Getting a startup through launch day is a huge deal. Huge. You’ve had the guts to go for glory, stick your neck out, get your idea to come to life and soak up all the blood, sweat and tears to make it this far. The problem is, well, the bigger challenges lay ahead.
Ask anyone that has grown a small business into a success story and they will underscore things like hiring the right people, building a brand, getting your copywriting spot on and things like that. But before you meet these suckers head on, there are some challenges totally unique to small businesses that you really need to know about.
Luckily for you, we’ve gone and done the martyr-like thing of listing the biggest ones below. Go us and go you.
Don’t Depend On Just One
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
If you’ve got that one special client that makes up more than half of your income, you need to accept that you are less a business owner and more an independent contractor. That’s why you need to focus on that all-important thing called diversification. This is easier said than done though, especially if you have gotten quite comfortable with the way things are. Here’s the big problem though: your work could dry up at any time and that is a risky game to play.
Technology Is At The Core
Once upon a time, when things were still existing in an analog world, there was no giant dependency on one single thing like there is now. We are, of course, talking about technology. Think about it for a moment; if something goes wrong with your IT, everything goes wrong in your business. Our advice: bring on a technology provider that gets your business. That could be someone celebrated, like ATB-Tech.com, or it could be a local business that you have been recommended. Either way, having a specialist take control of this aspect and reduce your risks twenty-fold.
Everything Falls On Your Shoulders
If you haven’t heard of founder dependency before, you need to read up on it now. Essentially, it’s realization that your business would fail immediately without you. Let’s say you fell ill or got hit by the Hulk in the face, would your business still be able to produce an income the next day? Mmmm. That’s called founder dependency. To overcome this, you need to have a process of handing over more responsibility to your employees and managers, and take that weight off your shoulders. As a test run, go on holiday for a week or a fortnight and see how things run.
Fatigue Is A Killer
The Psychological Price of Entrepreneurship
With the line between working hours and personal time, the issue of fatigue has gotten a whole lot bigger. It’s the pressures of trying to succeed and perform to the best of your abilities that will wear down even the most passionate of people. For you, though, the founder, you’ll find you easily slip into longer days and shorter nights, all because you fear your business will fail. It‘s natural. But it leads to the chance of mega-fatigue or burnout. That’s why you need to find a balance that works for you, and find it fast.
