What does it take to start and succeed as a small business owner?

Starting a business is tough, and sustaining it is even tougher. The stats of startup failure are well-known, and the odds are stacked against you when you decide to start a business.

So, what do you need to require to start a small business?

It needs no mention that dedication, commitment, passion, drive are the initial pre-requisites to be a successful small business owner. However, there are certainly other factors you might want to keep in mind before you become a small business owner.

1) Sacrifice

This is the obvious one. Entrepreneurship requires a high degree of sacrifice. Believe me, no amount of training on any of the online courses for small business owners can teach you the art of sacrifice. Because it is way beyond what all of us can imagine. There might be no 9-5, no weekends, no holidays, and maybe no life at all! Perhaps you need to tell yourself that these are things every person can have and redefine your definition of a meaningful life.

2) You need to be money-driven.

Although not a compulsion, you do need to be money-driven. The purpose of starting a small business is to generate funds. If the idea of creating money does not excite you, you might want to consider another option.

3) You need to manage your ego/attitude

If you feel you’ve now got an ego boost with no boss to report to, you are mistaken. You currently have almost multiple bosses in the form of customers, just a different kind. While in your earlier job, there were only selective people that could criticize you, and who you needed to actually ‘listen’ to, it’s not the same in a small business. In a small business, you are prone to criticism from any random person.

If you are the one that takes any of this personally, you will have to revisit your attitude. You need to be a sport. Make that your thumb rule. Your ego needs to be a bare minimum—your ego, not your self-respect.

4) You need to be patient

If you are in desperate need of money, do not opt for this path.

You might have to go months or even years before you make your initial profit. In the meanwhile, you still have bills to pay.

It’s always wise to have income sufficient to sustain such non-profitable periods.

5) You need mental stamina

As a small business owner, work is on your mind, 24/7. You need the mental toughness to keep the business going.

Honestly, it’s not always possible to keep your mind ticking, and your brain might simply refuse to do so, beyond a certain point.

In such situations, you need to have the ability to detach from work and refresh your mind and get back quickly.

6) You need to be very adaptable

There’s always a lot of emphasis on how entrepreneurship will eat into all your time, and you might not have as much time for leisure activities as you used to. You might realize that it still is a good deal, and it comes with the territory.

However, the situation can be quite the opposite, where there’s little or absolutely no work. Work won’t come running to you as soon as you become a small business owner. You need to be adaptable in such situations and also have the ability to create work.

Now – moving to the success of a Small Business. These are the factors that impact the success of a Small Business.

What factors are essential for the success of a small business?

There is no fixed formula for the success of a small business. If it were so, most companies today would be successful.

There are, however, certain factors that could pretty much increase your chances of success in a small business. Let’s have a look.

1)    You need to be a quick learner and an even faster adapter.

As a small business owner, you are continually learning. Some of the learning comes naturally, while some require initiative. With the changing needs of the business, you need to adapt as quickly. There’s no problem in failure; the critical factor is to learn from those failures rapidly and bounce back.

Further, not all of the learning is possible on the job. It is true that when you practically do something, you learn.

But you might be so engrossed in day-to-day activities that you might not be in touch with the latest industrial trends.

Online courses are the best way out in such situations. There are courses in marketing, management, entrepreneurship that are well-equipped to the current business needs and can help you catch-up.

Also, read, read, read!

2)    You have a clear profit path

Having a great idea and making money out of that great idea are two very different things. You need to know how the product or service is going to get your profit. First, you need to have a transparent business model. Second, you need to have an open profit model.

3)    You have good networking

Good networking is almost one of the most critical factors in a small business. Business is all about reach.

You cannot reach everywhere, and you need those contacts that can help out in doing so. Although not easy, networking with people of different domains is all the better. You should have a person for every kind of problem and every type of work.

Also, you need to pay proper attention to the utilisation of networking.

Apart from the above, networking helps you stay informed, and there can be a good amount of exchange of ideas and a good amount of opportunities you could capitalize on.

4)    You have clarity

You need to be clear in what it is that you do. No one likes dealing with a person who’s not sure of what he’s into.

With clarity, comes confidence. Once you are clear and confident of the steps you take, the better impact you have, and the smoother your operations are.

5)    You know how to close a deal

You know how to sell. Be it an idea, service, or thought. To customers, to investors, and with other people you deal with.

If you feel that your innovation is going to save you some selling, you might not be entirely right. The change is only when you’ve launched the product/service.

It is only a matter of time before the idea can be easily copied, and then you’re back to selling.

6)    You are good at managing people

Very Important! You might have a very high skill set and the best of ideas, but if people are uncomfortable with dealing with you, surviving would be difficult. You need to know precisely when to reduce your ego when to be diplomatic when to praise when to be straight-forward.

Every emotion has time and you need to be smart to know what works for you.