5 Barriers to Starting a Business – And How to Overcome Them

Barriers to Starting a Business

Starting a business can be a great opportunity. However, it can also be very difficult. Luckily, there are plenty of tools and resources that you can use to help. In fact, these can be invaluable to your situation. The truth is, though, that there are certain problems that every small business owner will face when they are trying to get their business started and up off the ground. So, how do you face them? In this article, we are going to look at 5 common barriers to starting a business and what you can do to overcome them.

Walking Away from Another Career

If you are starting a new business, you are walking away from another career. For a young entrepreneur, you are choosing to start a business over throwing yourself into a more stable career. Alternatively, someone who is leaving a career they’ve already built up, they potentially have a lot to lose.

There are two main problems for this. For one, starting a small business doesn’t have the same assurance of making money as a working for an established company with a definite wage.

Secondly, starting your business doesn’t come with the benefits an established company does such as healthcare. While there isn’t much to avoid the fact that you probably won’t make a lot of money when your business starts, you can look into small business benefits. For example, there are plenty of companies that offer deals for healthcare for small businesses.

You Can’t Think of a Good Idea

To have a successful business, you need an idea that is unique enough to stand out in the market. It can be hard to think of a business concept that suits this need, though. So, you should try to get inspired.

One way to do this is to think from the standpoint of the customer. What do you want a business to do for you? If you could think of a product type or service that you don’t see a lot of that would help you or peak your interest, what would it be? This type of thinking also helps you to put the customer first when you are creating your business.

No Money to Start a Business

It is also true that starting a business costs some money. However, getting that money when you are working on a burgeoning business can be difficult. The traditional idea is to save money but sometimes, even if you have saved for years, you don’t have just quite enough.

One common option is to look for loans. This way, you have the money you need to meet your basic needs for the business.

The best way to help with money, though, is to cut costs. This is called “bootstrapping”. For instance, you don’t need to start your business with a physical location anymore. By starting your business online, you can save on costs such as rent for a physical location.

Time

When you are planning to start a business, it’s important to take note of how much time it will take to get your business up off the ground. So, how do you come up with that time? After all, there are so many hours in the day.

First, you should look at where you can work more effectively and make up time. For instance, if you aren’t working effectively, you will get less done in the same amount of time.

You should also come to terms with the fact that you will be working longer hours. While you can take steps to make the hours you work more useful, the fact of the matter is that businesses take a lot of work to get started so you’ll inevitably have to put a lot of work in. Realistically, you should be ready to work more than what your standard 9 to 5 requires.

Preparedness

Finally, many small business owners struggle with dealing with the unexpected. As you start and run your business, you will have problems along the way – that is unavoidable.

So, if you can’t avoid bumps in the road, what do you do? Well, your only choice is to be prepared for them. When you are planning ahead, expect the possibility that the unexpected will happen. Plan that you might spend more than you thought or that you might have to work extra hours to make ends meet. The best device you have against roadblocks is to be prepared and able to anticipate them.

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