There's more to managing a small business than setting up the business. It requires a lot more of YOU. Not only are you an owner of a small business. You are a manager, manager of yourself, sales, marketing, admin, customer service and more. You don't need to master of all but you do need to know what you are good at and what your weaknesses are.
“It is not the mountain that we conquer, but ourselves”
- Sir Edmund Hillary
You need to be brutally honest about what you bring to the business owner table. What skills do you currently have that will assist you in managing your business? It is easy to think that you have selling skills or organisation skills. But there's more to selling. It goes beyond creating a website, setting up a Facebook page and waiting for enquiries to come in. You have to put effort in yourself. Recognise which skills you need to develop in order to manage your business effectively. There are excellent resources available to help you learn. Ask questions of other business owners. Honing good managerial skills takes time and patience.
How motivated are you as a business owner? Are you driven enough to focus on the needs of the business? There's no employer or manager to direct your day? You are responsible for earning your income AND juggling other activities that feed into income earning opportunities. Are you disciplined to do the admin regularly rather than lastminute.com? You will encounter unexpected challenges as a business owner and you will need to dig deep into the pockets of perseverance to fight through those challenges.
Is your business viable? Is it going to provide you with an income to survive and thrive? This is where good planning is required. A business plan, financial plan and then a marketing/sales plan. What do you have that sets you apart from your competition? You need to know who your customers are. Where will you find them? How will you market to them? What customer service experience will they get from you? What do you need to invest in setting up your business? What are the financial risks? What are your anticipated costs? What do you need to bring in in order to cover those costs... and have some left for yourself? You will need to be disciplined to track what happens in your business? Account for every centime/penny.
You will need to consider time management, as you will need to focus on your skill set that earns you money and other areas of business management. They all need attention in order to allow your wheels of commerce to keep turning. There is no 9-5 in self employment and there will be times when sacrifices are made. The flip side is that you are your own boss. You have flexibility over your time. You might experience weeks or months of it being full on, but equally you can decide to have a couple of weeks off - the only boss you need to ask is you!
Never be afraid to ask questions...Never stop learning... Being self employed requires a lot more of you than you bargained for.
Experience and knowledge will shape you over the years and your skill set will be very different to what you started out with.
“It is not the mountain that we conquer, but ourselves”
- Sir Edmund Hillary
You need to be brutally honest about what you bring to the business owner table. What skills do you currently have that will assist you in managing your business? It is easy to think that you have selling skills or organisation skills. But there's more to selling. It goes beyond creating a website, setting up a Facebook page and waiting for enquiries to come in. You have to put effort in yourself. Recognise which skills you need to develop in order to manage your business effectively. There are excellent resources available to help you learn. Ask questions of other business owners. Honing good managerial skills takes time and patience.
How motivated are you as a business owner? Are you driven enough to focus on the needs of the business? There's no employer or manager to direct your day? You are responsible for earning your income AND juggling other activities that feed into income earning opportunities. Are you disciplined to do the admin regularly rather than lastminute.com? You will encounter unexpected challenges as a business owner and you will need to dig deep into the pockets of perseverance to fight through those challenges.
Is your business viable? Is it going to provide you with an income to survive and thrive? This is where good planning is required. A business plan, financial plan and then a marketing/sales plan. What do you have that sets you apart from your competition? You need to know who your customers are. Where will you find them? How will you market to them? What customer service experience will they get from you? What do you need to invest in setting up your business? What are the financial risks? What are your anticipated costs? What do you need to bring in in order to cover those costs... and have some left for yourself? You will need to be disciplined to track what happens in your business? Account for every centime/penny.
You will need to consider time management, as you will need to focus on your skill set that earns you money and other areas of business management. They all need attention in order to allow your wheels of commerce to keep turning. There is no 9-5 in self employment and there will be times when sacrifices are made. The flip side is that you are your own boss. You have flexibility over your time. You might experience weeks or months of it being full on, but equally you can decide to have a couple of weeks off - the only boss you need to ask is you!
Never be afraid to ask questions...Never stop learning... Being self employed requires a lot more of you than you bargained for.
Experience and knowledge will shape you over the years and your skill set will be very different to what you started out with.
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