WHAT ARE COMMON ISSUES FACING SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS…?
What do small business owners have to say are the hardest areas of being an owner-entrepreneur?
- The number of hours that has to be put in, to get the business moving forward [especially on start-up]. ‘Working in the business and on the business.’ Not having time to work ‘on’ the business solely.
- Thinking about the business 24/7. Finding that life-work balance. Time management.
- Sticking to policy and not bending the rules of the business because of client pressure.
- Focusing on the core of the business. Sticking to what you know and developing it. Staying true to what the business is about and what are the strengths. Not veering off course to make extra dollars.
- Finding the right professionals i.e. lawyers and accountants getting the right direction for long term stability.
- Collecting accounts receivable on time.
- Being involved in all aspects of the business and being aware of when to hire help, allocate and designate. In short, being able to delegate; the stress caused by wearing too many hats.
- Marketing…where, how much. Figuring out the right budget and getting the best bang for the buck. Branding, reaching the right markets
- Understanding what the client wants and ‘selling’ them those needs and wants. Seeing your business through the eyes of your customer.
- Staying on top of finances and anticipating the bad times. Keeping in mind ‘off seasons’, includes meeting paycheck dates and anticipating employees layoffs or otherwise.
- When to grow the business. Business that do not grow are stagnant and will fail.
- Getting ahead of the competition. Finding that unique niche that can set the business apart from the competitors.
- Setting up a business plan for now and for the coming next few years.
- Raising the capital. Creating that business plan with details, a financial budget and future strategy. Taking it to the bank.
- The ‘lonesomeness’ of being a sole owner. Lack of interaction and not being able to brain storm. Even in a partnership, finding that outside, objective party that could be helpful.
- Finding the right people to work ‘in’ the business; those things that, as an owner, does not make the best use of your time and/or take you in areas that you are not best at.
- Human resource issues: finding the right, dependable, loyal employees; or the other side of this, having to deal with those employees that are not meeting your expectations or benefiting the business; from setting them on track to letting them go.
- Keeping costing in line to keeping ahead of expenses, while not turning off the customer with cost of sales or services.
You, as a business owner, surely have many of these issues. It is interesting, after meeting up with many many business owners, the above factors pretty well cover and are prevalent, to some degree, in all small and mid-size businesses. And more importantly, these issues cross every type of business and service. It comes down to how you can handle these issues and make your business successful. Any one issue solved properly will lead to a successful future and if not solved properly, can break your business and you.
Remember, we, at Associated Senior Executives, have heard clients with each and every one of these issues. We have helped clients come to understand their unique difficulties. We work on an approach together, to resolve these issues. As noted above, ‘the lonesomeness’ of being a sole owner, is exactly when you need a sounding board to discuss and resolve your concerns. The sooner you meet such a mentoring or advisory group the better. The very best approach is getting solutions to potential or existing problems, earlier than later. Doreen Levitz ASE