A lot of people aspire to be business owners but they delay getting started because they want conditions to be perfect first. You need to start where you are right now with what you have, and turn your business idea into reality one step at a time. Here are a few things you can do NOW to get started; draft your business plan, register the company, get financial assistance or acquire land. If you really dream big and want to operate a big business, you need to start small, build your way to the top brick by brick.
In most African countries, small to medium businesses fail not because owners do not have the potential to run them but because most tend to give up easily. They want to get to the top too quickly. They start the business and two months down the line they face some minor challenges and want to quit. Every business faces challenges at one point and that is why it is vital for every entrepreneur to understand the value of self development. You need to work on yourself more than you work on your business, toughen yourself up in preparation for difficult times. Once that is done any challenge can be converted to a new learning experience, one to make you stronger, understanding it will come to pass and things will eventually add up in your favour.
So as an aspiring entrepreneur what are some of the things that you need to do to prepare yourself for the world of business in addition to self development? You also need to learn that you are your own person; no one in the entire universe is the same as you so by all means, focus on your own path and not compare yourself with others. You might say, “But competition can’t be avoided in the business world.” That’s very true. You need to know your competitors, strategize a way to outrun them and always emerge at the top without losing your “identity” by copying what they do. Here is another important thing-As a small business owner, in the beginning you can’t really afford to hire a lot of people which means most tasks will be in your hands. So question is, what if all you have is passion for your idea and a burning desire to succeed but little knowledge about some basic business principles? Don’t panic. Thanks to the internet, today you can Google just about anything. Even though some information is not accurate, there are some good sites offering free business courses and you can home school yourself on how to run your business in a few do it yourself steps. Every entrepreneur needs to know basic accounting principles, you should be able to prepare your own income statement and do your own financial analyses until you have enough income to hire some experts.
Being your own boss is really exciting and most see it as a quick way to get rich which unfortunately is not true. Initially you need to work hard to get your business off the ground and only reap what you’ve sown later .If you follow some of the advice given on this article, you just can’t go wrong.
By;
Virginia Chepete
