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Is a Counter-Offer Always the Best Solution?

One time or another, a prized employee from your staff will approach you and let you know that he or she has received a better offer. Being put in that situation doesn’t necessarily equate to you losing one of your best people. In these cases, employees are coming to you to give notice; but, in one way or another, he or she will certainly be open to an offer from you that can match that new job.

Having employee retention in mind, it means that the next move is entirely up to you; and you may not have a lot of time on your hands. You can negotiate with the employee for a little more time so that you can craft a good-enough counter-offer; but usually, employees already just want to give their notice and jump ship as soon as possible. Given this situation, you might want to know what you need to do when it comes to handling situations like these. Here are a few tips that we can share.

Is coming up with a counter-offer always the best solution? The immediate answer for most of us will be ‘yes.’ The reason behind this is that we are looking at the expense of training a new employee before taking on the role of the previous one. Moreover, you will still need to consider the learning curve of the new employee to acclimatize to the new role and the company. Another consideration is that you will be short-handed during the time while you’re searching for, hiring, and training the new hire.

Unless by some chance that the employee is really someone who has special skills that your business can’t live without, the actual cost of retaining him or her may actually be more expensive in the long run. Always put into consideration that hiring and training a replacement is a one-time expense. A raise, on the other hand, gets more and more costly as time goes by. Likewise, a staff member who has been granted a counter-offer might keep on doing a job-hunt as a way to guarantee salary increases that aren’t part of your company’s regular process.

If you’re put into this dilemma, always weigh the actual costs of acquiring a new hire as compared to maintaining an employee in the long run.

Another important thing to consider are the reasons why the employee went job-hunting. You’ll be surprised that it may not be ‘about the money;’ as there are instances when employees jump-ship to a less-paying company or job. These reasons can include your company’s work environment, incompatibility with colleagues or managers, or even a perception of instability in your company. When you have these reasons in the mind of the employee; almost all of the time, a raise or better benefits won’t be the solution to these issues. Use these underlying issues as a signal that he or she is most probably not the only person feeling these insecurities. You might also want to address these issues head-on to keep the rest of your staff happy.

There’s also another reason why you need to keep your counter-offers to a very minimum. Throwing counter-offers around too much gives the impression that your company is a ‘pushover.’ This in turn, might alert your employees that they just need to give a notice to resign to automatically get a raise. Rarely employing counter-offers as a means to retain employees, will give your staff the perception that you value employees who stand out due to performance.

Cut What You Can, Without Compromising Your Business

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To be a good entrepreneur, it is basic knowledge that we must know the maintaining cost of our business. Knowing the exact amount will not suffice here; but rather, we are talking about knowing the purpose and functions of each cent that we spend as overhead cost. Likewise, in order for us to become really successful entrepreneurs, we must also know how to cut on our overhead costs without sacrificing the operations and production performance of our business. How can we do this?

It is simple. It is just matter of knowing the marginal utility of each dollar we spend in our business. Knowing each marginal value each dollar gives will give us the insight into which is the best invested to profit ratio for our firm.

To further illustrate the point, let us take into consideration a business that operates with a maximum number of employees. Most of the time, because of the diminishing value of labor, there is always a surplus of labor value that you pay without getting the optimal marginal value for it. In this case, you might want to shift into a pay per action system. Whereas, for example, a professional will be paid not in the salary system but based on the type and frequency of the services that he renders. This will cut the overhead cost for you by eliminating the unwanted labor salary costs.

Another strategy that you can employ is to cut the interest on your loaned capital. This can be done by using bank loans as capital source instead of credit cards whenever it is possible. This will cut the interest charge for credit cards because their interest rates are generally higher than bank loans, albeit readily available for short purchases.

Trying to ride with the marketing tide can also be one the things that could effectively cut your costs. This can be in the form of volunteer work for a church-based organization so that your company will have good publicity without actually paying for it. Another strategy is to ride with the popularity of the bigger players by affiliating your company with them. In doing so, just make sure that this will not compromise the identity of your company. A good publicity shot can give you the word-of-mouth boost that effectively cuts down your costs and even increases your income.

Planning ahead is also a good form of cost cutting. Buying in bulk and placing your purchase orders earlier can effectively cut your material costs. Furthermore, the other form of materials cost-cutting is by establishing a bidding system to the suppliers in the locality. In this way, these contractors will try to win your contract by deliberately lowering the price of their goods and services.

There are a lot of ways to survive in the business just by trying and playing every card that you can play; and cost cutting is definitely one of them. As a business owner, you just need to make sure that cutting your costs will not affect your quality of work. Thus, you still can deliver quality products and services to your customers.

Fortunes Can Ever Change So Quickly

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As far as business is concerned, there are two prerequisites for survival in the market: strategy and hard work. There is no such thing as constant and unchallenged supremacy. The case of the Forbes 400 proves that fortunes can change quickly and unpredictably in numerous circumstances. What made the difference for these remarkably rich people are the skills and the determination to stay in the game.

Drawing lessons from the Forbes 400, we can note the fact that very few or none of the companies in the list began as huge businesses. Steve Forbes, editor of the Forbes magazine, Chief Executive Officer of Forbes Inc., and himself an established business tycoon, stressed that these businesses started as small ventures. The owners did not inherit the businesses – they created them. They crafted the design, the working schemes, the internal dynamics, the products, and the services; among others. Forbes made it clear that in the market battleground, there is no unshaken aristocracy; there are no invulnerable competitors. The business owner has to be skilful in calling the shots of ‘making something happen.’

Next, to ‘stay in the game,’ one has to understand the true meaning of wealth. If we are in the context of businesses and the market, wealth is not simply the iconic piles of gold, jewels and money all around you. The business owner, more often than not, dismisses this ‘fairytale-ish’ or the ‘commercial ad-ish’ representation of wealth. For him or her, the focus is on the primary determinants of wealth.

This now brings us to the question, “What generates wealth?” Forbes said that it is the “value that people put on the asset.” One of the classic principles in economics tackles the factors behind every demand curve; two of which are the preferences and the price and accessibility of alternative goods. The business owner, therefore, has to possess sheer knowledge about the prevailing preferences in the market and has to learn how to manipulate variables to increase profit. “If the people suddenly don’t like what you offer or if somebody does it better, then the value disappears,” Forbes said.

Indeed, the business owner must know how to answer the crucial question. Will the product or service be preferred over other competitors? More importantly, what will give the product the edge over the other?

Now, the hardest part is the fact that the tastes or preferences of the consumers are always changing. In fact, conditions in the market are characterized by vicissitudes. Thus, there are changes in the factors that determine supply and demand. The cost of manufacturing a product or offering a service can increase dramatically; or some other powerfully decisive exogenous change can take place in the market. There can be an unexpected depreciation of machines, or even political turmoil that creates an atmosphere hostile to vibrant economic activity, among others. In the smaller scale, changes happen more quickly than they do at the macro level. Hence, the owners of small businesses are most familiar with the speed in which conditions can change, Forbes said.

The competent business owner, therefore, must know how to respond to such changes. He or she is never lax; and never assumes that favourable business conditions are eternal. Forbes shared his father’s favourite quote, “if you think you’ve arrived, you’re already shown to the door.” True enough, the businessman, if anything, knows that the market is also characterized by the survival of the fittest, and adaptation is a necessary feat.

How “Cutting-to-Grow” can Help you Expand your Business

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Cutting to grow can be quite a helpful strategy to some business owners; but we’re also all quite sure that a good number of entrepreneurs would also disagree. However, as a personal experience, I would say that the cut-to-grow strategy has greatly helped me out.
I’ve spent the last few months re-evaluating my business. Given the current situation, I was now almost four hundred thousand dollars short of what I initially had. Like with many starting entrepreneurs, I thought I could do everything all at once and I expected to do all of them very well. However, this was not the case. I was entirely wrong.
Realizing the mistake, I strategized on how to proceed with my business to make up for the lost time and money. This is when I decided to employ a cut-to-grow strategy. But contrary to the common definition of the term, I mean cut-to-grow in a different manner.
Decide on What to Cut
I started my business with the thought of launching four products. To begin with, I didn’t even have one product launched yet. During that time, I had no idea why I thought that launching four products all at the same time would be a great idea. For me, it just seemed reasonable. So, I started out with four products when it would’ve been better to just launch with one. Lesson learned: learning to cut right from the start is an important consideration for your business.

Decide on What to Cut Online

Social media marketing has been the craze these days. With the advent of free marketing tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and blog sites, reaching out to more people has never been easier. Though these tools have their benefits, always assess if these tools actually helping you out. Is spending two hours a day writing blog posts or tweets getting you your expected responses compared to only writing once per week? In my case, I found out that posting weekly is generating the same results as posting daily; therefore, I used that two hours daily doing something else more productive for my business.

Decide on other things that you can Cut

Is your participation in a lot of volunteer committees eating up some time? Are these committees also helping you out? Another question is, “How many hours do you spend watching TV daily?” It is great to have these activities to unwind; but you must also ask yourself if the time spent on these can be better spent on your personal fitness and health or your company’s growth. Look for other things, especially the ones that are non-productive, that are taking up your time and try cutting down on them.

Another change that I had was that I gave up my office and went back to working in coffee shops until I get things back to their usual way. I was looking for other ways on how to still continue supporting my business in the short-term, with very minimal impact on the long-run. Giving up the office was a big decision.
People usually relate cutting-to-grow as a way of cutting down on valuable resources. As a personal belief, this is not right. You can find other things that you can cut down on. Cutting down on unnecessary things will ultimately help you in expanding, instead of downsizing, your business.

How Do I Start A Franchise?

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Expanding a successful business can be done in many ways. The most common perhaps, is going into franchising. Franchising, in dictionary definition is a form of business in which a company with successful products or services enter a relationship with an individual or another company to operate under the trade name of the said company (franchisor) for a fee. In this case, you have the successful business, you are the franchisor and what you need is the proper guidance to franchise your business.

It is important to seek information about the franchising world before getting into one. The Franchise Council of Australia is a great resource.

You need to understand that although you are already an established trade name, getting into franchising is like being new in the business world. It will require patience and finances. There are requirements that need to be met that are vital for the credentials of your franchise business. Here are some of those requirements:

Legalities

In the legal department, like any other business, you need to get a good franchise lawyer to meet legal necessities such as requirement documents. First, you will need to prepare a document known as Uniform Franchising Offering Circular (UFOC); this is basically a disclosure document on the operation of your franchise business. The UFOC is an important document as it is required by the Federal Trade Commission for all companies that want their businesses to be franchise anywhere in the United States. Furthermore, there will be some states that would require you additional documents for you to be able to offer a franchise business in those states.

Accounts

Under one of the disclosure requirements mentioned above is an audited financial statement for the franchise company. This means that you will not be able to complete legal without preparing you’re audited statements. You will have to seek the help of an experience franchise accountant to audit your statements. These financial statements will need your final decisions on what the structure of the enterprise should be and on whether the franchise company will be on a different name or under the name of the already established company you have. You will have to seek advice from your accountant about this.

Systems

The system of your franchise company plays a vital role in making the company a success. Note that all your franchisee should offer the same experience as everyone else inside your franchise business. In order for the franchisees to do this, as franchisor, you need to develop four things for the franchisee. First, you need to develop the system itself that all franchisee will be able to use to ensure the success of their business. Second, you should be able to develop a great training program needed to educate franchisees. Third, make a great marketing plan that would enable the franchisee to learn the art of customer pleasing. Fourth and last, you need to devise a sales system that is easy to understand so it would be easy for you to recruit new franchisees. This part of the franchising business is a lot of work but it is also the most important and it should be given the attention it needs. You can’t do this all by yourself so you will have to ask assistance from franchise consultants that have a great track record.

Attitude

In everything that you do, you need to have the right attitude; the right mindset and the optimism that you need to become successful. Like everything, getting into the franchise business also needs this. A franchise business is different from having your own business. You will be dealing other businessmen in the franchise world, they are not your employees, treat them as if they are your clients, and like any clients, you need to take care of them. You work hard to recruit them and you will work harder to make them stay and to trust your brand name. There will be resistances and you will experience some bumps in the road, but with the right attitude, you will be able to get through with it. Take advantage in franchising seminars and industry meetings where you will be able to meet other franchisors, this way you will learn from them the ropes in the business. Deal with people with the right attitude and you’re on your way to success.

These four elements are the things that you need in order to produce a successful franchise business. Know that creating a franchise business would need extreme work, patience and finances. It is true that starting a franchise business is expensive. Never settle for mediocrity, and that’s why you will have to hire the best consultants, the best lawyer and the best accountants. Yes, it will be expensive and you’re probably going to work harder like you’ve never work in your life.

All these sacrifices will pay off. Keep in mind the satisfaction and reward you will be reaping after building your very own empire. It will be incredible and it will be the ride of your life, but like any ride, you will have to pay the price. Prepare for this journey and make sure you are ready for this ride.

Starting Your Own Business: The Essential Initial Lessons

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Once you have mustered enough courage, confidence and market information to really buckle up for an exciting self-employed new life, sit down a minute and learn some lessons established business owners ahead of you are willing to share so you can indeed be one step closer to becoming a prepared entrepreneur.

The Types of Money One Will Need

When finally starting that venture you can call your very own, know that in all business there two types of money – the start-up capital and the working capital. The start-up capital is the financial backing essential for you to realize your business from blue print plans to its actual operations. On the other hand, working capital is the money you will need to keep the day-to-day operations going. For most newbie business owners, it is very easy to fall into the illusion trap that it does not take much to jumpstart their dream and that customers will be flooding in once they open shop with the eagerness to pay for whatever they offer. The moral is simply, save up for that rainy day.

Connections Cannot Be Spelled Only With F-R-I-E-N-D-S

Surely, friends will be giving you their encouragement and congratulations once you explicitly express your desire to finally strike it on your own. And yes, they shall be sincere about it too. But when it comes to openly helping you with opportunities for your new baby business, very few will lay their necks on the line by endorsing you work until they themselves are satisfied that you have established a mark on your own. The lesson to be learned here is for your business to get started towards the level of thriving, never stop establishing your network.

Research Does Not Consider Baseless Assumptions

So you’re confident what you can offer will be invaluable to your target market – that is good. But before waking up tomorrow and banking on that unique selling proposition, take time to make sure that what you are about to sell is indeed unique. Many start-ups assume that what they can offer the market has never been offered before only to realize that the niche they have chosen to establish in is already popular and moreover, populated to the hilt with competition. When preparing for battle in the marketplace, it is essential that all possible information be obtained, every likelihood studied – whether that of the battle ground terrain, the battle implements involved or the strength and weakness the enemy, the so-called threat himself, carries.

Passion Needed for Self-Motivation

Once you start your own business, you will most probably be working alone. With no peers beside you to keep you encouraged or challenged so yes, there will be days of self doubt. Fear not those days if you have the passion for your chosen path in your heart. Why? In that passionate heart of yours lies perseverance. When those dark days hover over your head, it will surprise you that your enthusiasm to continue your contribution to the market will tide you over till the silver linings of the dark clouds appear once again.

Whoever is with You Should Agree to Be Your Partner

Yes, once self-employed and your business success turn ripe and ready for harvest, all the wealth luck and lifestyle comforts will be yours and your life partner’s to reap and enjoy. Like everything else though, there is a yin to a yang. While undergoing birth pains essential for start-ups to survive and eventually prosper, your life partner has to agree to be with you for the long haul because the burden of business at times will be theirs to share as well.

Time Measurements and Allocations

Fall not into the illusion that self-employed people, because they no longer have to report to others for their productivity and performance, will have lots of free time to do leisurely activities to their heart’s content. Once you start your own business, it may take up more time than you think. But the beauty of it all is that this time, unlike an employee, the sense of ownership is truly genuine! By finally handling your own work of art – your business – calculations of time spent for it versus time spent for yourself alone becomes immaterial.

When finally starting your very own business, learn from the ways of a humble airplane. An airbus burns more fuel taking off from the runway of an airport than when it goes on cruising mode once it has achieved its desired altitude. But once on that gliding cruising mode, the flight will be enjoyable. Sure, there will be bumpy air pockets along the way, but don’t be afraid of it because with perseverance, one will eventually reach one’s desired destination: success.

How To Create a Franchise

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A franchise is a legal and commercial agreement between two parties in which allows one party, called the franchisee, to market the product or services of the other party, the franchisor, using the franchisor’s trademark and operating methods.

Becoming a franchisor can be a smart and cost effective way to expand your business. Investment is only done for the initial unit and franchisees will pay to use your business concept. They will manage and finance their businesses but will give you royalties based on their turnovers. As a result, there’s less liability and involvement on your part for running several operations of your own.

Here are some things you need to consider to get you started:

1. Assess. Check if your business is franchise-friendly. Are you profiting enough to expand? Is your product or service marketable on a long term basis? Are the margins enough to make it profitable for both you and the franchisee? Can your business be replicated easily on other locations in terms of resources and potential customers?

2. Research. Create a market research report to know what the effective strategies in attaining profitability. You can start by going around to competitors posing as a customer to get a general idea of their operational methods that you can adopt.

3. Innovate. After having the data from your market research, develop a unique business concept that sets you apart from other competitors. Although you may offer a similar product or service, having a unique concept will set you apart from them.

4. Study cost. You need to study the cost for funding the franchise. You will also need enough capital to help the franchisee invest in the property since you are responsible in helping them start their franchise. It is in your best interest to ensure that the franchisee is successful since you will receive royalties based on their turnovers. Getting a business loan or grants from the government or entrepreneurs who support your industry can be the best option.

5. Develop a clear business plan. Have a prospectus that’s directed to the franchisees. It should provide a detailed description of your product and service, what sets you apart from other competitors, target locations, initial franchise fees, support set-up, and estimation of potential revenues.

6. Work out the legalities. It is important to fill out a standard disclosure agreement as required by the Federal Trade Commission and have it registered if needed with the state. You might need to consult a lawyer that specializes on this.

7. Send audit reports. Get an accountant to provide audit reports so that franchisees will gain more knowledge on your company’s worth.

8. Make an operations manual. It is important to have a comprehensive operations manual for the franchisee’s reference. It will guide them how to run the business, how to set-up and manage a new outlet, and will detail any marketing initiatives and training that you will finance.

9. Look for the right people. It is imperative to find people with good business experience to uphold your business reputation. You can conduct interviews and ask for references to gauge potential franchisees. If your franchisees fail to provide good service or product, your brand will surely suffer.

10. Advertise. Market that opportunity for franchising your business. Fund campaigns directed to this cause either by print mail or attending on tradeshows and other public relations events.

Excel in Public Relations With Your Business

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One of the challenges of running a business is how to project your image to your target audience. Take advantage of the various benefits of public relations.

You must have felt the same way other people feel about their business: the real nature of their businesses are still not being understood by most of the customers. You must have wondered how come your business is still not getting the well deserved attention despite the efforts you put into it. It must have felt tiring to try to project the kind of image for your business, and yet being received in an entirely different light by the audience. Every business has gone through this phase; every businessman went through the same moment of frustration. For micro businesses, it is a little bit more manageable simply because of its manoeuvrability. Small businesses have the luxury of having complete control of their public relations, thus they could easily implement their plans for their image projection without much delay. As long as you execute your public relations marketing with great care and planning, you could greatly impact your business in establishing a healthy image to the public.

Basically, it is a two way strategy of executing goodwill and making it known. Most businesses make it a point to contribute to the advancement of corporate social responsibility; giving back to community by doing any particular good deeds. The thing is most of those businesses fail to tell people exactly the good things that they have just accomplished.

It is never late to start though; you may begin listing down every entity, individual or business, and include them in your prospects of letting your business be understood in its entirety. Include everyone you could ever think of that has been a part of your business. Make a comprehensive collection of things that are mostly misunderstood or not known about your business. And then start crafting your methods of rectifying the image of your business or introducing an unknown feature that has great relevance to your business. Make a careful plan. And then execute them gradually and surely. There may be various ways of approaching your subjects, and you will have to choose which ones fit appropriately to each of them. You could very well customise your approach to whichever you are comfortable with but without also compromising the preference of your subjects. No need to make your words fancy and verbose. Make it plain and simple and then deliver it with utmost sincerity.

Man up, take charge!

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“The relationship between an organized office and a healthy business is plain to see.”

The eyes are the windows of the soul. This is an old adage that still holds true up to this day and age. The power of vision is simply remarkable. All existing professions benefit from the wonders it brings. Let’s take a couple of examples to drive home a point. First, scientists, they use microscopes to view the minutest organisms ever existed. Second, photographers, they use especially designed lenses to capture memories, and third, medical professionals, they use their clinical eyes to determine their patients’ health status. What sets a businessman apart from his colleagues? It is plain and simple, a businessman’s eyes, despite being devoid of any other instrument, surveys its surroundings with keen vision and easily spots what is and what is not organized. He can pass judgments, perhaps even conclusions that an organized business is next to success and a disorganized one is next to failure. This is all because being organized is being in control.

It is vital to get rid of clutters! You will be surprised to see what professional and personal benefits it will bring you. Remember, you may have a profitable business, you may have the best and the finest system that works best for you but if you are not organized, you are not in control. Therefore, here is a six step rule you can follow to reinvent your business and whip out the Mr. Sheen in you!

First, deal with paper files. Destroy anything that is not worth keeping. The ATO is a machine that enables small businesses to keep completed transactions for up to five years. It is best for storing files but beyond the given time span, amuse yourself with shredding old paper collections. Another thing you can use to keep your files in place is a CD. It is always better to keep a dozen CDs as opposed to keeping boxes and boxes of paper documents!

Second, deal with electronic files. In the advent of computers, there is always a delete button waiting to be pressed or clicked both on your keyboard and on your computer screen. Take advantage of it and use it well! In due time, you will come to realize that you are helping your computer to operate at peak efficiency.

Third, deal with procedures. Outline your daily activities. How do you do this? Simply answer the question, how do you go about your daily transactions? Knowing your answer to this question, you can manage to streamline processes that are mainly repetitions of the other ones. Through this, you can focus on more important things and actually save time!

Fourth, deal with your clients. Perform a check and balance of all your business books. Review your debtors’ ledgers and follow up on any outstanding accounts. Make a few phone calls and communicate! Let them know you still exist, and make your clients feel important and valued. Regain their confidence, mean business.

Fifth, deal with your surroundings. A paint job, a simple make-over, and even a few change-up will reinvent you and your establishment! Make it lively, enticing and striking! A vibrant environment will definitely attract customers.

Sixth, make a business plan. If you haven’t written one, make one! This is your business legacy as well as your diary. Every business venture needs a firm foundation, a stable structure and a starting point. A business plan can combine these three into one. A business plan can organize your business and so that you can control it and you can finally exclaim to yourself “I am in charge!”

Hindrances to Starting Your Own Business Success

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To most people, finding and securing a career is the utmost priority after formal education. To be hired and deemed as the most deserving of a position among a stream of applicants, that is the aim and goal to start one’s travel towards success in life. But a few years down the line, throw them a question whether or not they dream of starting a business of their own and more often than not, a major chunk of this so-called successful workforce heads would eagerly raise their hands in agreement. Throw them another question as to whether or not they are ready to chuck their employment status and start one now and many, if not most, will suddenly pull back their hands in hesitation.

Why have they not started a business if they really dream of starting one? Now that is the question.

While this website is abuzz with starting and established business owners and entrepreneurs, we all know that somewhere behind them are the anonymous faces are aspiring people who also wish to follow their lead. This article will attempt to explore what the hindrances are to one who wishes to take that first step towards business ownership success.

First is the financial aspect. Given the security of a job and thus the regularity of the receipt of a paycheck, fat or thin, people ask themselves if by giving up their current bread and butter position, this new venture – a business entirely of their own – will this duplicate the amount they are currently enjoying or maybe even surpass it? After all, in the age of mortgages, monthly bills, fast-paced lifestyles and health care protection, will one really be able to sustain one’s self without a regular salary? And the more important question is, how long or quick is the return on investments? This is the first, and to most people, the most glaring of all hindrances to starting businesses of their own.

The next to face is one’s self-confidence. Am I really good enough for people to want to get what I will offer? What if someone out there has better skills than I? One writer once said that on his first few years in business, he’d always dread client feedback and would be almost always convinced that every project on his lap will be his last. If one is not self-confident enough, there are only two ways one can go – either sink in desolation and prove unproductive or strive harder enough and actually make it.

The third boulder is the fear of failure. To most people, childhood was spent being taught that failure is not an option. Putting a lot of weight on what other people would say if one does not achieve success at the first strike in launching a self-employed career is what feeds this fear. Unknown to many, the successes of our times are a result of a lot of trials and failures. To achieve perfection, coal must undergo the test of fire first to turn into a diamond.

Somewhat connected to the fear of failure is the next stumbling block: peer pressure. Amongst the ranks of employees, if one expresses a desire to start one’s own business, the usual retort by colleagues would be, “Why drop a perfectly comfortable, nicely-paying job for something uncertain as that?”

Difficulty in determining passion, that’s the next problem for failure to launch one’s own business. Almost everyone agrees that for a job to cease being a job, one has got to love what he is doing. Same goes with starting one’s own trade – passion has got to be in it because without passion, perseverance won’t be coming in next.

Last but not the least is courage – or the lack of it. It doesn’t matter if you have the savings, the self-confidence, the tolerance for other people’s opinions, or if you have a sufficient enough experience to start on your own – if you don’t have enough courage, you are bound to stay within your current comfort zone. Reality check: starting a business on your own can indeed be daunting.

In a nutshell, the one thing that stops most aspiring business owners from proceeding is cold, paralyzing fear.

Agreeably, some fears are well founded but then again, most apprehensions are irrational as well. Like all things unknown of which fear emanates from, this sickening feeling can be alleviated with the proper education, planning and information gathering. Make the unknown known so that fear can be controlled, if not eradicated. The key is to identify what stops you from realizing your own business dream first. Once identified, categorize and understand these fears and determine if they are indeed real or otherwise. Lastly, muster the courage to actually deal with them appropriately. Once these fears are laid to rest chances are, one will be ready to start a whole new exciting business life of which one could call his very own.