Being the Boss is Not Easy!!
One lesson I learned early starting my own business at a young age was… Being the Boss is Not Easy!!
I speak with people all the time who dream of becoming self employed and starting their own small business. Don’t get me wrong: being self employed is the best lifestyle out there. It has a huge range of rewards, from flexibility to independence to self-responsibility. I’m completely in love with being self employed because of the benefits!
But it is hard work, plain and simple. After carefully studying and working with people who start their own businesses, my best estimate is that it takes at least a year to make a serious profit, and often it’s more like two years. I have yet to see a “quick fix” for small business marketing that will land a lot of cash in your pocket in 30 days.
If you build a poor structure, you’ll crash and burn eventually. If your business strategy and plans are not fine-tuned, you’ll spend an extraordinary amount of time running in circles trying to find the right customer and the right product or service to sell them.
So why do people look for (and purchase) products and services that promise a quick fix to their ailing small business? In the question lays the answer: they want a quick fix to the pain. Don’t we all? When in reality, the fix is hustle and hard work!!
Running your own small business is like a stage production. Stop trying to cut corners on your way to your first million without a firm foundation under you. Remember, great magicians put lots of time in to practice; they don’t wait until the week before a show to begin preparing.
Things to consider:
- Make sure you have the personality to be self employed.
- Make sure you have enough money to finance your dreams, and a good financial plan that tells you when you’ll actually start making a profit.
- Invest money and time in sound, effective operating, financial, and marketing strategies! Ane make sure you do them every month, rain or shine.
- Have a written business plan and a business strategy, even if it’s only three pages long.
- Test your marketing ideas, your product ideas and your service ideas to make sure you’ve got everything on target. Please do accountable marketing!! Track your spending and do not throw marketing funds away!
And finally, have fun building a business!
