Cash flow is a common struggle
"We started with clients from day one, so we've always been
profitable, but one thing we didn't think about when we started was cash flow.
Many profitable businesses experience famine and feast, due to invoice
scheduling or higher sales during certain parts of the year. You must have a plan
to spread profits from the most profitable times to cover times when cash flow
is slower."
—Allie Siarto |
Partner, Director of Analytics,Loudpixel
How much is insurance?
"Did you think about all the startup costs—all of them? Failing to
anticipate the high cost of insurance for certain personal and operational
ventures can be a killer to capital, as some vendors and potential clients
require a large amount of insurance coverage. Therefore, I urge entrepreneurs
to analyze the potential cost prior to raising capital and [write] elaborate
business models."
—George
Mavromaras | Founder and President,Mavro Inc. | Praetor Global LLC.
Everyone's a critic
"While our employees and many of our clients were excited about
bringing a new brand to the community, there were many feathers ruffled.
Through research, focus groups, and conversations, I was confident that the
changes would be received well. I did not expect a note scribbled through my
new logo with nasty feedback. Dealing with unexpected critics was emotionally
draining but I stayed focused."
—Nancy T. Nguyen |
President & CEO, Sweet T Salon
My own extreme emotions
"I didn't realize how emotionally volatile running a startup would
be when I first began. I'm usually wavering between intoxicating highs when I
enjoy successes, to very deep depressing lows when things get tough. Your
business becomes a reflection of yourself, and you can't help but take running
it personally."
—Eric Bahn |
Founder, Beat The GMAT
Scaling takes time
"I'm a 'do it now' type of person, which means that I get pretty frustrated
when I can't get going on something new. But scaling a bootstrapped business
takes time. You've got to work on the right projects in the right order, and
you can't just leap into the bit you want to be doing right away. That's been a
tough lesson for me, and one I've had to relearn a couple of times."
—Thursday Bram |
Consultant, Hyper Modern
Consulting
What are my customers thinking?
"When you start a business, it's easy to assume you know exactly
what people want to buy. But the truth is that understanding your customer and
what they are looking for takes a lot of practice, and is a concerted effort
that's going to improve your marketing and profitability like nothing
else."
—Nathalie Lussier |
Creator, The Website
Checkup Tool
Support is a hot commodity
"I always assumed that starting your own business and going off on
your own was seen as an honorable action. So I did not expect the lack of
support I received from friends and family who told me I wasn't really a
business owner. They said I wasn't making money yet, I was too young, I should
take the safe route and continue working for someone else. They'd keep asking
me how my job hunt was going."
—Steven Le Vine |
CEO/President, grapevine pr
You can't be everywhere at once
"When it comes to scaling the business, knowing that 'no one can do
it like I can' did more harm than good. As the owner who is pulled in a hundred
different directions, it is imperative to teach my unique way of working to
others so that the business can grow with team support. Before teaching the
team, I was frustrated, felt unsupported and could not escape the business for
even a day."
—Kelly Azevedo |
Founder, She's Got
Systems
A scheduled social life
"I've been told more than once that I'm not as fun as I used to be!
When you have large goals, you have to carry a lot of weight on your shoulders.
That can translate into a diminished social life, if you're not intentional
about scheduling it. There is absolutely more time to be social, greater
satisfaction, and success in the long term, but you will have to understand
delayed gratification."
Constant industry changes
"My first business relied heavily on my network in the magazine
journalism industry. That meant that when the industry started to contract, I
needed to modify my client base and eventually start a second business to
survive as an entrepreneur. Sometimes, industry changes completely outside your
control can have a dramatic impact on your company."
—Elizabeth
Saunders | Founder & CEO, Real Life E®
There are too many options
"Leaving the large law firm to go out on my own, I was inundated
with possible revenue streams to chase and spread myself too thin. However,
once I picked a few narrow customer bases and focused my marketing efforts, I
really started getting traction."
—Peter Minton | Founder &
President, Minton Law
Group, P.C.
People aren't easy to manage
"One of the most challenging aspects of running a business is
managing your employees. It is more difficult than I anticipated to keep a
staff on track and make sure everything runs smoothly."
—Josh Weiss |
Founder and President, Bluegala
Many mistakes will happen
"While running someone else's company, I had the chance to see
great ways of doing things and also learned methods that did not work well. For
some reason, I thought this would virtually eliminate mistakes when I opened my
own. It reduced the mistakes, but did not eradicate them. In business, you will
make mistakes—you can only hope you catch them early enough to keep them from
being fatal."
—Vanessa Nornberg |
President, Metal Mafia
The Young
Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only
organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In
partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual
mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow
businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.
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