Business – A business is an organization which produces and sells goods or which provides a service.
This simple definition of business should be enough for people to realise that at some point in their lives, they would have conducted some sort of business. There are many reasons why people get into business, for some, especially in developing countries; it is out of necessity- sustenance. For others, they have an idea that they think would be successful and therefore profitable, and others just want to generate more income. These are only a few reasons as to why businesses are created and in this article we are going to debunk the myth that starting a business is hard.
I’ve started various businesses over the past decade and I can say that I only realised how easy it is to start a business after the second one! While not every business was profitable enough to maintain, I recognised that starting really was not the hard part, in fact the maintaining and growing was much more challenging and time consuming.
Having graduated with a business degree but not having any prior, hands on experience in a business environment, I found it completely different when putting theory into practice. My first business was a migration agency I started with a friend of mine. We went through the standard start-up process of developing the idea, creating a business plan, and then to put it simply, executing it.
To be honest, I personally found it more difficult acquiring more clients to continue growing than I did getting the business up and running. I was also ignorant to the many aids available to make, specifically, an office environment work more efficiently. It took me a dozens of meeting room clashes to realise that meeting management software was available to prevent this!
Another business I started easily was a furniture making company. Carpentry had always been a passion of mine, and this helps enormously when starting a business. No one is going to give their all for something they do not have an interest in. I used to spend a few hours per day learning to to craft different types of furniture by subscribing to and browsing Teds Woodworking website. This was great fun and very practical as I could even save money by building my own furniture!
To summarise, to give your business the best chance of survival and then growth, choose an area that you are genuinely interested in. This is of utmost importance and give will make it feel like less of a job and more of a paid hobby! If you are lacking the inspiration and drive to get your business idea off the ground, then it may not be the best option for you. Preparation is also key to giving you the smoothest start as possible, and if you keep these thoughts in mind, there is no reason for you not to begin embarking on a long and fruitful business venture!