By Rhonda Campbell
Imagine being able to get out of bed and head to work when you get ready . . . every day. Visualize being able to work with the coolest bunch of employees you ever met for the rest of your working career. See clients calling and asking for you whenever they want to discuss multi-million dollar business deals. Welcome to the life of a successful small business owner.
Busting Small Business Owner Myths
Admittedly, the atmosphere can be intoxicating, especially when you’re only daydreaming and thinking about what it’s like to own a small business. Truth is that what you imagine owning a small business to be like usually does not align with the actual process of owning and managing a successful enterprise. Yet, myths about what it’s like to work as a new entrepreneur abound, including myths that:
- Hire the right employees and you’ll work fewer hours right from the start
- Employees understand and support your small business goals as strongly as you, the small business owner, do
- Your passion for your business will automatically propel you to the top
- The fact that you were an exceptional employee at a competitive firm is proof that you’ll succeed as a small business owner or entrepreneur
- Consumers love your business products and services as much as you do (if you’re reluctant to make changes to your business products and services after you receive numerous complaints or comments from customers, you might be believing this myth)
- Establishing distribution channels for your products is not a major concern because customers are going to flock to your company and buy your business products direct, skyrocketing your customer sales
- Even though you don’t have the experience, somehow you understand business management and employee relations processes and regulations as well as your former employers who may have operated one or more businesses for 10 years or longer
- If you make enough sacrifices, cross your fingers and toes long enough and pray loud enough God will hear you and select your company as the next mega firm, this all because you made enough sacrifices (whatever that magic number is)
Who hasn’t dreamed about owning a small business at some point in her life? From the time we were children, we longed to call the shots, make our own decisions. While owning a small business, especially a home biz, can help achieve this, the work involved in operating and managing a viable enterprise is no small feat.
The fact is that many small business owners work long hours (e.g. 10 or more hours a day), especially during the first three to five years their companies exist. Because they may not have yet generated enough cash inflow to hire employees, small business owners wear multiple hats, completing product development, marketing, advertising, customer service and finance projects solo. Until profits increase, small business owners may also cut back on personal expenses (e.g. movie tickets, restaurant meals, new clothes). They calm and satisfy angry customers, continuously measure return-on-investment (ROI) and make changes to their business products and services as needed.
In fact, until a business is firmly launched and has been generating sizable profits for three or more years, it might be best to postpone those plans of sitting on a tropical beach sipping lemonade in the shade for hours a day while ocean waves lap at your feet. That’s no myth.
Enjoy exploring the rest of the articles at our small business website.
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