Let’s Start a Business
For most people, the idea of starting a business can both be exciting and scary at the same time.
The exciting part first:
- You take control of your financial destiny, meaning that your income isn’t fixed by your employer and you control it based on how well you perform in the bsuiness.
- You have flexibility over your time, meaning you can pick up from the kids from school and take them to soccer games, etc.
- You do what you enjoy.
OK, now for the scary part:
- If you’re looking to start a retail business, you usually have to take out a lease for a few years, which means you’re committed to pay the rent over that time.
- Depending on your level of business experience, you have no idea whether your business will work or not.
- Unless you’re very good at marketing, your business will be generating low income while you’re building up a customer base.
If you’re wanting to start a business, you can deflect most of the scary points above with this positive affirmation.
“I’m a capable individual. I can do it. I can make it.”
This is what many highly paid motivational thinkers would like you to think. Unfortunately, reassuring yourself does not assure that the rest of the world wants you to succeed. In fact, there are many competitors who would rather your business keel over and die!
This is where I like to quote one of my favourite theories from Robert Ringer, best-selling author of “To Be or Not To Be Intimidated”. In it, he suggests the “Theory of Reality”.
Reality is neither the way you wish things to be
nor the way they appear to be, but the way they actually are.
Either you acknowledge reality and use it to your benefit,
or it will automatically work against you.
Unfortunately, many new entrepreneurs don’t consider the reality of “starting a business”. It may sound fun and exciting to the individual, but in reality, many businesses are closing down every day because the owners cannot compete. If something looks easy to you, it’s generally because someone else put in alot of effort behind the scenes.
But I’m Still Interested In Having My Own Business Someday
OK, let me suggest buying a business as a solution. It does alleviate most of the scary points above, such as showing an established track record of profit as well as making money from the day you take over the business.
However, it does present a set of challenges, and due diligence is one of them. Due diligence is the process of verifying that the business is in a position to trade legally once you take it over, and that the reported facts and figures about the business are correct. I won’t go into detail about it in this post, but maybe in the future.
If you’re interested in buying a business but unsure of what to buy and the process of going about it, let me know and we can sit down and have a chat sometime.
Related posts: