There is something to be said about the excitement of starting a business. For those that choose to, it can be more of a rush than bungee jumping; however, it can be much more dangerous for you if not done correctly.
Most people who start a business would classify themselves as entrepreneurs, right? People who believe they`re on the cutting edge of innovation and uniqueness that will launch them into a new and successful future. You find a skill or trade that you excel at, maybe it`s quite a few, and you decide to quit your job and start your own business and be your own boss.
This idea of starting your own business and being an entrepreneur is often fantasized and glamorized in success stories, movies, and on those flashy webinars…but as you probably know, a staggering amount of these start-ups never end up surviving past a few years.
And why is that?
Every business is unique and has its own unique needs and customers to cater to; however, standard practices exist that are constant across all business platforms – so we won`t dive into specific details for specific types of businesses in this article.
If you`re an entrepreneur, a self-starter, a doer – you probably are focusing on what you have probably done for at least the last few years of your life. It could be marketing, engineering, baking, or whatever. Starting this business, you are focusing on how to deliver the best product with the best quality – how could you go wrong? You`re hell-bent on putting in whatever work it takes to create an awesome product or service.
Here`s the problem…
A business is not all about the production, manufacturing, or features of your product or service. As the book E-Myth Revisited says – you can`t just be the “technician” in your business. You have to be the entrepreneur and management too, unless you consider using the services of businesses like fuel_COO, owned by Ginny Wood, for example. Businesses like that aim to help start-up companies to grow into successful businesses by helping them to manage their operations effectively. This gives the business the best chance of becoming successful.
If you’re planning on running all operations alone, your focus may be on what you know (the doing/working) and it may leave your business starving for customers as well as your body aching at all the work and time required. If your only focus is to produce quality products, while that may lead to initial success, you must be able to focus on or delegate the entrepreneurial and management tasks too.
You need to maintain accounting with accounting firms in chicago or closer to you, marketing strategies, innovation, logistics, etc. You need to start your business knowing that you or perhaps you and your partner will have to cover all of these positions initially. This is a lot of work for one or two people, especially if they are inexperienced in some of these fields. That’s why some businesses owners, like those in the roofing business for example, go to SGI for help with the systems and insights that will make them achieve more. Just help with more leads can be the boost they need. You can learn more about roofing leads by visiting the SGI website.
After a period of success at the beginning, knowing how to hire and delegate tasks is essential. You must make sure that your employees understand your vision, the company`s way of doing business (which involves specific processes as well as company values). Hiring people without having a set sales, accounting, or shipping process will leave your employees doing everything their own way… and not the way you would do it. For businesses in this situation, it may not be a bad decision to outsource your sales or accountancy process. This way, you can simply focus on your companies logistics which would include shipping, etc. There are various Professional Accounting Services that will listen to your values and methodology to ensure the job is done the way you would want it.
Without a complete understanding of roles needed in a business, without a set process for these roles, and without a set company vision or values, your business will fail. Maybe not tomorrow but eventually…and the longer you don`t have these principles incorporated into your business…the worse the fall will be.
