http://www.sharewisdom.org/business/small-business/ Small Business and Entrepreneurship wisdom, knowledge, advice, tips and information shared by others. Share your wisdom with others. en Thu, 19 Oct 2006 00:37:39 EDT http://www.sharewisdom.org/business/small-business/94.html I've been a business owner for quite a few years now and I'd like to share with you a few truths that I have faced or experienced over the years relating to starting my own business. Business can be quite competitive and we all know that. Unfortunately, some people dream about opening a great business but they are not realistic about the area they choose to do business in. What I mean is that many people will decide to open a business even before doing their research about the current similar businesses in the same area. You need to figure out the supply and demand in the specific area you are planning to do business. For example, if you are thinking of opening up a service of some kind such as a plumbing service or framing shop in a certain town, take a good look in all the existing businesses in that field and find out how busy they are. If you do your homework, you can eventually find something that you are interested in and that you are good at, but most importantly, something that does not have an enormous amount of competition. Smart business owners find a niche market that has little competition in their area and they go for it. For example, don't be the fourth pet shop owner in a small town when the industry of pet shops is clearly saturated. Or if you are a health care professional and you are looking to open a speech therapy centre, look at the existing private practices and find out if they have a waiting list. Get an idea of how busy they are. I http://www.sharewisdom.org/business/small-business/94.html http://www.sharewisdom.org/business/small-business/60.html As a small business owner, I've experienced both busy and slow times over the years. When it is busy, all of our staff are "on the go" from the minute they start their shift right to the second they leave their workplace. Contrastingly, when it is slow, some of the workers really don't have much to do and end up sitting around. This of course is never good on the bottom line. I used to often wait for the slow periods to end but this was sometimes not the best decision as I could see the profits decrease little by little. I didn't want to change my employees' hours as I knew they needed to make a living too. So I let things take their own course. This was not a great idea because the result was simply a large scare that my business and regular income would be negatively affected in a large way. I also realized that if I went out of business, my employees hours would be affected in the worst way of all. With experience I realized that during slow times, either the employees need to be creative to help me with projects to drum up business, or if the motivation is not there, then the employees' hours would have to be cut during the very slow times in order to help reduce expenses and get the business through the tough time. When you are running a business, you must look at every expense, no matter how small it may be, as all the little expenses add up! A big reminder for the small business owner - view a slow period as a very serious issue. Don't sit back and w http://www.sharewisdom.org/business/small-business/60.html http://www.sharewisdom.org/business/small-business/8.html When starting a small business, it is important to ensure that you do not overspend on things that you do not really need. Instead, buy only the things that are needed to keep the business operational. Also, instead of buying a whole whack of things brand new, see if you could find a few used items that are in good condition ie. a reception desk, a merchandise display cabinet, a photocopier, etc. As your business, grows you will be able to afford the extra items needed as your income increases. If possible, plan ahead and save a good portion of money for the start up of a business - this will alleviate a lot of stress. Having some patience and exercising some discipline with spending will increase your chances of success. http://www.sharewisdom.org/business/small-business/8.html