One of the biggest adventures that anyone can go on is the adventure involved in starting your own business. You have an idea – a vision, if you will – in your head and you want to see that brought to life. It’s exciting and it’s there for the taking if you want it.
The problem? For all the ideas and visions you might have, it doesn’t mean that you are ready to start your own business. In fact, you need to consider that almost half of all businesses fold in half in their first year! You want to avoid that, and it’s always foolish to start a company with just a dream of what to do rather than a solid plan. Less than a quarter of businesses are able to survive in their industry in five years, and you have to decide whether you know enough to make sure that your new business idea is going to be a success or not. Are you aware of what a no-code website builder is? Do you know where to get the funding for your business to start you off? These are considerations that you have to make, and without those considerations, you might end up being a complete failure without intending to be. So, with this in mind, here are ten clear signs that you’re not actually ready to start your own business.
1) You’re not a fan of taking a risk. Owning your own business is all about taking risks, and if you’re not willing to do that, it’s a clear sign that you might not be quite there yet to own your own business. It takes time for you to establish your business as anything real, and you want to make sure that your business is one of the ones that survives. You have to take a risk for that to work for you.
2) You have no idea about the numbers. Yes, you can hire an expert in business finance to help you out, but in order to survive your industry you need to have an idea for financials. You don’t have to know everything but you do need a vague idea of what it takes. You should never just rely on an accountant to know everything for you.
3) You’re only in it for a fast buck. You want to make sure that you are going to have good profits, but if that’s all you think you’re going to get out of your business, you’re in for a shock. It takes so much more than that and you have to think about whether you are in it for more than that. It’s nice to turn a profit but you’re mistaken if you think it’ll be a quick one!
4) You want to hoard everything. Did you know that a mindset for scarcity is harmful to your business? If you start thinking in terms like that, it’s proof that you’re not truly ready to get started with your business. You need to be able to utilize your prospects and find more of them – you can’t do that if you have scarcity in mind. You’ve got to have the tenacity and the foresight to run a business and know where to spend and where not to.
5) You don’t have a business plan. It’s a fundamental flaw in your business ideas if you don’t have a plan behind it. And we’re not talking about a side of paper with ‘make a living’ written on the side of it. The vision you have has to expand out into the parameters of a full business plan that includes your goals, your timelines and your financial planning. It should also detail your plans for your business website and where you hope to score leads to new customer information!
6) You haven’t road tested your idea. It’s a wonderful thing, to have an idea. The problem with it is where you are enjoying the idea but you haven’t tested it. Market research is one of the most important – if not THE most important – stages in the process of starting a business. What’s the point in pouring money into a product that no one is going to like or buy from you? You need customers to give you an opinion and it’s this opinion that’s going to determine whether your product is as good as you think it is.
7) You have no marketing plan. Again, it’s useless to have a product that you have no marketing plan for. How are you going to tell the world about it? What’re you going to say about a product that has no marketing or branding bubble? You need your website to market your product and if you’re not investing in this, you’re going to struggle.
8) You are scared to fail. You learn your best lessons with mistakes and failure than you do with your successes. Your successes tell you that you got lucky and they’re the fastest lego-builder. Your failures give you a reality check into what you could be doing wrong, and while that’s not always easy to see in front of you, it’s a good way to learn and grow. There is no growth without failure from time to time.
9) You’re waiting for someone to tell you you can do it. It is always a risk to go ahead and start a business of your own but if you’re waiting for someone else to say it’s a good idea the worry is that you could wait too long and miss the boat with your idea. Don’t wait for someone to tell you that it’s a good idea to get started. Start anyway: what could go wrong? You could fail, yes, but is that a bad thing? Remember – every good business leader has many failures before they hit that jackpot.
10) You’re holding onto something that isn’t working. If you get started and it doesn’t work, you need to let it go. It’s okay to fail and start over. Starting again is a lesson learned!
