Build Your Own Business

After a nice lunch with a close long-time friend of mine, and sitting back with a tall latte in front of me, I was asked one of the most common questions by fascinated employees who are getting bored with their routine nine-to-five jobs, "What does it take to be a successful self-employed business person, and why is it that so many people failed in their attempts to get their businesses running profitably?" Well, there are actually several mini questions in that one question alone.

First, to be successful in business, a sharp business acumen with a good knowledge of your industry and marketing principles is a must. Being self-employed doesn't make the whole situation that much prettier even, as your personal discipline and enthusiasm play an extremely critical role in the outcome of your business plan. There are many many other factors involved and a lot boils down to your ingenuity, creativity and experience.

The second part of the question revolves around why start-up businesses fail at such an alarming percentage. It's a fact that most businesses started by inexperienced people fail. And this could be the one reason why many employees still prefer to stay safe in their bosses' palaces and making them even more wealthier. They feel the fear, the fear of losing their money and for good reason. Well, they might have an idea or product or service which they would like to market to the world, but they havent got the slightest idea where to start, how to get the ball rolling, and when the ball's really rolling how to maintain the momentum and survive the competition.

Surprisingly enough, a good 80% of businesses started by experienced people succeed. Why is that so? The reason is simple. These people know what to do, how to do , where to find the resources, when to launch a certain promotion, which is the best alternative should one strategy doesn't produce the desired results etc etc. So, these people know a lot of stuff which others don't - the whats, the whys, hows etc. How to sell, how to negotiate, how to market and purchase and how to manage their finances. So the key word here is experience. It's therefore vital that one needs to acquire and improve on the business knowledege and skills required before starting out. With so many tools and resources available online and offline, it's not impossible to achieve the skills necessary in no time.

As we can see, business success is not a matter of luck. It's rather a combination of what we have listed above. It's a matter of application, ability, experience, skill and intelligence all moulded into one. And what better way to start off by working for someone else in a field which interests you. You can learn tons within just a short period of time. Keep asking questions. Learn from the experts in the field. Learn some more from entrepreneurial newsletters, books, CDs, seminars, business magazines that's published in your field. Never stop learning and growing!