Anyone Can Start And Run a Business
Can an average person run a successful business?
That really is the million dollar question, isn’t it? I’m sure that many individuals with dreams of business ownership are stopped abruptly by their own negative thinking and this question, in particular.
Perhaps the question ought to be: What qualifications do you need to start a business?
Honestly, it depends on what you plan on doing. If your goal is to eventually incorporate and massively scale your business to include employees, a commercial location, and the whole nine yards, then I would say, yes, you should have some formal business training. After all, most CEO’s have a formal business background (but not all).
That said, I have run several small businesses over the past 20 years and have never had a problem with my lack of business education. Of course, my ventures were very small. In most cases, they were a one-man show. Actually, I’ve only hired employees a few times in all those years – even then, they were just temporary.
My experience has been that just about anyone can run a simple business. The problem I ran into was thinking that I lacked the skills to do so. I started over-analyzing things and over-planning. I would also start buying things that were not necessary until later on. I learned that things like stationary, logos, signage, and the like, were all things I could buy after I knew if the business was for me.
In fact, there are really only a few things you need to worry about when you start out:
Adhering to government regulations and making sure you do all the paperwork that is required. The government makes it easy with a comprehensive website and toll-free numbers. This is not complicated and anyone can do it.
Making sure you have some sort of accounting system in place. If you haven’t got a clue about bookkeeping, accounting, and taxes – simply hire someone to do it for you. It’s not as much as you think, and the great thing is that you can write off these professional services. I would highly recommend contacting an accountant because he/she will save you money in the long run.
Developing some sort of business plan. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Besides, it will constantly be changing in the beginning anyway.
So, what’s stopping you from starting your business?
