Entrepreneurs
8 Business Challenges and Solutions for the New Age Entrepreneur
Being an entrepreneur isn’t just about hiring a team or giving orders to them. Every business comes with its unique challenges and addressing them appropriately is what contributes to the learning curve of any entrepreneur. A very big challenge for most entrepreneurs is to find out what these painful problems are and then to solve them using the best resources available.
Being the founder of your business goes a long way if you identify and solve your employees, customers, partners and companies problems. A successful entrepreneur solves problems in a unique way and that is what separates him from the rest.
Below are 8 challenges you can come across during your entrepreneurship journey with solutions that can help you overcome these problems tactfully:
1. Self-Doubt
The Challenge: Self-Doubt personates itself in other forms and negatively impacts business growth. Below are some questions that likely pop up in your mind as a result of self-doubt:
- What if the idea fails?
- Is it the right decision to leave the comfort of the monthly paycheck?
- What if I don’t get the right team?
The Solution: You will feel like giving up initially but look towards your goal list and keep moving on. Know that working on daily tasks will contribute towards your lifetime goals and every day you’ll be one more step closer to them.
2. Time Management
The Challenge: The biggest challenge that an entrepreneur faces is time management. While working on a new venture, there are a number of things that need to be completed in a limited time period. Managing the time properly is an invaluable skill and can be rewarding in the long haul.
The Solution: Be smart when allocating your time to different tasks. It’s essential for you to know what is worth your time and what isn’t. Make goal lists that can further be deconstructed into monthly and weekly goals. If there are tasks that don’t require your attention, make sure you either delegate or eliminate them.
“This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
3. Gathering Capital
The Challenge: If you’re a freshly minted entrepreneur, lenders will hesitate in providing you the required funds as you may lack collateral to secure the loan and also you don’t have an established business. Without a reasonable probability of return, no one will take a risk by investing in your idea.
The Solution: There are government operated banks that are specifically designed for entrepreneurs. You can pitch your business idea and if feasible, they will provide you the required capital. Some NGOs also help new entrepreneurs in guiding them to reliable sources of capital generation.
4. Hiring Staff for the First Time
The Challenge: Hiring and keeping good employees is one of the most difficult tasks of an entrepreneur. If the business is small, each person becomes more critical. Remember, as you have just started the business, your company is in its most volatile position.
The Solution: When interviewing potential candidates, make sure to ask them questions related to their experience, long-term goals and expectations. Make candidates feel that your company seeks a partner to grow business with rather than a minion who takes orders from superiors.
For any candidates that you select, make sure you seek genuine references that can vouch for their work ethic and potential. Hire people that fit your criteria and be sure to clear everything before appointing an employee so as to maintain a healthy working relationship in the future.
5. Choosing What to Sell
The Challenge: Choosing what product to sell is the most difficult decision you will need to make while starting a business. Of course, the choices are limitless, but finalizing something is complex as your business success is totally depended on it.
The Solution: Market research can help you find the right product to invest in. Once you’ve shortlisted a few products, it’s good to analyze profit margins, strengths, weaknesses and threats that come along with each product. This will not only save your time and effort but will save your business at some point.
6. Choosing An Appropriate Marketing Strategy
The Challenge: As a new entrepreneur, you probably don’t know the best way/medium/channel to reach the target audience. It won’t matter how beneficial your product is, if your customers aren’t aware of it.
The Solution: If you want to maximize your ROI, then be sure to invest in target marketing as that will definitely lead you in the right direction. If you haven’t hired marketers to work with you then it’s best to outsource a team that can strategize a great marketing plan for you. Be precise with your budget and marketing goals so that they can craft a plan that works like magic for you.
“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” – Bill Gates
7. Cash Flow
The Challenge: Sufficient cash flow is essential to keep the business suspended as you have to bear all your business related expenses such as employee’s salary, infrastructural cost, and so forth. Temporary cash infusions don’t solve the problem, you need to make changes in the supply chain to get some positive gains.
The Solution: Planning for a budget in advance can help you work around cash flow problems. In addition to this, you can also request your clients to clear the invoice payments quickly. You can also convince your vendors to send you the bill after 40-45 days, which gives you enough time to receive your payments.
8. Business Growth
The Challenge: From financial management to keeping up with the market, growing businesses face multiple challenges. What worked a year ago might not be the right approach now.
The Solution: It’s very important for an entrepreneur to know the strengths of his teams and employees. This can help you distribute tasks to employees who can handle them most effectively while giving you a window to get out of production and management issues. This way you can focus on growing your business.
Conclusion
There are volumes written on how entrepreneurs can overcome business challenges, use them to their advantage, and ensure that you’re putting your customers first. On the other hand, it’s okay to feel that you’re going off track because only then can you drive yourself to overcome obstacles and do better.