What do you need to start a business? There are lots of things you need but why not first learn from the mistakes of others. Wouldn’t it be great if your foresight was as good as your hindsight? Well unfortunately it’s not as good, but as you know it can be easy to look back on your mistakes and see exactly where you went wrong and most of the time even know why you went wrong. And you can also have the advantage of looking at the mistakes others have made as well. So much can be learned from your past and others past. The important thing for you as a business owner or a potential business owner is to do everything you can to avoid mistakes. So what do you need to start a business? First learn about all those things that will for sure keep you from being successful. So, let me share with you just a few to avoid:
1. If you want to be successful, then you should plan. You have probably heard the old saying if you don’t plan then plan to fail. This is so true. I’ve experienced this myself as well as watching others do it too. It’s so easy to try starting a business without a plan, but your chances of failure are a lot greater. Most likely without a plan you wind up waivering all over the place. It’s easy to know where you want to go but it’s not so easy to know how you’re going to get there. But if you have a good plan and follow it, then your chances will be much better of enjoying success. Think of it this way.. If you don’t have a plan, then you’re guessing.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of business owners who don’t have plans and even worse they start their business without a plan. Most of us would not start on a long trip without a plan, but will start a business without a plan. Isn’t that pretty interesting? You see a business plan will actually help you know your business better, know your industry better, your competitors, your suppliers, your market, and your finances better. When you know the business side of your business well, you’re probably going to operate your business well. That comes from planning.
2. Know yourself. Can you handle a business? What will be the effect on your family? Can you manage people? Are you a good manager of things? How much do you know about the business side of a business? Do you know how to develop a plan that will take you out 15 years? Can you handle failures? Can you work with people? Do you have patience? Are you willing to change or are you set in your ways? Will you seek advice when you need to? So study yourself very well.
3. Be strong in discipline. Stick with a plan. Know exactly where you want to go and stay on course. Don’t get distracted. Again, you see, if you don’t have a plan you’ve already lost your discipline. There are so many things that will distract you but if you’re disciplined enough, you won’t be pulled away from your goal. Now if you can’t follow schedules, you may not be as disciplined as you think you are. It’s really that simple.
4. Know your market well. There are so many ways now days to market your products or services. It’s very wise to choose one that fits your business best. Do your research. Know which marketing methods is best for you. When you do it right, you can actually know what size your market needs to be and know if your market is actually big enough to cover your business plan. But you see, without planning you won’t know what size your market needs to be and whether you will have enough customers to give you what you need to have a successful business especially in the future.
5. Watch your spending. Far too many business owners gage their business by the cash they have onhand and not by their profit and profit margin. Just because you happen to have a lot of cash does not mean you are making money. I see business owners watch their bank account balance only and from this they will determine if their business is doing well or not. This can be disastrous.
Startup cost is another area that can sink you before you know it if you’re not watching closely. You need to know when your revenue will begin. Doing a startup costing plan is just about the only way to have an idea about a startup business. This is simply listing all your onetime cost and ongoing cost and when you expect revenue to start coming in and how much that revenue will be.
6. Delegate. If you have more people working than just yourself, then delegate a lot. Teach your people to be responsible and to make as many decisions as they can on their own. If all decisions have to come through you, you will find yourself having to spend all your time in your business and none on the business side of your business. This can be very risky.
So these are just a few of the pitfalls than can create a lot of problems for you so avoid them if you possibly can. You will be better off if you can.
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38 of my 41 years were in management and leadership roles. Some of my disciplines were manufacturing operations and processes, quality systems including ISO, materials, supply chain logistics, engineering, purchasing, HR functions including union and nonunion operations, concurrent engineering from product design to the customer, and upper management, and supervision training. Experiences also included a number of special projects such as managing plant shutdowns, project director of facility relocations including feasibility studies, designing of lean manufacturing concepts for new operations, development and startup of new facilities, plant and process moves to new locations, and hiring and training of staffs and workforces for new locations.
All the years in those various positions offered great opportunities for leading, teaching, training, and hands on support for empowering managers and workforces. Environments were created that made it possible for people to reach levels of success they never thought possible. Success came because of the use of real leadership, lean principles, employee involvement, a trusting environment, good communication, continuous improvement, and solid operating systems. The results were people working toward an error free workplace, waste reduction, and a very positive attitude toward meeting goals and expectations. This resulted in labor content reductions, major reductions in labor turnover, major increases in inventory turns, reductions in cycle times, improved customer relations, strong teams, and improved employee satisfaction. I have had the good fortune to have practiced and proven that creating the right environment will cause people to want to participate in helping organizations meet their goals and visions because it is an environment that lets them build success for themselves as well helping everyone else build theirs. I believe strongly that you cannot motivate people but that the right environment is what motivates people.