The thought of starting and running your own business may seem daunting especially if it is your first time. The prospects may appear bleak and full of uncertainty. However misconceptions or incorrect assumptions could lead people to making the wrong judgement about it. Therefore the myths related to opening your own business need to be debunked.
The Concern of Uncertainty
The greatest concern and apprehension one may have is heading into the unknown, coupled with uncertainty especially when it affects your livelihood and means of income. Whether a business will prosper or fail no individual can give a definitive answer because no person knows the future. So what can one do? No one knows the future but it can still be predicted and to reach the most accurate judgement one must gather the relevant information and then have a plan of action which will be explained further in the subsequent paragraphs. Performing these two tasks together will remove being completely unaware and uncertain.
Research
Researching your chosen market will help to identify the profitability, accessibility to the market and target audience. One must investigate if their desired market is saturated with other competitors and if it is then the profit margins will be small. Also being able to penetrate into the market is very important as some are closed to new competitors or very difficult to enter due to high costs, lengthy processes or other reasons. Choosing a market that has very few barriers to entry would be ideal. Not knowing who your target customers are is akin to wasted effort and customers are the source of revenue for a business.
Plan of Action
Naturally to follow after researching and choosing a market is a strategy which increases the effectivity, chances of success and efficiency. Having a clear vision and road map of how to start a business would mean one has thought of the variables that would make it effective at achieving the intended results. For example, knowing before-hand how, when and method to reach out to your target customers will increase the possibility of sales. Efficiently carrying out a plan or task will mean achieving it in the most minimal time frame where time is not lost.
Increased Working Hours and Stress
When one owns and runs a business then one would exert all their efforts to achieve success. But of course this may come with the draw-back of working longer hours and stress. Being the owner results in making the big decisions and contemplating the future direction of the business both which would lead to stress. Also wanting to see one’s business succeed may cause one to work longer hours to achieve success or the nature of
the business demands longer working hours. One must learn how to strike a balance with their work life and personal life. But the balance between the two may vary from person to person because some people require more personal time due their circumstances while others can spend more time working. Ultimately, one has the choice since it is their business.
