It goes without saying that starting a new business comes with unexpected challenges and hurdles along the way. Despite the best-laid plans and attempts at preparation, here are three significant challenges that permeated the early months of my entrepreneurship and are worth keeping in mind for those who also intend to branch out and start their own businesses.
Key Takeaways
- Inbuild skills with a determination of what we do.
- We don’t need financially sound to start a business but make as many financial preparations as possible to counteract those first few bumpy months of starting up a new business. Expect the unexpected.
- Hard work- Invest in good equipment whenever possible, and makes plans for backup methods of managing your business if things break down.
- Focus on creating a good environment for your team, and realize they may struggle during the first few months of a new business as well. Work to foster the growth of a collaborative culture that will withstand the inevitable stress of starting a new business.
Chimmi Dema: “I made many initial predictions when starting a new business but quickly discovered I was wrong by a long shot. Everything was harder than I thought it would be.
I’m familiar with hard work, but nothing has compared to the experience of first starting a business. Working twelve-hour days, seven days a week for almost the first year and not taking more than the occasional weekend off for the first four years was rough. Making time for my family and well-being and still putting in the extra hours to keep the business heading in the right direction was a heavy weight to shoulder.
The mental exhaustion of the number of hours, daily in and day out, combined with the pressures you can’t really talk to anyone about, and the guilt of being at work while your spouse and child are eating dinner at home without you… that’s something you can’t prepare for. It’s also been the best years of my life.”
