The beginning stages of building a business from the ground up can be very challenging, to say the least. Time and money are at the top of most entrepreneurs’ wish lists. Yet even once your business is up and running, there are still hurdles to jump over. Here are three important challenges on the horizon to look out for.
1. Managing Money Effectively
As soon as cash starts coming in, there needs to be a money management strategy in place. Business founders need to have defined boundaries between their own finances and company finances. In the early stages, a business owner is often putting all he has personally into the firm and any profits go to paying off the owner’s personal bills. Without careful planning, this pattern could continue with not enough money being put back in to grow the company. Having a plan for how all incoming funds will be allocated is essential to ensuring the firm has all the business financing it needs. Even securing huge business loans will not be enough to save a company if there is no budget in place.
2. Growing Your Client Base
Many times, startups will score a great contract deal with just one or two companies. While these are often the big breaks new firms need to get off the ground, there is a risk of holding on to this setup for a long. If that contract is canceled, how would your company pay for its expenses? How would it survive? As soon as you are able, start expanding your client base in order to become a full-fledged business and not just an independent contractor at the mercy of one or two corporations.
3. Teaching the Company to Run Itself
Of course, the new business is the founder’s ‘baby,’ and is the product of her ingenuity and tenacity, but as the ball starts rolling, it is important for her to extricate herself from some of the daily business practices. A company that is totally dependent on the founder will never be worth as much or as stable as one that can continue moving forward and remain profitable in the founder’s absence. This requires delegation of responsibilities, proper employee training and most of all a willingness to relinquish some control.
Although this can be very difficult for some entrepreneurs, it will be easier if they establish effective practices and protocols that will teach employees to maintain high-quality standards.
While there may seem to be many obstacles to overcome in establishing a new business, with focus, determination and an eyes-wide-open attitude, they will be surmountable.