The Biggest Challenges Entrepreneurs Face In Business

There are a multitude of challenges that every entrepreneur faces when starting up a new venture.  As a business grows, different problems and opportunities demand different solutions, especially as the market evolves because what might have worked not even a year before may no longer be the best approach.  Recognizing and overcoming the common pitfalls associated with both stagnation and growth in business is essential if you want your company to grow and thrive.  All entrepreneurs must be prepared to solve whatever problems come their way.  The best thing for any entrepreneur to remember in the face of adversity is that such challenges are commonplace but if you face each problem with determination, you can usually always overcome it.

Likely the first challenge that always needs to be overcome by any entrepreneur is uncertainty.  Many young business owners are unsure how to push their businesses forward without the guarantee of a stable future.  Business growth and continuity stem from business owners being able to look ahead and plan accordingly.  It’s often even more daunting because with the current economic environment being so unsteady, it’s harder to see what the impending fiscal “climate” holds.  That being the case, it’s exceedingly important that every entrepreneur put a long-term strategic plan in place so that they can clearly see how they want to progress moving forward.

Attracting new business is also a hardship entrepreneurs often face and it’s often even more difficult to maintain customers once you’ve gotten them.  With the often small marketing and advertising budgets young businesses have, startups are often simply unable to reach a wide audience.  Additionally, potential customers are often hesitant at taking a chance on an unknown, untested brand.  Most tend to go with companies that they’ve had experience with before and that have a larger following.  However, there’s good news: bigger companies often charge more than young ones.  Entrepreneurs need not be discouraged by larger competitors as many clients and customers alike look for companies that provide cheaper services.  However, they want to make sure it’s quality service.  Therefore, it’s always best to put your product out into the market when it’s one hundred percent ready to go.

It also goes without saying that lack of money is another pitfall that entrepreneurs face and it’s obviously one of the largest problems that can lead to business failure.  As a new business, the biggest mistake an entrepreneur can make is expecting instant profit.  Entrepreneurs often get overexcited and feel that they can start with little money and instantly earn big.  Experts usually predict that it can take up to roughly two years to see a profit.  The lesson then becomes: always prepare for the worst case scenario.  Before starting any business, make sure you have enough money to tide you over during that timeframe and remember to start slowly and remain patient.

Entrepreneurs often unknowingly harm or, rather, can even sabotage their new ventures through lack of knowledge about the market.  It’s important that you do ample research about the area you are trying to grow into.  Of course, you must always keep track of your competitors so that you can learn from their mistakes and see what is and isn’t working for them.  Additionally, make sure that you are up-to-date on the most current trends in the marketplace.  Don’t jump in head first.  Make sure to prepare yourself and always possess the necessary skills needed to be successful.  Constantly be educating yourself.  Seek advice from mentors and other business owners.  Read books and relevant periodicals.  Check out web content.  If you don’t, you’re ultimately headed for disaster.

Time management is also another major challenge entrepreneurs must learn to overcome.  As they always say: “time is money.”  And, of course, that’s most especially true for business.  It’s imperative to plan in advance and stick to a schedule no matter how prolonged.  Ensure that your schedule is actually feasible and achievable.  Always give yourself enough time to perform every task with acute accuracy.  Live by your calendar and business planner so that you never miss a deadline.  Spending your time effectively will only help you save money and earn you more revenue in the long-run.

Additionally, lack of innovation can also be a major hindrance to starting up a new business.  There are many young companies that play by the “old” rules instead of making up their own as they go along which are very helpful in keeping you on trend and on point.  If you’re an entrepreneur just leaving the corporate nine to five world, throw out the old rule book and take a fresh approach.  When people get accustomed to a certain style that has worked in corporate America, it often holds them back from thinking outside the box.  In order to grow, you can’t be resistant to change.  In fact, you must rather embrace it if you want to succeed long-term.

Trying to do it all alone is a major mistake that many entrepreneurs make.  Oftentimes they are so concerned with start-up costs that they feel it’s their only option.  That said, sometimes you have to realize that you need help, whether it’s merely advice or hiring employees.  If you really don’t have the funds, try getting an intern to help with the more mundane day-to-day operations of running a business so you can focus on the bigger tasks at hand.  It’s better to pay someone to help out in the beginning by spending a little money as it could garner big financial returns in the future.

Never forget that marketing often makes or breaks a business.  Young entrepreneurs need to be aware that apart from a detailed business plan, proper marketing is one of the next most important areas to focus on.  Always make sure that you set some money aside for marketing so that once you have a clear idea and are ready to move ahead with it, you can make a direct impact on your target clientele.  If you’re on a tight budget come up with innovative ways to get your ideas out there.  Social media is always a great place to start.

Lastly and probably most importantly, while it’s often difficult to maintain a positive attitude as you face challenges in growing your startup, you always must.  Have confidence in yourself.  Make sure that you’re your own biggest cheerleader and not your own worst enemy.  If you keep faith and belief that you can achieve your goals, then, in truth, you most certainly can.

So what have we learned here today?  If you’re an entrepreneur just starting out, what’s the best advice this blog has given you?  If you’ve already made a go of it as a successful entrepreneur, were some of the things discussed challenges you faced as well or were there others that you felt were even tougher?  Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts.  Let’s start up a conversation!

Here are some articles you might want to check out about the biggest challenges facing entrepreneurs in business:

“The 8 Great Challenges Every Business Faces and How to Master Them All”: http://www.forbes.com/sites/cherylsnappconner/2013/03/04/the-8-great-challenges-every-business-faces-and-how-to-master-them-all/

“Entrepreneurs Share Their Biggest Challenges in Growing a Business”: http://www.inc.com/adam-heitzman/entrepreneurs-share-their-biggest-challenges-in-growing-a-business.html

“What is the Biggest Challenge Facing Small Business Right Now?” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/15/small-business-challenges_n_927279.html

For more information on the real estate services provided by Emerge212, check out our official website at: http://www.emerge212.com.

Until next time…

Ten of the Best Business Blogs Every Entrepreneur Should Read

It’s no secret to any entrepreneur that starting a business can be exceedingly tough.  While exciting, it can also be scary at times: leaving corporate America and the security of a weekly paycheck, tapping into your own personal savings to get up and running, keeping up with the competition, finding the right ways to market on a tight budget, etc.  These are all things that could in fact paralyze someone starting their own business.  But instead of standing still, the best thing for an entrepreneur to do is seek advice and just as I blog each week in order to provide that service so to do other people out there.  A great way for new business owners to get free advice is by reading business blogs that can run the gamut from hysterical to controversial but most being mainly informational and thought-provoking.  Here are some of the top ten business blogs every entrepreneur should check out. 

1. Quora:

Quora is a question and answer site where a wide range of business experts take the time to answer your questions with serious thought and precision.  The best answers get voted on by the Quora community so you can easily find the best conclusion to your problem. (https://www.quora.com/)

2. LinkedIn Today:

While it might not sound farfetched that LinkedIn would offer a great business blog, LinkedIn Today is really great for one reason in particular: in essence, what the blog does is curate all articles that are specifically geared towards your industry.  It’s a great place to find all articles relevant to your business in one place. (https://www.linkedin.com/today/)

3. Steve Blank:

Being a Professor of Entrepreneurship, Blank discusses a wide range of tops from innovations in small businesses to the innovations in big business that often start off small.  Being a teacher at heart, that’s exactly what Blank does: teach.  He walks readers through his points step-by-step and often uses visuals and graphics just as if you were sitting in a classroom with him.  He includes a great section at the bottom of each blog summing up the post called: “Lessons Learned.” (http://steveblank.com/)

4. Church of the Customer:

Written by author and management consultant, Jackie Huba, Church of the Customers attracts over roughly 100K readers daily and was named a 2010 “Best Of” for small business blogs by Forbes.  The blog is especially useful for entrepreneurs because it documents successes and failures of both small and large businesses so that those starting up new ventures can see what does and doesn’t work in business and can garner useful tips for making a real go of it and avoiding the pitfalls of disaster. (http://jackiehuba.com/)

5. Wise Bread:

Wise Bread is produced by a variety of writers and entrepreneurs who specialize in saving money, cutting costs and budgeting wisely which makes it a particularly good read for any new business owner on a tight financial plan.  Wise Bread lends credence to the fact that frugality can make or break your company and offers tips on how to manage business finances and gives advice to entrepreneurs that want to do small things on a small budget. (http://www.wisebread.com/)

6. All Business:

All Business is a blog written by a pool of entrepreneurs and other experts who specialize in areas from marketing and strategy to financial management.  All Business differentiates itself in that it covers all aspects of business by giving how-to advice, analysis and commentary from experts in all areas of business.  Another unique feature is that their content is updated daily, and even on the weekends, and is searchable via different categories. (http://www.allbusiness.com/2984958-1.html)

7. Entrepreneur Daily Dose:

Entrepreneur Daily Dose is a great place for business information as it’s written by writers of the well-renowned business publication, Entrepreneur.  Its usefulness is mainly in the fact that it takes articles from that day’s paper and extracts marketing lessons for small business owners. (http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog)

8. Small Biz Survival:

Small Biz Survival is a blog written by Becky McCray and a few of her, as they describe themselves, “small town entrepreneurs.”  By reflecting on their own successes and failures, they offer real life stories that guide an entrepreneur through his or her very own successes and failures.  (http://smallbizsurvival.com/)

9. Small Business Brief:

Small Business Brief is a great resource and one-stop-shop for entrepreneurs seeking business information as the site finds important business “intel” from across the web and aggregates it into one place.  So instead of an entrepreneur having to do his or her daily research on the business world overall, this blog does it for them. (http://www.smallbusinessbrief.com/)

10. Copyblogger:

Copyblogger is written by Brian Clark who refers to himself as a “recovering attorney.”  Clark believes that businesses aren’t as successful growing their online presence because they’re lacking both “content marketing” strategy and copywriting.  Clark serves to help entrepreneurs improve their online writing and blogging skills. (http://www.copyblogger.com/)

Every entrepreneur needs advice to make a successful go of their business and oftentimes, small business blogs are the best place to find them.  Garnering the right mentor is often challenging and time-consuming so, in the meantime, using business blogs for guidance is a great place for new business owners to start!

So what have we learned today?  Have you read any of the business blogs mentioned here before?  If so, how have they helped your entrepreneurial endeavors?  If not, are there other business blogs you’ve found more useful?  Leave a comment and let all our readers know!

To learn more about the real estate services provided by Emerge212, check out our official website at: http://www.emerge212.com.

Until next time…

The Effects of Terrorism on Business

It’s simply hard to believe that 9/11 happened 13 years ago today.  People even often forget that when they look at the calendar and see “September 11^th,” that over a decade ago the U.S. faced the greatest attack on our nation since Pearl Harbor.  With ISIS emerging and seeming to be even more dangerous than Al Qaeda, which many thought would never be possible, it’s not just that terror threats impact people and their emotions such as, fear at what the future holds and deep sadness on what has transpired in the past, but there is also a very real threat to business that comes along with terrorism.

On that fated and tragic day of 9/11, countless multinational corporations were shut down and had to update their strategic planning as a result.  And over a decade later companies are still grappling with how best to manage terrorists’ threats.

In the 20 years prior to 2011, firms were launching international ventures at an exceedingly rapid pace but after 9/11, direct investments by foreign nations fell dramatically as firms withdrew to their home markets fearing multinational business ventures.  There was a vast decrease in the attractiveness of the “international company” and, as a result, global brand names decreased considerably as business managers began to place more emphasis on domestic and local affiliations and business partnerships.

Terrorism has even had an effect on international business education in the U.S. which has become visible by substantially decreased enrollment in foreign languages and international business courses.  Over the past decade, business managers have shifted a large portion of exploring international opportunities to a vastly more defensive stance which now emphasizes threats from abroad and vulnerable foreign operations.

Beyond the implications of terrorists’ threats to United States businesses, even in other regions, most noticeably Europe, the radicalization of individuals and groups, motivated by some form of twisted ideology or religion, has threatened local cooperation as well.  While European business schools have actually benefited from tighter restrictions on international student enrollment in the U.S., the focus as in this country has shifted from global to regional trade regardless.

Terrorism also has led to the rise of public-private partnerships, in which governments and businesses work together to counter it.  For example, global police and federal agencies now partner consistently with private firms to combat cyber-crime and attacks on critical computer and technological infrastructure.  This shift can be somewhat surprisingly seen in the fact that even governments use social media to organize campaigns to fight terrorists’ threats even as social media often works against citizen safety and government interests.

That said, as the capacity to protect key facilities has vastly improved since 9/11, that focus on high-value assets has actually encouraged terrorists to redirect their violence on what one might refer to as “soft targets” such as businesses that aren’t as well protected.  So it’s not an uncommon result that greater security at home leads to an increase by terrorist groups to take aim at foreign operations which is a strong argument for local business to steer clear of international enterprise.

It’s not surprising then that companies have placed a greater emphasis on the consideration of terrorism risk when choosing how and even if to enter foreign markets.  For many years before 9/11, foreign direct investment was seen as a vastly preferred approach.  Now instead of importing, U.S. companies favor exporting as a result of terror threats.

Skillful management of global logistics and supply chains cuts the risk and cost of downtime. Firms seek closer relations with suppliers and clients in order to develop more trust and commitment.  Some have increased “on-shoring” by bringing suppliers back into the country when their remoteness constitutes risk.

It’s no surprise then that terrorism poses significant threats to the ultimate performance of business when they fear going multinational.  While terrorism causes organizational crises, even though the ultimate effects may remain unknown, corporate preparedness for the unexpected is crucial.  It’s critical that business owners develop back-up resources and a quick corporate response and game plan to terrorist threats not just to ensure the safety of their companies but of their employees as well.

Terrorism is a no doubt a public threat, and some managers believe government should bear the cost of protecting against it.  Others argue that a public-private partnership is the most effective approach, with firms taking the lead.  There is also the issue whether corporate headquarters or the locally exposed subsidiary should fund prevention and preparation expenditures.  Regardless of who pays, everyone can agree on the need to guard against terrorism.

While as citizens of the United States, our focus no doubt remains on terrorist threats at home, even world region and international business are unsurprisingly vulnerable to terrorist threats.  Terrorism requires vigilance, thoughtful and diligent decision-making and strategy development by business owners to ward off threats.  Business owners, who are alert and aware of the necessity of preparedness against terrorist threats, run the risk of weaker performance or even the loss of their firms.  As a result of this cognizance, over a decade post-9/11 businesses are more aware, less exposed and less vulnerable to the risks of terrorism given the increase by owners to take preventative measures against the danger and harm radical groups cause on their bottom line.

While it might seem trite or callous to talk about the implication terrorism has on the business community on such a hallowed day, it’s simply the truth and the aim of this blog each week is to discuss how all things, big and small, affect business.  By discussing this today, I by no means am diminishing the reverence this day brings but yes, while terrorism stirs up many personal emotions, it still undoubtedly, has an effect on things that might seem trivial in the wake of such tragedy.  But right or wrong, it’s simply the undeniable truth: terrorism does, indeed, have an effect on the domestic and international business world as a whole and most noticeably on the way business have changed their approach to growth, expansion and success in the wake of terrorist threats.

Until next time…