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Should you go forward with starting your business?

The excitement of having a business, being your own boss and doing things your way often surrounds a person. It has always been heard that great fortunes are made in entrepreneurship, but not much is heard about the great losses. Its worth the risk, an office job will not give you the opportunity to make the best out of your passion, and it will not get you the money you are dreaming of, though across the way, no matter what the outcome is, you will find yourself working harder than you did in any job. However you will see that you learned much more than sitting a job. We only hear about the likes of Amazon, Apple and Microsoft who started from scratch and now are known and used all over the world. But what is not widely known is that according to the Bureau of Labor, 50% of businesses fail in their first five year and 66% during their first 10 years. This means that half of the business that will open now will close in 5 years. Who will they be? As might be expected it is impossible to tell, but with a few features we can narrow them down!

An entrepreneur is the person who operates the business, so it's safe to say that their characteristics are a major role in determining whether the business succeeds or fails. Successful business owners have in common a vision, passion, Decisiveness, Adaptability and are risk taking. Entrepreneurs have a vision of what they want their business to look like in the future, looking for opportunities for growth and focusing on long term fixes rather than relying on patchwork fixes. They are passionate about the idea their business is giving which keeps them driving for its success. To put the passion in action, entrepreneurs are always in a position where they are found to have to make quick and significant decisions. The decisions to be made usually have no right or wrong, but they are decisions to be made in the best favor of the business, and choosing these decisions comes down to the entrepreneurs decisiveness. The business market is ever changing, the idea you started with is not wanted anymore, or you might stumble on a better one. Entrepreneurs must be continually learning about their industry, and compelled to keep up with trends and stay relevant. Clinging with an old idea through market changes can compromise the chances of survival. An entrepreneur needs to adapt swiftly and make big adjustments to their business plan if needed. Youtube started as an online dating website but it did not gain attention, the owners then decided to change it to a general video uploading website. If the owners had stuck to their original idea and not adapted to what the market wants, their success would off not happened. All these features mentioned are branches under risk taking. A vision is impractical without risk taking. Passion is pointless without risk taking. Adaptability is nearly impossible without risk taking, and decisiveness is not decisiveness without willing to risk.

Do you as an entrepreneur have what it takes? Are you a risk taker, a hard worker, and have a great idea that you're enthusiastic about? If your answer is no, then opening a business for you will end badly in a glimpse of an eye. It will only be a loss of your time and money. Though if your answer is yes, then you're half way through your path of success. What is the other half then? A rollercoaster in the business world, one that you will be in for as long as you're in operation.

“An idea may sound great, but when you put down all the details and numbers, it may fall apart.” A great idea alone can prove to be useless if you don't find a way to formulate, execute and implement it to work. Formulate, execute and implement, that alone sounds hard. This is when a business plan comes to save you. The business plan not only keeps you organized and focused with what you want to do with your business but it also shows you any wholes or weaknesses in your business. It is what the suppliers look at when you try to sell them your product and what the lenders look at when you ask for funds, so that can see if you will be able to pay them back. So do you have a well documented, clear, and convincing business plan?

Every business has its ups and downs that extend for as long as it's in operation. You might get in to the trap of thinking it's only the first year that is hard, and then it becomes a smooth, easy path. This thinking “Oh I can get past a hard year and then live easily” is what often mistakes people and ends them with a miserable time and a failing business. Two things are wrong about this: First the ups and downs are there every year, every month and every day, and if you are not ready for that kind of pressure, it is not worth starting a business. The second mistake is that they often miscalculate the magnitude of the work they have to put in and end up being surprised once they start. Two kinds of surprises: seeking the work and surprised of the amount of it, and two surprised by not knowing what work to do. This might be confusing. Let me put you in a simple real life example. You are in your, you have a contract lying on your desk with the business that will manufacture your products, you sign it and think you're done for the day. But are you? Prior to signing did you check the freight costs and have you compared it to other companies? Are sanctions imposed if the delivery isn't met? What is the date the products are coming in? The penalty if they don't? And what if services are unsatisfactory? Imagine that with every decision and contract you need to make. Are you ready for that much work and stress.

"Starting a business is not for everyone," "Starting a business, I'd say, number one is have a high pain threshold." says Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX. A high pain threshold for the issues you will encounter. Musk explains that you start with optimism and happiness and then it steadily declines with the problems you start having. Then this happiness comes back after many years when you succeed, that is if you succeed. With every business, it will face many unexpected event, miscalculating how much capital you needed, running out of it, something wrong with the permit and licensing, getting a new strong competitor. These events are unavoidable even if you did your calculations a million times. You need to have the mental strength to dedicate your time, your passion and your energy. It is more time consuming than you think. True, you are more flexible with your hours. if you want to quit at noon so you can visit with family or attend to a personal matter, you don’t have to ask anyone’s permission. However starting a business takes an insane amount of work. crossing off the idea of work- life balance you always heard with successful company owners. Also importantly a high pain threshold for failing. Failing a business, will affect you much more than getting fired from a job, both mentally and financially.

Are you starting a business to get rich? It is thought a business owner will suddenly and instantly become a rich person. You as an entrepreneur have to recognize that you will not immediately become rich. The truth is, it takes years of effort and the ability to work past multiple failures for most people to get to the "millionaire" point. If you aren’t willing to accept these common obstacles and move past them, you’ll never get to that point. Take it in steps. “You can't accomplish any difficult goal overnight, but you can accomplish one step, however small, toward that goal.” The first step you need to achieve is to cover the expenses such as equipment and rent, and revenue cost. Then regardless of how profitable your business is, getting and staying rich demands careful attention, frugality, smart investments and responsibility. “Also keep in mind that starting a business is the most reliable way to lose your savings and eliminate your income. So, starting a business is your first step to poverty, not success.” The alternatives: A high paying sales job: automobiles, stock broker, commercial real estate. Buy an established, successful business instead of starting one, or learn how to invest wisely. If you're starting a business only to get rich you will likely fail, because if you are not motivated enough about what you're doing, the hard work will be overwhelming to you.

I am hoping one day I will become an entrepreneur and I think people should open a business if one, they are passionate about the idea they're giving, and two if they are mentally and physically prepared for the hard work and for the worst.

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