Why You Are Not Succeeding As An Entrepreneur

 Why You Are Not Succeeding As An Entrepreneur

One of my friends wanted to start a pet sitting business. I asked him if he had tried to put his idea in writing. Whether he had thoroughly analyzed the idea, and its viability in present as well as future as a business. He decided to start the business just because he saw freelancers in his area making a decent living by walking dogs. He thought that he could capitalize on the opportunity. He decided it would be easy to start his own business and earn profits by employing people. The problem was that he choose to see what he wanted to see. His theory was simple. If it can work for others, it can work for me too.

This is a mistake the majority of the businessman make when they decide to start their own business. A haphazard idea is all they have when they decided to start the business. It is no wonder, within a year or two; the business begins to falter, eventually forcing the owner to shut down. People never try to understand the business, the issues that could plague them in the future. Many business owners do not plan for contingencies if things go wrong. They have a conviction that nothing could go wrong. They are super confident. In business, things do not improve on their own. A business has to be nurtured like a baby. Every business has its own set of problems. The problem could be related to marketing or finance, or some government policy. Even the preferences of the customers change entirely because of advancements in technology. Some people delude themselves by thinking that everything would resolve on its own. The reality is that nothing improves until the root cause of the problem is cured first.

When you set up a business, you are competing with hundreds of other businesses. Each business has its own characteristics. A Business is not a hundred-meter race; it is a marathon that requires long endurance of the runner. There are several challenges that await the Businessman at unexpected turns. You never know when you would hit the rocky patch or when there would be a smooth ride in the business. Any businessman will tell you that doing business is akin to experiencing personal growth in life. You are always on a learning path. A business will provide you with a limitless opportunity to stretch your imagination. You can do anything you please, but business is highly unpredictable, just when you think that you have got hold of the business and everything is fine, it hits the bump, throwing you off balance. Why does this happen? This happens because you did not take the pains to understand your business while setting it up. Your idea to set up the business was governed by your emotions instead of logic. It makes you wonder if your decision to start the business was a wise or foolish one. You look for an escape route but sadly there is none. As a businessman, you failed to understand that business is a twin-edged sword. On one hand, there is the potential to succeed in the business and acquire name and fame. On the other hand, there is also a risk that it can wipe out your capital and pull you in knee-deep debt. You will be required to sacrifice your immediate comforts. A business will demand your complete attention and energy to make it successful.

Remember nothing is going to happen on its own. just because you can conjure up an idea, it does not qualify you as a businessman. Not everybody possesses the skills that are required to become a successful businessman. People are mistaken when they say that any kind of problem can be solved with money. This may be partially true because money can solve some of the problems or delay the consequences of wrong judgments. If you continue to pump money without having a plan to recover it back then you are staring at the black hole. eventually, the money will be exhausted and you will be forced to shut down the business.

A business has a steep learning curve. You will be finding yourself learning new skills every day. As soon as a business progresses from one stage to another, you will find that you are back to square one. You have to upgrade your skills, else you will be frustrated by the complexities of the business.

You will have to introspect yourself, ask yourself questions that are uncomfortable. Do not bank on your confidence because confidence is a very fragile thing. Cracks might appear in confidence as soon as you collide with a problem. You visualize so many things, and while visualizing it is human nature to focus on good things. Remember, a good product or service may be good, but if it does not solve the problem of the customer then it is useless. Each process of your business must be focused on the customer.

Managing a business can prove to be a very stressful experience. At times you will feel that you were conned by your mind to enter into the business. A business can affect the self-esteem of the person if it hits the rough patch. Usually, when the business experiences the rough patch it is the beginning of an end of most owners. That is why you must assess yourself to check if you are truly qualified to handle the pressure of business. If you become agitated easily then your business will also reflect the same attitude. A successful Businessman is the one who knows how to build and sustain relationships. The relationship could be with an employee or a supplier or a customer. Relationship management is extremely crucial for the success of the business. You should analyze your strengths and weakness as an individual, as a group leader and as a component of the social environment.

Ask yourself if you have the knowledge required to start and sustain the business. For example, a person wanting to start a pet sitting business may just an abstract idea. The ability to translate an abstract idea into a successful business model is a different thing. , I recommend writing down five instances when you turned your abstract ideas into concrete steps of action. This kind of exercise will give you an idea of your ability to manage the business; it will also help you to see the good and bad side of the business.

A business like pet sitting might require you to be passionate about animals. It might not require any special skills other than your love for the animals. If you don't love animals or get agitated easily by them then the pet sitting business is not suitable for you. Take some time to evaluate what kind of skills you have to run the pet sitting business. It is possible that you might have only one or two skills required to run the business. But this will give you an idea of the people you need to hire for the smooth functioning of the business. It will also indicate whether it is viable to depend on people for the success of your business. Let's assume that you are passionate about the animals and this could be the reason that you want to start a pet sitting business. But how will you handle marketing or accounting or administration? How will you evaluate the skills of the people you will hire when you have no idea about the function? Just because somebody else is making a profit cannot be the reason to start the business.

Sometimes you are reluctant to admit the issues that are affecting the business. This type of negligence can cause considerable harm to the business in the long run. Many people develop anxiety about the success of their business if the problems crop up. He looks to pass the buck by assuming that the problem will be taken care of by the employees or vanish on its own. And when that doesn't happen it only leads to further frustration and loss of direction.

The most important thing to succeed is to know your competitors. You must know how to differentiate your business from others. If you are trying to emulate somebody then chances are there that if they fail then you will also fail. Some people don't even have an idea of how they will reach their potential customers. They have limited knowledge and often are not aware about the latest developments. Even today many business owners do not believe in the power of social media. For them, social media is just a medium for interacting with family and friends. They often laugh at the idea of promoting their business on social media. Even though they are aware that a majority of their potential customers are present on a social media platform. This kind of negligence costs the business in terms of loss of potential revenue and customers.

Customer satisfaction is another area where the majority of the business fails. Many treat customer satisfaction as an additional burden. The definition of business is not buying and selling of the products or services. Many believe that once the transaction has been completed, their responsibilities are over. This prevents you from building a loyal customer base. Business is all about solving the problem of their customers. It is very important to think from the viewpoint of a customer while interacting with them. Customers do not buy the products because they need them. They buy the product because it satisfies their needs at that particular time. A customer has a hundred ways to solve their problem.

There are hundreds of other businesses that are ready to cater to his demands. If you want to succeed in business then identify the problem of the customer and think of how best you can solve it. For example, if you want to start a pet sitting business then think what is the problem that the customer is facing? The customer might be busy and want somebody to walk his dog. Now think how a potential customer is going to solve this problem. Do you think he will pick up the phone and call your company straight away? No. The first thing he will do is to try to solve this problem by approaching his family and friends. He will try to seek guidance from them, so this means that his family and friends are your competitors. Who is the next person that he might think of? He might think of a neighbor who has a dog and he might request him to walk his dog. So this makes the neighbor also your competitor. Now when the neighbor is unavailable, he will look for the commercial establishment. When he searches for a commercial establishment to take care of his dog, what would be his priority? His priority would be to find someone reliable who can take care of his dog. At the same time, he will look for affordable service. As a business, you have to provide a cost-effective solution that can satisfy his needs.

You, as a businessman, must offer a comprehensive solution that is backed by excellent service. In this way, you convince a customer to do business with you. Marketing is not about advertisement budget or making impressive statements. Your goal should be to satisfy your first customer in such a way that he comes back again. Then you can be assured of success in the business regardless of what your strategies are. Keep a tab on your competitors. It will give you an idea of how to price your products and how you can offer a better service than your competitors. While writing your business idea then you must view it from different angles. Just because an idea appeals to you does not mean it is going to appeal to other people. It has a chance of becoming successful if you view it from the eyes of a banker, a supplier or a customer. Given a chance this group of people will evaluate the business in three different ways.