Many young professionals dream of taking the plunge to become an entrepreneur at one point during their career. However, only a select few actually make the decision to quit their jobs and to start up their own business. Being a business owner is never easy and there are lots of obstacles to overcome, such as finding funding, clients, and customers.
Although this can be a difficult task to accomplish, many are successful and some of the greatest entrepreneurs in the world started their companies in their early 20’s. For example, Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook when he was just nineteen years old.
MyYearBook.com was founded by Catherine Cook when she was just 15 years old. This proves that age is just a number! If you have a solid business plan and can either secure a business loan or money from investors, you can be on your way to starting your own business.
Financial resources
Starting up your business comes with lots of additional costs, such as buying the necessary tools to complete your work, or hiring employees as well as working with an accountant and lawyer during the initial set up.
Although you may have the best business idea, without having the funding behind you, it may never get off the ground. In your 20’s many people choose to focus on saving for a house and working for someone else, as this provides a security blanket.
Looking at business loans, such as UK bridging loans are always a great option to help with business funding, as they offer both long and short term loans. This is a great way to kick-start your business.
Do you have a clear business plan?
In order to be a business owner, you must also require a strong level of emotional intelligence, networking and personal skills. You will be the face of your company and must therefore be confident enough to speak to clients, other business owners and employees too.
Many businesses fail within the first two years because they don’t have a proper business plan. In order to bring a strong foundation for your company, you must have a clear vision of what the future looks like for you. Set yourself clear, manageable goals and assess your progress on a monthly basis.
Slow and steady wins the race
Being a business owner is hard work and in order to reap the rewards, you must put a lot of time and effort in. Some business owners hope to do very little work and make maximum revenue and are always looking for a quick win.
This is a recipe for disaster. In the first few years, businesses rarely break even, so investing time and reacting to the feedback and data you collect during this time can help your business to grow.
Alice Porter is a development finance expert from Manchester.
She aims to share her business insight with like minded professionals.