Business – serious business, not for the faint of heart. Even if passion runs through the veins of your business, you must proceed with caution.
Starting a business is like running a Comrades Ultra Marathon. You don’t wake up one morning and decide to run it.
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You might first assess the situation, decide that the stats are good, then launch a training program to get you back to where you started.
Rating
The excitement of being your own boss or giving up a dead-end job can lead to an accelerated “Quit!” process. » Early mail. Stop and think about the possibilities:
Define your niche and what your solution should look like. It sounds cliché, stick with what you’re passionate about, because when times are tough, it’s passion that pulls you through.
Do your homework – Research, research, research. Thoroughly research your competitors, target market, and product. There’s no room for error.
Profitability – Think about your business model, what does the profit margin look like? Does it have the potential to increase profits as it grows?
Skills – What is the main skill set that will generate income for you in your chosen field, can it generate decent income and do you have the expertise to compete on the playing field?
Character traits – discipline, dedication, creativity, curiosity, resilience, confidence, self-reliance, humility, focus, open-mindedness. Out of these ten traits, how many are part of your strengths?
Activate
Once you’ve passed the feasibility test in the evaluation stage, and you’re determined to go ahead, you need to start building or fast-track your entrepreneurial activities:
Develop your personal brand – the moment the entrepreneurial seed was planted, you would have begun building your profiles on a variety of platforms. Whether it’s your website, LinkedIn profile, or YouTube channel, establishing your personal brand beforehand puts you a few steps ahead. But you need to think like a marketer and fine-tune it for serious business.
Advanced – During your “hungry” phase, listen to activities that will build on the skills you’ve identified as lacking or in need of improvement. Read a business book, take an online course, watch a video – anything you do to bring you closer to your business goals is worth the time and effort. This growth mindset can be one of the most important traits for the success and growth of your business.
Network – Develop a professional network of like-minded people. Immerse yourself with experts and thought leaders in your field. As well as benefiting from the knowledge and experience of a diverse group of people, it opens up new opportunities for you.
Finding a Mentor – Support, intellectual or ethical, is one of the most important factors in starting a business. A mentor can help you focus when your motivation wanes. A good mentor brings invaluable experience to fledgling startups, as they have learned to recognize patterns and can help point you in the right direction.
Implementation
Evaluation and Implementation is the same as the pre-marathon training and evaluation period.
It chews for days, weeks and months, but stick with it, the mental and physical strength you gain will pay off in the long run!
When it’s time to send that resignation letter, make sure you do it right.
Team Building – As smart as you are, trying to do everything yourself is exhausting and counterproductive. Your group may be as small as two (including you), but choose very carefully. Many companies have seen its demise because of a bad team member.
Start a life of hustle – you’ll have to give up Friday afternoon office drinks and Sunday parties, you may even have to divorce your friends and family, at least for now in a period of time. Many successful businesses start as side businesses, think:
Apple, Instagram, Under Armor.
Three Important Tips to Remember
Focus on Why – “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” Every business owner and trader knows Simon Sinek by now.
Work hard, work smart – Yes, hard work is important, unless you like mediocrity – but do it with maximum efficiency. Define what processes and tools are for working smarter.
Plan B – While having a backup plan is both necessary and sensible to do, try to focus on your main plan. If you must implement a plan B, know that it does not mean failure. In fact, that’s how Twitter was founded.
Getting to the finish line makes every minute of your hard work worth it.
After you hang up your medal and start walking normally, evaluate your performance to see how you can improve for next year’s race. True entrepreneurs never stop reaching out.
One of the biggest failures of startups is not enough working capital. You must be able to survive up to six months without any income.
With 28,000 jobs lost in the South African formal sector in the third quarter of 2019, your small business idea can help make a positive contribution to your country and to your entrepreneurship.
If you’re about to become a small business owner, Auto & General’s business insurance will cover you against unforeseen risks.
