Starting your own business or company is not an easy task. There are many challenges you will have to face during your startup journey, and you’ll start wishing that someone would have told you about these things before. Not that It will make you change your mind but might help you prepare for them.
When you are beginning to establish a new company, many will tell you the obvious things like, “it’s not an easy thing to do” or “you might fail” or “it’s the best thing you can do right now” and so on. But there are many less-obvious things that come only from experience, and not many people will tell you about those. Here are the five things you need to know before you start your own business.
It’s all about willpower
Startups are not as much about products or money as they are about wills. There will come many situations when you will think of quitting or shutting down the business for good, then your willpower is the only thing that can keep you going.
Your will of keep going and your trust in the company and in your team will be your greatest sources of inspiration and faith when you pass through dark times. You must build a self-belief that keeps inspiring you and your team to work hard, even if you have to sometimes go beyond your limits or out of your comfort zones.
Your mind will never be free
If you are planning to start your own business, be ready to be obsessed about certain things. No matter where you are or what you are doing, you’ll always be thinking about your business or company, your work, team, clients and so on. Basically, your mind will always be full of thoughts about many things.
You might so very often have to hear complaints from people, including your family and friends, that you are never fully present. And you will have to work harder to keep a balance between your work and your social life. Think of it as a new kind of love that has come into your life and become a very important part of it.
You will become emotional for your work
Do not be alarmed if you suddenly start feeling emotions for your work, the same way you feel for your family. It will be a different kind of love, but the emotions will be very real. You will start caring for your business in the same way as you care for your kids and spouse. You’ll be devastated when a deal goes wrong or if someone tries to harm your business in any way.
Basically, you will grow feelings towards your work that you would never have imagined otherwise. You need to learn to embrace them all.
You will always be terrified
Yup, this is how it is gonna be. As I said above, when you own a company, you always keep thinking about it. And you will always be worried about the possible outcomes of an upcoming business meeting or deal or how a new product will perform in the market and other things like that. Just like movie producers are worried at the time of the launch of a new movie they produced.
It is natural for startups to be afraid of their performance in the market. What you need to learn is how to keep your fear in control so that your buyers and potential clients do not see it. It’s all about maintaining the balance.
Your team is your main asset
Unless you are starting a company with a few (or even one) partners, you will have to focus on building a strong team quickly. No matter how strong or intelligent or even experienced you are, you cannot possibly handle all business things on your own. This is where a strong team of loyal employees will help you out.
Your team members should be smart and honest at the same time. You should be able to trust them, if and when the time comes (and believe me, it will). In the beginning of your startup, you’ll need some people who are loyal to you, even if not smart enough. These people will be there for you in your best and worst times, and they should be rewarded accordingly. A good team will become the muscles of your business.]
Starting a startup is certainly a complex task that involves lots of ups and downs. The process can be made easier if we all come together and start sharing our startup experiences through a common platform.