Challenges facing small businesses
Any emerging business can be compared to raising a child. Initially, the child needs your paramount attention to raising him or her. Your influence and commitment will shape the person that they will become in the future. In every step of progress, the relationship you share with your child changes, his or her needs change, and your job changes too.
Every business faces a lot of challenges as they go from a startup to a fully-fledged enterprise. The following are the top 10 challenges facing startups today:
1. Wrong Reasons for Starting a new business.
Why are you starting your small business? More money, more freedom, more time away from work, less responsibility or stress? When you think starting your own business will immediately fulfil these desires I urge you to think again. All of these wishes are valid, and almost every entrepreneur possesses some version of a similar combination, but these desires are truly a by-product of a successful business start-up.
The outcome of any successful business venture should be designed to provide for all of these initiatives, but these are not the values that successful businesses are founded on.
2. Lack2. Lack of Passion, love, and inspired vision. of Passion, love, and inspired vision.
These are the founding principles most successful small businesses are founded on. By successful business, I am not focusing strictly on revenue generated, profits produced, or market share. I am more concerned about the business fulfilling the lifestyle needs of all of those associated with it. If you love what you are doing and are inspired to share your gifts with those around you, you will be more likely to overcome most of the obstacles faced during the start-up phase.
3. Unclear vision and plan.
Many small businesses are founded on an enthusiastic and optimistic future vision, and rightfully so. While vision and enthusiasm are going to be critical to any small business, they are best shelved for a few weeks after you begin to contemplate the viability of your new venture seriously. Many small businesses were destined to fail from the beginning due in large part to an overly optimistic outlook held by a founding visionary who truly believes “if you build it, they will come.” I am not saying this isn’t possible – but I am saying it isn’t likely. Successful small business The issue was envisioned optimistically in the early stages of planning and then subjected to a few weeks of intense scrutiny and realism.
4. Lack of Unique selling proposition.
Your product or service doesn’t need to be unique, but you must be able to explain to a customer why they should pay YOU for your service or product. The three golden rules are Different, Cheaper or Better. Your product or service must be one of these. Otherwise, there is no compelling reason for someone to purchase from you. Just look at the coffee stands in railway stations and ask why certain people buy from one rather than another.
5. Lack of knowledge about your Customer.
5. Lack of knowledge about your Customer.
You must have an understanding of who you are offering services to and what they might want from you. You will naturally develop this understanding over time, but you must have an idea at the very beginning. From this understanding, you can then develop your marketing messages, and advertising, and tailor your services so that the buying process has limited obstacles to overcome. You want the internal dialogue of the customer to be ‘Wow this vendor understands my needs.’ Don’t focus on the mass market; think about a niche that you can dominate.
6. Lack Of Planning And Failure To Follow One.
Although most small businesses are supported by the SBA and other agencies, many of them may lack a proper contingency plan. Many contingency plans don’t make provisions for impending disaster. What is worse, anticipated risk profiles are not in place from the beginning.
7. Over-valuing.
This is a common mistake committed by most of the startups. Nothing happens overnight. Hence, one of the most important things to take care of would be overestimating your initial success. So, while you start a business, keep in mind to set realistic targets. Research, read and talk to those with experience in the industry and then calculate your success at different levels.
8. Money.
Receiving financial support is a significant matter of worry for small enterprises and startups. Prodding investors and banks for endowment backing is a tough task to help you start a small business. Completed with intelligence, long-term planning and determination, this challenge can be trounced. One suggestion is to have a balance of products in your company – some that kitchen sink in money and more that start giving you earnings from day one. Of course, this could not always apply to each collection of business.
9. Focus.
Issue strikes when you try to be all things to any or all people. With experience, you can wear different hats at different times. But when you start a small business, you have to learn to delegate. So take up the key tasks in your stride and give attention to those. Remaining tasks, USE OUTSOURCING FOR. Set up a method to ensure the success of delegated tasks.
10. Ardor and Purpose.
If you can’t enjoy the work you are doing, you can find it hard to get up off the floor the first time you get down in the blues. Every entrepreneur crashes down at one point or the other. More the zeal and intent you have for your love (startup), the greater motivated and energized you’ll certainly be to sort out it out. Passion is a must to grow a business.
Running and starting your own small business requires a wide range of skills, tenacity and lots and lots of hard work. While you can do many things yourself you should seek to understand all the things that need to be done that you are not particularly good at or do not have the required expertise. Concentrate on the things you excel at and get some external help with the things you might struggle with, for example, accountancy, technology or marketing. When leading an organization, it is also useful to sound out ideas with people who are not trying to support you such as a family, as they are not going to tell you the harsh truths and remember advice is worth as much as you pay for it.
