and financial rewards more than compensate for it. I am my own person, not a cubicle dweller ticking off the days until retirement like a prisoner in a cell.
Even as I write this at 8:44 a.m. on a holiday week, my phone is ringing with calls from clients around the country who value my opinion and seek me out for advice, people who I would have never known had I chosen to just pick up a paycheck from others. I work with the people I like and turn down the people I don't. And I make a very good income while still managing to pick up my kids from school and take them to soccer practice, violin, and whatever else.
Yes, doing those things requires I sometimes get up at 4 a.m. to work, or stay up past midnight. But I do those things for me and my family, not as some faceless corporate drone. It really is the best way to live, I promise you.
I would love to start my own business but am pretty nervous about the whole thing.
You hear so many bad luck stories.
Is there anyone out there who could share their positive start-up stories, and give me a bit of encouragement?
Hello. One of the biggest keys to starting your own business is to be thoroughly familiar with ALL aspects of the service or product you will be selling/offering ... and to heavily investigate the market for such a service/product in your locale or on a larger geographical scale if that applies. For instance, it is insane starting a sandwich shop in your town if you have no experience with the food industry . Yet plenty of people undertake such a venture and typically fail in a short amount of time. I hear the average newly started small business fails within a 3 year period out of those that DO fail. SO..starting up a business isnt for everyone and in fact for a select group in my opinion. It takes a lot of business savvy, ability to make smart decisions, ability to keep the overhead and expenses at a minimum, ability to manage others, ability to market your business effectively, and ability to handle customers fairly/appropriately/and equitably. I find most people are severly lacking in one or more of the above.
At any rate, for myself, I started out in the Heating and AIr Conditioning Trade when i was 19 and went to work for a few Contractors over the following 10 years gaining knowledge, wisdom on how to handle people, becoming proficient in my work habits, and working hard . Because i worked for a commercial only HVAC Company it was not a conflict of interest for me to do sidejobs for residential consumers in a few large developments close to my home , and over the course of a few years I had weaseled my way into becoming THE guy to call in case their a/c or furnace broke . Thru personal referrals and advertising in their development newsletters, I had all the sidejobs i could possibly handle after hours and on the weekends. Having had my fill of immoral and unethical business dealings my Employer expected me to partake in, I threw in the towel of working for others and started my own simple repair and installation HVAC Business becoming an S-Corporation . Threw plenty of hard work, overtime , and making sound decisions along with Gods favor., I became successful and was able to save alot of money as well as b ecome totally debtfree. . My self employment lasted 24 years until i decided to retire early and move to sunny northern Florida where I still take on sidejobs for friends and their families .
What i would suggest is, to go online and see if you can find a questionaire which will help you determine if you are suitable for Self Employment as well as do research on the favorability of whatever product or service you are thinking of promoting. Talk to a few people who are in that line of business too.,but dont make the jump unless YOU are right for running a small business and until the TIME and FINANCES are right also. If you can possibly start it up part time while working your full time job, then so much the better...theres nothing like starting off with a good customer base right from the getgo that you decide to go fulltime with it.
When someone talks about going into business they usually mean they want to be self employed. Yes it is a business but there is a difference between self employed and a true business.
If you are self employed ask yourself what will happen to the business and your income if something happens to you. Do you have a plan where someone can cary on the business operations until you are able to again.
Some people will start a business in hopes of one day selling it. They plan with the end in mind. When it comes time to sell can the business operate without you? Although not near ready to sell but trying to cross over to a true business owner, this would be an excellent subject.
I would love to start my own business but am pretty nervous about the whole thing.
You hear so many bad luck stories.
Is there anyone out there who could share their positive start-up stories, and give me a bit of encouragement?
MsAnnThrope, if you have a good idea that will fill a need that others want, implement it well, work hard, you could be the next successful start up.
With my business, I've worked harder than ever, ate, drank, slept it and still love it. It is the best decision and change for a positive, better life I made. I hope this helps.
I think every prospective business owner should be able to answer these questions:
1) Do I really know this business? If not, get some expertise quickly.
2) I will enter this business against competition. What do I do that is unique? Does how I do it provide a unique benefit to the consumer? It is essential to deliver something truly different to the market that's actually relevant to the buyer, not just the same old service as the other fifteen competitors you have. Otherwise nobody has a reason to do business with you.
3) Am I prepared to go as long as a year without realizing any personal income? Trust me on this. My second business, which requires a long sales cycle, did not even begin cash flow for nine months. Even then I didn't really replace my previous salary until I was 24 months in.
4) Is my personal credit in excellent shape? If you have mediocre credit, it's going to make things tough. Especially early on, you'll likely have to put your personal guarantee on any expensive equipment or other outlays. Avoid at all costs, of course, but sometimes it's inescapable.
5) Do I have a true marketing plan? How do I plan to execute that marketing plan every month? I'm always flabbergasted by the people who figure out their pro forma down to the penny, and then put down $500 for marketing. This means a) they have not committed to a marketing plan and b) they will do it half-assed. The truth is, it's a 365-day a year endeavor, and you should always be thinking 3 months out.
6) Do I need partners? If so, who can I really, really trust? A good partner can be indispensable, spreading out the workload and ownership costs, not to mention bringing different competencies into the business. But a bad one can be a boat anchor who will put you out of business. And, whatever you do, if you start a business with a buddy or a relative, don't do it on a handshake. Have a very tightly-definen agreement regarding responsibilities, duties, and obligations. And I don't care if this is your best friend in the world, keep your personal life and your business life absolutely separate.
7) What is the entity my organization should take? S corp or LLC? A good accountant and/or attorney will answer this better than I can. The tax laws are changing all the time, and how you set up your organization will save untold amounts of money come tax time.
8) Have I taken a realistic approach to estimating expenses and revenue? Do I have real numbers or just guesses? Don't ever guess at a number. At the very least, pick up the phone and get some ballparks on things, whether it's office space or a web site.
9) Can I describe my business' unique approach in one simple sentence that delivers immediate impact? Again, if you're the new guy on the block saying, "Me, too," then you'll lose hands down. If you don't deliver something different to the market and be able to articulate your difference, prepare for a lot of indifference among customers.
10) Do I have a name and a web site? Believe it or not, lots of people never think about how to name their business until almost the last minute. Then they either choose something that's a gigantic yawner such as "American Storage" or doesn't communicate anything positive about the organization. I dealt with a start-up optometry chain that had lots of financial backing, yet decided to name the enterprise after the President's basset hound. Sure it was cute, but to the buying public it made them look like a bunch of dumb yokels who couldn't care less about their eye care. Hey, even if you name it "Joe's," at least you are communicating that it's owned by a guy named Joe.
And, believe me, spend the money on a half-decent web site. Don't try to do it yourself, and make sure you pay attention to your SEO. For the first thing people will do is look you up online. If they don't like what they see, if you look like amateur hour, then they'll move on to the next outfit.
And, believe me, spend the money on a half-decent web site. Don't try to do it yourself, and make sure you pay attention to your SEO. For the first thing people will do is look you up online. If they don't like what they see, if you look like amateur hour, then they'll move on to the next outfit.
Ton of great information in this post, and I'm glad you touched this last point, and also reaffirmed it's importance to me. I recently experienced this first hand.
Basically we were trying to revamp a part of our company (we focus on storage solutions), and this one section wasn't doing too well. I looked at it and said one of the basic issues is image. It's a great idea, but this department was visually unappealing in every aspect, from product, marketing, and website. With our clientele and targets being those that were well off, particularly in Manhattan, I thought image should have been a more prominent concern on our radar.
The idea was good, but it really lacked presentation along with a website that looked EXTREMELY amateur, like some sort of hypothetical college student fake project. They ended up putting a little bit of work into image, I still feel like it isn't up to todays standards in terms of visuals. I proposed very affordable solution in terms of product image/design along with a mock website that was clean, modern, but I don't think the ones in charge understood the importance. Running late so hopefully what I mentioned is relevant and makes sense to those reading. Please put some concern into image
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