Entrepreneurship-an Insight

Till now you have read some of the characteristics of entrepreneurship. “Practice makes perfect” is the motto about everything in life and especially if you are a business owner. Bookish knowledge can help you a lot to avoid mistakes but nothing beats the practical hands-on experience of seeing what works for you. You may have the right passion, the right business format and all the skills, but before you make that leap of faith make sure you’re ready in some other aspects too. Starting the business and making it run smoothly requires a lot of dedication and sacrifice. This means that whether young or old, your personal life will take some hits. It is helpful if family and friend are supportive. They must know what it takes to start a business and the effect and impact it will have on your life. Many of you may choose or need to have a job in the initial days of starting a business; this means all your spare time has to go for running the business.

Getting your business up and going will take its toll on your health. Being lean and mean is great for business but that often means spending longer hours doing yourself what you would pay other people to do. Thus for surviving those 14+ hour work days, seven days a week you must be at the top of your physical and mental condition. Proper nutrition and a regular exercise regime will take care of your health. It’s hard to enjoy the success lying down in the hospital bed.

Know your strong points in business and hire others to do the other jobs. Many owners think that they must be good at doing everything. This is surely not the case. Look for cost effective ways of out-sourcing tasks that fall outside your area of expertise. Though at times knowing every aspect of the business is advantageous,(just in case anyone falls sick) from an entrepreneurial point of view having a team where you are the weakest link is not bad.

In addition to knowing your strong points you also must know your comfort zones.

Are you comfortable being the boss and having employees who are:

• Older or more knowledgeable than you?
• Dealing with the multiple personalities your employees possess?
• Handling money and making financial decisions?
• Getting into debt first from starting the business before seeing profits?
• Spending some years before you see enough profit to provide you a steady paycheck?

These are just a few things you should keep in mind and have a back-up plan or two ready just in case you run into them down the road.