start up business

Starting a business can be an exciting and terrifying venture both at the same time. Whilst you know there will be hard work ahead, you are solely focused on the end goal to be a successful, self-sufficient business owner. However, while the path ahead may (or may not) be paved with gold, here are some commonly mistaken myths about creating a successful business which may help put things into perspective a little, and help you on your way.

You have to start your business at the right time

False. You will always be able to find pros and cons of any time. What may be right professionally, may not be right financially or personally. The correct mindset to actually have on this tip, is that the only time that is right, is now. If you are going to do it, jump wholeheartedly into it now. There will always be obstacles to put you off and reasons why not to do it.

You need a lot of money to start.

False. Whilst there is an element of financial backing you will need to start any business, it’s false that you need a vast investment to start up. In some cases, throwing money at a project to force it to grow exponentially may be its downfall in the end. The old phrase slow and steady wins the race has a lot of wisdom behind it. By investing little increments into a microproject, can allow you to focus on your customer base and products. It will also let you truly perfect your skills and gain a loyal following before jumping in at the deep end and not knowing which way is up.

You have to hire staff.

You don’t. Well not at the beginning and not dependant on size. You can become as successful as you want to be not too big, not too small. If you want to keep your company manageable with you as the sole employee do it. If you want to aim for the sky and grow rapidly, you may have to consider hiring staff when you are in a financial position to do so. In any case, if you do need another pair of hands there are many many freelancers out there that can step in at short notice.

You have to work 24/7.

You definitely don’t. There need to be some perks to running your own business surely and it’s not to work even more than you did before. Think like a customer, as much as you’d like them to be you don’t honestly expect retailers to be open round the clock. So you don’t have to be either. Allocate your open hours and stick to it. Don’t be answering emails at 11pm at night or 3am in the morning, because realistically no one is likely to reply to you anyway at that time.

You have to do it all.

Although this may seem to contradict my third point it doesn’t. It is all dependent on size and budget. If you have chosen to be a company of one, everything will fall to you but it doesn’t all fall on the one day. If you have chosen to skyrocket your company into the FTSE 100, then chances are you will likely have to hire staff. Its all about balance and realistic expectations.
If you’ve started a business in the last few years we’d really love to hear your take on starting up. Whould you change anything?