Things a Small Business Owner Must Expect

 

Many people dream about starting their own business, but very few are actually able to live their dreams by executing them, and even fewer make it past the first five years. This is mainly because a large number of times, these business owners don’t really know what to expect.

There are no words to describe what it feels like but in simple terms; it’s fun but scary at the same time. A large number of small businesses fail because of an inability to successfully make it past year one.

You may also like to read Things To Consider When Choosing A Location For Your Business 

Many business gurus believe that with the right knowledge of what to expect, a new small business owner will know how to prepare for upcoming challenges. Here are a few things that any new small business owner should expect.


Be Ready to Hustle When You’re Tired

Isn’t that what being a small business owner is about? You may be thinking that as a small business owner, you can take a day off when you feel like it but that’s not the case. As the brain behind the entire operation, you need to hustle even when you feel like you’ve done enough. That’s the difference between being an employee and a business owner; you’ve never done enough.

There will always be paperwork that you need to sign, emails you need to send and respond to, orders that you need to make and customers whom you need to talk to, especially in the first year. Just like in every other phase of life or an industry, the initial period is always make-or-break, and the end result highly depends upon how much work you put in.

You can spend each second checking and rechecking your plans and improving them, working on ideas and developing new strategies. After all, there’s so much on your plate (marketing, product development, vendor contracts and employee training)

You Can’t Make Every Customer Happy

It’s true that as a business owner, you need to retain a sense of balance in everything you do but when it comes to satisfaction, you can’t make everyone happy. As a small business owner, you’re bound to make quite a few customers unhappy and the truth is, you don’t really need to make everyone happy, either.

It’s important that you remember that the key is to have a consistent customer service policy and handling complaints carefully. If your product doesn’t impress a customer all that much, then the way you handle a complaint is sure to make them a loyal customer.

A major factor that differentiates your small business from that of a larger conglomerate is that you, as the owner, can give customers the attention they want, which is why they are likely to approach your brand in the first place.

Be the Master of All Trades

When you first thought of starting a business, you may have guessed that you’d only have to sign things and the wheels of your business would turn themselves. Wrong. In year one, you should expect to be able to do everything and know how every process works.

Along the way, you’ll think ‘they didn’t teach me this  in school’ as you try to put some certain things in place for your business. You don’t learn everything about starting a business; you have to experience it hands-on.


From managing office and field operations during the day to writing content and drawing plans at night, you’ll have to do most of it in the first year. You’ll be lucky to have friends or family who’ll be willing to help around but in year one, you can’t afford to hire many employees. In addition, even when you do get people on-board, you’ll have to know how to do things yourself before teaching them the basics.

Be Familiar with Laws

No, this is where it gets interesting. Starting a small business will require you to be familiar with laws about hiring and taxes so that your business will genuinely be able to help people in the community by offering employment.

There are a number of regulations, laws, and licenses you need to know about before you can officially carry out operations as a business. In the beginning, you should expect to hire a lawyer for such needs because it’s impossible for you to know all the complex regulations that surround the startup of a small business.

This is crucial because no matter how hard you work on your business, it’s likely that even a small detail or legality can be held against you. You’ll be doing yourself a favor by investing in proper legal advice and obtaining all the licenses you require. Nevertheless, legal counsel isn’t cheap so you should expect to have enough financial resources.


There Will Be Some Bumps along the Road

Failure, no matter how big or small, is an inevitable part of running any business, whether big or small. You could make a product that doesn’t turn out as successful as you thought, your marketing strategy may backfire or worst-case scenario, you get a wave of negative feedback.

The first year won’t be failure-free but that doesn’t lessen your chances of reaching success. To keep yourself prepared for these situations, business experts advise that before you should quit your job, you need to have some savings. To be more specific, you should have enough money to support yourself for a year.

You need enough savings because no matter how well you plan the first year of your business, you can’t predict the future so there is always a chance that you might fail. There’s nothing wrong in preparing yourself for the worst-case scenario while planning for the best.

These are just some of the things that every small business owner must expect, especially during the first year after launching their business. Of course, no amount of expectation and preparedness can actually make you battle-ready to start a business but knowing a few of the most common symptoms will help you diagnose and reassure yourself that this is supposed to happen.

There Will Be Rejections 

In our minds, we understand that we'll experience rejection in our lives and as we build our businesses. But when it happens, it's a completely different scenario. Whether it's a "tiny" rejection or a major bump in the road, it's very easy to get lost in the overwhelming feeling of loss. One rejection can easily lead to days (or more) of ignoring business tasks while you binge-watching your favorite movies.

If you are taking action on accomplishing your goals, you will experience rejection constantly. If you aren't, you have to ask yourself if you're taking big enough steps. 
Growth happens when you step outside of your comfort zone to do the things that scare you. In that place, rejection is possible. Here are four things to do when you experience rejection.

Take a Moment to Scream

You're human. You can try bottling all those feelings and emotions inside but good luck with that strategy. At some point, you'll explode -- probably in a situation that you regret. Let your humanity out. Scream, go for a run, punch your mini desktop punching bag.

Talk out loud even if you're alone and acknowledge exactly what's on your mind. Talk to your spouse, relative or a friend. Bring it up to your mastermind meeting. The point is, to heal you have to first acknowledge.

You can't fix a problem that you won't admit is there. 

Evaluate The "WHY" Behind The Rejection

Our minds put rejection in the "not good for us" category but that's not always the case. Life is our greatest teacher. Rejection offers us the opportunity to make sure what we're doing is right for us. Evaluate why the rejection came. Determine if this is something you really want to do, but need a better approach with.

If you need more expertise, get it. If this is a warning message for you telling you that what you're pursuing is not what's best, listen. After you're done processing your feelings and emotions, get tactical by examining what happened. A rejection can be a bump in the road or worse. What happens next is your choice. I vote for learning and coming back even stronger.

Determine Your Steps

Your next steps after a rejection have to be strategic and tactical. Take a few days to plan out what to do next. If it's getting more expertise, be specific about how to do that and attach a timeline to it. If it's creating a different approach to go after the same opportunity, take some time to examine what others before you have done that helped them achieve success. 

Use each Rejection to Fuel Your Motivation

It takes a lot to build a business. There will be more than a few times when you're just not feeling it. You'll need to be inspired and motivated to keep going when it feels like nothing is going right. There's a mindset shift that can give you the fuel you need consistently get motivated. Use each rejection as fire to light you up and motivate you.

Every experience in life offers a lesson. Those lessons help you become the best version of yourself. Shift the way you view rejection. Get even more determined to accomplish that goal. Use the rejection as your motivation to continue doing the work. 

At the end of the day, doing the work consistently is what builds your business and accomplishes your goals -- it's not your feelings and emotions. Experiencing rejection doesn't have to be the end of our story. 

Change your story and you can change your life. You have a choice to make and you should never choose anything that takes away your inner power. View rejection as a lesson and get tactical about what you'll do next. This is your life and you only get one of them. Make each experience and decision count. 

In case you haven't decided to start your own business yet, then read You Suppose To Have Your Own Business, Not Work For Others
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