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Why, exactly, do you want to go into business for
yourself?
Is it because you cannot stand the thought of working for an
uptight, demanding, and perfectly dreadful boss?
Is it because you cannot bear the thought of going through another
downsizing or restructuring, knowing that your job
could be on the line?
Is it because you want to be your own boss, call your own shots, or
see more up side in your earning potential, with the possibility of
financial self-sufficiency?
These are all good reasons for wanting to go into business. In fact,
studies have shown that many entrepreneurs get their start due to some
life-altering experience such as losing a job or finally walking away
from a dead-end job or a demoralizing work environment.
It is amazing how creative, resourceful, and innovative you can be when,
finally, you reach the edge and find yourself in a survival situation
professionally. In times like this, the entrepreneurial spirit comes
alive and you figure out that you can simply do it on your own.
Does dissatisfaction alone in some area of your life constitute reason
enough to venture into business and the life of entrepreneurship? Many
potential entrepreneurs get to this bridge and never cross because they
do not know how to discover and unleash the entrepreneur within himself
or herself.
Many people resist giving credence to their entrepreneurial tendencies
no matter what the circumstances, ignoring the potential for
self-expression, independence and the fulfillment of their dreams.
Herein resides the real tragedy. Many people experience paralysis from
fear of the unknown and fear of failure. Consequently, they never pursue
entrepreneurship and the potential freedom that it can bring to their
lives.
Although entrepreneurship appears to offer many advantages for personal
and professional growth and accomplishment, why is it that so many new
entrepreneurs fail? In fact, studies have shown us that out of every 100
entrepreneurs who start their own businesses, 14 will succeed and a
whopping 86 will fail in the first five years. The odds, so to speak,
are stacked against you as a nascent entrepreneur. Therefore, if you are
contemplating starting your own business you should take it very
seriously.
The two biggest reasons people fail in a new business are:
1) they don't know what they are doing
2) their business is undercapitalized.
When we say they don't know what they are doing, we mean they
literally don't know what they are doing in terms of running a business
day in and day out. It also makes perfect sense that a new business
might be undercapitalized (not having enough working capital to run the
business). In fact, many new entrepreneurs, who don't know what they are
doing have a hard time finding either equity or debt capital for the
reason that lending institutions and savvy investors typically do not
like to give money to people who don't know what they are doing in
business.
In order to improve your chances of beating the odds, what is important
is that you educate yourself about business development. There certainly
is enough information out there on how to start and run a small
business. For instance, if you go to Amazon.com and type in a search for
books on "Entrepreneurship'" alone, you will have over 21,000 book
choices. Nevertheless, where does one start in deciding what to read,
who to listen to, and what to implement?
In the more than 55 years of combined experience in the world of
business that my wife and I have had, and working with hundreds of
hopeful entrepreneurs, we discovered four basic stages to business
development that every entrepreneur must go through to enhance their
chances for business success.
1. Reflect
2. Envision
3. Create 4. Build
Most entrepreneurs, especially the 86 that fail, usually skip one or
more of these essential stages of business development and find
themselves in a heap of trouble before they know it. Typically, a new
entrepreneur will get and idea (envision) and go straight to market
(build). They simply unknowingly skip the "reflect" and "create" stages,
and charge into business with an "if-I-work-hard-enough" attitude
everything will be all right.
Well, statistically we know that not everything is all right and it does
not work.
Charles and Holly Egner are veteran entrepreneurs. They have trained,
coached, and mentored hundreds of aspiring
entrepreneurs. Their last entrepreneurial venture sold for just under
$400 million in 1999.
Build On Your Dreams was founded to help promising entrepreneurs
to build the business of their dreams. For their free Life Strategy
Planning Teleseminar,
visit today. Copyright © 2004 Charles and Holly Egner
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