Starting a business is a big deal for all enthusiastic entrepreneurs. However, maintaining the same is the biggest challenge. Starting a business has a lot of perks. You can have the freedom to earn on your own, become your own boss and lead a team of your choice. Becoming an entrepreneur will also open up different possibilities for you which otherwise won’t be available to you if you are just an employee in a firm.
But the fact is, in the first few years of doing business, small companies need to face a lot of challenges. Some of them are often too hard to overcome. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, around 20% of small businesses fail by the end of their first year of launch. And by the end of their fifth year, 50% get closed, and by the tenth year, around 80% of them fail.
Being an Entrepreneur is Challenging
As much as entrepreneurship can be rewarding, it can also come with several unique challenges. You, being an entrepreneur, would be responsible for everything which will go into making your business flourish, including hiring, sales, quality control, budgeting, and customer experience.
However, it’s also true that you cannot predict every single difficulty which will come your way while being an entrepreneur. But you can always be prepared well to deal with the various challenges and be prepared well to deal with them. What are the challenges? Let’s find out below.
1. Finding the First Client/Customer
Finding your first client could be challenging and can include a lot of work. A bigger company will already have a huge customer base in the form of email lists, social media followers, and so on. For small businesses, things can get a little difficult at the start. So, you should start networking amongst your family and friends first to find some potential clients. Always keep in mind that your would-be clients would like to see some kind of proof that your service is as good as you claim it to be. So, start building your online presence and gather as many testimonials as you can to build trust for your future clients.
2. Money Management
For any business, having enough cash to pay the bills is a must. It is imperative for life in general too. So, you need to be sure about your savings. If you have just started your business and you are having monetary glitches, it’s time to think of some solution. You either need to pick up some extra income to pick up the cash crunches or should be heavily capitalized. This is the reason why a lot of business owners work on a full-time jobs and build a business simultaneously. While this split in focus might make it more challenging to grow the business, it often takes care of the cash crunches.
3. Increasing Brand Awareness
Getting your small business recognized is a vital component of marketing. This is because your target audience needs to be exposed to your brand at least a few times before buying from you. So, you need to conceptualize brand recognition with the help of the right marketing strategies. Take part in events, summits, and have a social media presence. Your brand awareness cannot be established overnight. And this is one challenge that most small business owners face. Start early, be consistent with your approach and make your brand visible in front of the world.
4. Making Customers Happy & Satisfied
You can never know what your customers would like. Delighting them is one of the biggest challenges ever faced by small business owners. It is easy for your customers to move away from your brand if they do not like something about it. From finding fault in your product packaging to your website/social media content, it’s easy for them to simply unfollow you for the tiniest of reasons. However, being a small business owner, you will still have an edge over the larger brands. So, you need to provide a more personalized touch to your services. For example, if you are a product-based firm, you can include a tiny hand-written note on the shipping boxes.
5. Hiring the Right People
The final challenge which we think is common for small business owners is to hire the right people. Often, the cost of onboarding is too much. Paying salary every month is a recurring expense which several small business owners can find hard to suffice. So, it’s better to go for part-time or freelance employees instead of a full-time contract. As gig jobs are quite common these days, there are a lot of talented people who are ready to offer their skills on a project basis. Try to employ such people for your business.
Wrapping It Up,
Always remember, every big brand today started somewhere in the past. Even they faced innumerable challenges to reach where they are now. Of course, it takes time to thrive as an entrepreneur but once you know the tricks of facing the challenges well, you will be able to be more focused and determined towards your goal. All the best.
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