New Year, New... Business?

Aren’t you excited? It’s the first week of the New Year. It’s full of hope and energy. Everyone’s excited about the goals they’ve set or resolutions they’ve made.

Once again we get a do over.

What are you changing this year? Even if you refuse to set goals or make resolutions consciously, you still make them in your subconscious mind.

It could be something small like losing 10 pounds or maybe you’re ready to make major changes in your life. Maybe you’re getting married (or divorced). Maybe you want to change your career or start your own business or start a new business. No matter what, you have something in your mind that you want to change.

Before you make the changes, I want you to consider a few things.

First of all, take a realistic look at what it will take to do it. For our purposes, we’ll focus on starting your own business but this is true for any change you want to make. So many people make changes without thinking it through.

Then, when they’re unsuccessful, they think there is something wrong with them.
So you know… there is nothing wrong with you! You were perfectly made and you can be successful in any endeavor you choose as long as you believe you can and you have a plan.

When you’re starting a business, the first thing you want to think about is why you’re doing it. Do you want to be your own boss? Make more money?

Whatever it is, know what you’re getting into. Talk to business owners. Do some reading and research online to find out what it takes and decide if it’s really what you want.

Once you determine that entrepreneurship is for you, the next step is to decide what type of business you want to start. Again, this will take some home work.

Base this decision more on how much time and money you can spend on your business rather than your skill set or joy you get from the business.

Just because you love to bake for your family doesn’t mean that you should own a bakery. You can start there, but do the research. Talk to bakery owners and find out how much it costs in time and treasure to own a bakery. Can you meet those costs?

As a business owner, it is more important that you have the basics of record keeping, financing, marketing analysis, and communication skills than expert knowledge of your product or service.

For example, if you open a restaurant, it is much easier to learn how to cook and serve the food than to determine the price of food or develop a plan to market the restaurant.

Many owners work in the day to day business of their business, but many don’t. They hire people to run the day to day operations while they work on the business.

Either way, you have to decide what and how you will do it. Once you’ve done all that, then you can put together a business plan and find financing.

I’m not trying to discourage you; I want you to have a plan for success. Big changes take time and effort. You’ll have setbacks, but if you have a plan, it’s much easier to stay focused until you get what you want.