The Essentials Of Entrepreneurship And

by Grant Wickes

The Essentials of Entrepreneurship And Small Business Management

Running small business may not be a cake walk for all. It requires a different outlook towards life, a different way of goal setting, if you really want to succeed in it. People who are happy to work for others and be content to pocket their monthly salaries religiously are of one class and those who can’t fit themselves to this comfort zone are of a different class. The second class of people seems to have better chances of becoming entrepreneurs.

If you feel you want to have your own small business and love to manage it all yourself, ask yourself some of these basic questions to ascertain whether you have the entrepreneurship blood running in you to succeed in your wish:

(1) Do you have a dream to realize? Have you a pet idea that you believe will work? Are you willing to pump in every breath in bringing life to your dream? Are you least concerned about position, status, respectability etc in the early stages of working to realize your dreams? Is being the chief of your own little county is more covetable to you than being one of the ministers of a huge empire?

(2) Are you ready and willing to take huge risks if your inner voice keeps saying “you can do it”?

(3) Are you flexible enough to be prepared to live with unsteady and unpredictable income? Do you have wherewithal to guard yourself against financial ups and downs? Is your spouse or parents willing to financially support you till you establish yourself and stand on your own legs? Do you have good savings? Or, are you really capable of jumping into the river and then try to swim against all odds?

(4) Do you take pride in calling your own shots? Do you grasp the fact that you are ultimately answerable to your customers and other stakeholders? Do you understand that, unlike a corporate set up where you might have worked earlier, there will not be a boss above you to take risks nor subordinates below you to blame for the mistakes you committed?

If your answer is yes to most of the above queries, then you have the right entrepreneurial spirit to start your own small business.

Next comes grasping some of the essentials of running a small business:

(1) Do Not Dream Of Making Millions Straight Away

Small business will mostly be with less investment, be less risky and with less “plinth area” and consequently with less scope for making any big money. Not every body can start a venture in the unused Garage and become the owner of a billion dollar enterprise like Steve Jobs. Your goals should be correlated to your line of activity, your investment base and the potential customer base.

(2) Do Not Plan To Have A Large Capital Base

It might be wonderful if you could have the latest computers and gadgets, the best possible machinery and equipment to run your business and a fleet of vehicles to do your deliveries all done from your owned factory building. But until you earn really enough to invest on these on your own, you will be better off with cheaper and less glamorous alternatives, by sub-contracting support services and hire-purchasing the shed, equipment and machinery.