The days have become
shorter, the nights are cooler and the retail world is awash in
colorful decorations. It's my favorite time of year.
(article continued below ...)
No, I'm not talking about the holiday selling season, but the
publication of Inc. magazine's annual list of the top 500
fastest-growing private companies.
Inc. is one of my favorite resources for ideas, advice and
inspiration -- and nothing inspires me more than the story of a
multi-million dollar company founded at the CEO's kitchen table.
This year, a staggering 61% of the listed companies were
*started at home* and 16% were initially capitalized with less
than $1,000. If that's not inspiring, I don't know what is. It
just goes to show you how much an entrepreneur can accomplish
with an idea whose time has come.
Of course, good ideas are not enough to turn a $1,000
investment into a million-dollar enterprise. It takes good
financial management -- salesmanship -- marketing skills -- and
a little bit of luck -- to grow your home business to the point
where it's ready to take public.
Do you have what it takes?
According to the Women's Online Business Center of the U.S.
Small Business Administration, these are some of the most common
roadblocks to small business success in the startup phase:
Dramatic
change in day to day life.
There is an adjustment
from being an employee to being an entrepreneur. Don't be
surprised if you find yourself putting in many more hours than
you ever did at a conventional job. The biggest casualty may be
your sleep: Many parents work into the wee hours of the morning,
others wake up before dawn to get some work in before the kids
are up.
Balancing
career and home.
Time is the enemy of every
home-based business owner who is also responsible for the upkeep
of a house and the well-being of his or her family. Both are
full-time jobs. You may not be able to grow your home business
as quickly as you would if you were childless. Your home may not
be spic and span. On the other hand, you may not have chosen
this great entrepreneurial adventure if you did not have a
burning desire to be home with your kids... and your life would
certainly not be as rich.
Business
skills undeveloped.
There is a learning curve
involved in any new undertaking. You will make mistakes. Learn
from them and do better.
Focus
on sales, marketing: records, finances neglected. If
you are not using a financial program like Quicken or
QuickBooks, buy one... NOW! It will save you a lot of heartache,
time and *money*. If you do have financial software and can
never find time to use it, hire a bookkeeper or accountant. You
will not be sorry.
Insufficient
time to do it all. Just as you budget your finances,
you should also create one for your time. Make a list of all
your tasks (both business and personal) and note which ones you
must do yourself, which can be postponed or performed less
often, and what can reasonably be delegated to a spouse or kids
or outsourced. Then, instead of trying to do it all, focus on
doing what's possible.
Cash
flow unpredictable. There are no easy answers
for this one. There are reasons why risk-averse people tend not
to become entrepreneurs, and this is a big one. There will be
months, especially in the first couple of years, when you will
need to tap into your personal assets (92% of the CEO's of this
year's Inc. 500 did so!). Larger companies obtain bank loans and
lines of credit to help them through these periods. Most female
home-based entrepreneurs rely on their credit cards (78%,
according to the National Foundation of Women Business Owners).
If you take this route, do so with caution.
The SBA offers a variety of options to help small businesses
obtain bank loans:
http://www.onlinewbc.org/docs/finance/sbaprog.html
Responsible
for all decision making. Most home-based businesses
are sole proprietorships, which can put you in an idea vacuum.
Gone are the days when you could brainstorm with the colleague
in the next cubicle. If you have a spouse with a good head for
business, you may wish to use him or her for a sounding board
(many work-at-home experts suggest that vesting your partner in
your venture can help ease some of the tensions that arise in a
relationship when you are starting a new business). These days,
many work-at-home parents form networks with colleagues they
meet online on message boards and discussion groups. You'll find
dozens of terrific boards at:
Don't set yourself up for early disappointment by expecting
immediate success, or that attaining success will make
conducting your business much easier. As your business grows the
issues you need to deal with -- like hiring employees -- will
bring you new challenges. If you can accept them and enjoy the
ride, these challenges will bring you benefits you never
imagined. Who knows? Someday when I get my annual Inc. list, I
may be reading about *you*!
About the Author:
Donna Schwartz Mills
is the Editor/Webmaster of the ParentPreneur Club http://www.parentpreneurclub.com,
"where those who are doing the most important job of all
hang their hats."
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