Six months ago, when the year began, we all set some goals for ourselves. You could have set a goal go to the gym, start saving money, or even start your own businesses to have an extra source of income besides your 9 - 5.
Today, we want to, speak to the aspiring entrepreneurs, those of you who wanted to start businesses, are in the process of starting businesses, or have already started your own businesses.
Being an entrepreneur is certainly rewarding, but no one said the road to becoming an entrepreneur is easy. We want to make it slightly better for you. Here are some of the major challenges faced by entrepreneurs along with our tips on how to overcome those challenges. Open your notebook/app coz this is about to be engaging.
According to Forbes, the biggest struggle for most entrepreneurs is getting started. We’re talking about quitting a job, applying for various licenses, putting up a website, entering a startup accelerator program, approaching someone with your first pitch, or just announcing your venture to the world and family and committing the few shillings you have on it, and many many other things.
Just do it. Don’t let fear and doubt creep in and influence your decision-making after spending hours brainstorming. Stop making those excuses. Start now, start with what you have! You can do this.
Your business idea will be criticized by friends, family, and strangers as well. Some might even impose their insecurities on you. You might even be criticized because some people are jealous and are afraid of your success; such criticism is negative and you need to be wary of it.
Focus on the positive side of your business, and remember why you’re doing it in the first place. Keep the company of people who support your idea. Don’t let negative people generate bad vibes into your business, they might even jinx it.
Make a network and engage with experienced business people and try to look for a mentor within your field. You will learn so much from them and can use their expertise to develop and grow your business.
They weren’t wrong when they said you can’t do everything yourself. Hiring the right people is very crucial for your business. A good example would be if you start your own food business and hire a nduthi guy to deliver the food. If the delivery is not on time, you will definitely tarnish your reputation leading to loss of customers and an eventual failure of your business.
Don’t be afraid to delegate but do your due diligence before you do so. Look at the skills your hires bring to the table, what are their personalities like? Are they honest people? Can you trust them? If they check your value boxes, empower them to do an amazing job.
Once you’ve launched into the market, you now have to face the challenge of facing your competitors. Your competitors may not be new in the market like you, they’ll be seasoned and some will even have 10x the funding and capital you have.
Don’t let anyone get into your head.
Do your market research, understand your target audience, and get with it. Find out what the gaps in the market are and position your product or service accordingly. If you come with a fresh perspective, your customers will recognize that and come to you.
What your competitors do or don’t do isn’t your business; focus on your growth and collect as much data as possible to will help with future decision-making.
A great entrepreneur builds his business from scratch and works on a new company that no one has ever worked on before, solving a problem that has yet to be solved.
Therefore, facing challenges from time to time is inevitable. However, if you are mentally prepared to meet the challenges, it will become a little easy for you to manage the stress and pressure that comes with entrepreneurship.
They say you have to treat your business like your baby for it to grow and develop in the most healthy way, and you should do just that!
