by Shirley Norling

Created on: September 02, 2008   Last Updated: August 17, 2011

There can be a lot of pride in owning your own business, but be prepared for some of the headaches that may come along with that sense of pride.

One of the hardest parts of owning your own business is just getting it off the ground and getting it going.

You need the capital to get started and then enough cash flow to keep going. Capital can be a real problem in the early stages of your business. Depending on the type of business you have, will help determine the amount of capital you need to get your business up and running.

If you're going to start a service orientated business, you won't need capital for inventory, but you will need it for the necessary equipment to get it running.

If your business consists of  having inventory  and it isn't turning over right away, which it may not, you can run into cash flow problems real quick. You need a good backer, usually a bank, to help you get through those early stages of your business.

Some friends of ours opened a Sports Bar, about a year ago. It was a really rough first year for them, mainly because of cash flow problems. They mortgaged everything and anything they owned, including their 80 acre hobby farm. They recently had to obtain a second mortgage to keep going. They work practically 24/7 just to keep afloat. They both were experienced in the Sports Bar business before they started their own, but still they said they never expected all the problems they had that first year of ownership of their own business.

There are other problems with owning your own business, besides the capital aspect, of course. They include staffing, location, and competition, just to name a few.

You need good, dedicated employees to keep your business going. There needs to be team work among the staff. Whether it's a small travel agency, which I myself managed, a few years ago, but did not own, or a retail store, or a manufacturing business, your employees can very well be the key to its survival. They're the core of it, for the most part. If they don't work together, and get along, it can become a big headache for everyone involved.

Location is also a key to your business success. It needs to be assessable to whatever clientele you're trying to attract. You need attractive quarters, and also ample parking space, if needed,for your customers. This is especially important in a retail business as well as a service orientated business

Competition can also cause problems for you in a new business. It can be a good thing, in some ways. It makes you want to really get out there and compete for that business. It can also hurt you, if you can't keep ahead of your competitors. Advertising by newspaper, radio, as well as word of mouth, are some of the ways to get the word out, about your new business.

Be prepared for a lot of hard work, if you want to own your own business, and consider all the obstacles that can come up along the way. If you end up being a successful business owner though, that hard work will have paid off, and there will be on greater pride then your own success.

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