So you think you want to be an entrepreneur. Wonderful! I am so excited about the people I meet every single day who are ready to leave their corporate job and take control of their destiny by joining the “independent workforce”.
However, there is so much more to starting your own business than most can ever imagine– don’t let anyone fool you; it’s a lot of hard work. So I want to challenge you to think about if you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur.
I meet and work with new and growing entrepreneurs every day, and from my experience I have identified 4 key challenges new and existing entrepreneurs struggle with.
Lack of Discipline
Achieving success is really about making your business a priority. I always ask potential new members “how serious are you about your business?” because it is a question that really needs to be considered.
I meet so many people that continue to let everything else in their life get in the way of building their business. As women, especially, we have so much on our plates – children, parents, friends, neighbors, etc. – and so many commitments that it can be really hard to prioritize things. But the reality is, you have to be willing to work on your business each and every day in order for it to grow.
I’ll also add a note here about what I call “shiny object syndrome”. I come across many female entrepreneurs that lack focus. It takes discipline to set a plan and follow though. There will be many things and people that will distract you along the way. Don’t let it pull you off course!
Afraid of Sales
So many people start a business because they are passionate about what they’re doing and producing, yet struggle with selling themselves or their product.
I’ve been in marketing my entire career, and I understand it can be daunting. There are so many marketing tactics – it can be hard to know what to focus on to appeal to your target audience.
But the key is to know who you want to attract. From there it will be much easier to come up with a targeted message that gets your potential customer to fall in love with you.
Trouble Getting Paid
Believe it or not, I come across this all the time – many entrepreneurs are down right bad at getting paid. I hear it a lot; “I forgot to invoice my client,” “I haven’t invoiced my client in 3 months,” etc.
If you are going to do the work you have to bill for it. This is your livelihood, you have to make sure you’re getting paid, so stand up for yourself and collect money.
If you’re not good at collecting money, my best advice it to outsource it to someone else who is. This is key; it is THE most important aspect of running a successful business. Otherwise you might want to start a non-profit!
Lack of Goal Setting
Lastly, I meet many entrepreneurs who have never thought about what they ultimately want to accomplish with their business – 2 years, 5 years, 10 years out.
It is really important to set goals, write them down, and then hold yourself accountable. It is very easy to plug along day by day just making sure you have enough to pay your bills each month, and never really thinking about how you really want to go with your business.
You don’t have to write a formal business plan, just answer the following questions…
What kinds of customers do you want to work with?
How much in sales do you want to generate each year?
How much income do you want to take out of the business each year?
How will you build a business that’s sustainable or sellable?
What kind of staff do you need to scale your team?
The entrepreneur bug is contagious and while I love to see stats like “women are launching 1,200 businesses a day,” it’s important to remain aware of the pitfalls.. Even though there is no easy way to become a successful entrepreneur, the good news is it can be the most rewarding thing you do. Just be ready to do the hard work!
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Kayla Koterbay, a UCSB graduate, is currently pursuing her Masters of Mass Communications and New Media at San Jose State University. With a background in finance, she’s interested in the intersections between economics, women, and community. Connect with Kayla onLinkedIn.
