An entrepreneur’s life is one where uncertainties and challenges go hand in hand with opportunities and triumphs. And for every success, there will be many setbacks along the way. Running a business means having to face difficult questions, take risks, and make tough decisions on almost a daily basis.
Alyssa Reichel, an entrepreneur located in North Woodmere, New York, finds running one’s own business as both challenging and rewarding at the same time. Her career in the jewelry industry started at a very young age. And with over twenty years of experience serving the elite women in the region known as the Five Towns, she describes her business life as a ‘perilously satisfying one.’ “You’re not always ready or prepared for what’s to come,” Alyssa says, “but you take the plunge anyway. There’s a certain excitement that comes with the oh-not-so-calculated risk.” But it’s not just about being prepared for risks. The difficulties entrepreneurs face come in many shapes and sizes.
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The Need to Wear all the Hats
Running a business is a complicated process. There are so many areas that the business owner must take care of and cover. From sales and marketing to managing inventory, dealing with clients, and accounting. “It’s like playing multiple roles in the same movie,” Alyssa Reichel in North Woodmere says. “And the challenge here is that you’re not always good with numbers or you don’t know the first thing about marketing your business.”
But just because the entrepreneur must deal with all the different aspects of the business, this doesn’t mean they have to be a top accountant, an IT wizard and a marketing guru all rolled into one. Working with the right people and keeping yourself organized are crucial to the success of any business. It’s not about running the show and putting on all the hats. It’s about managing your assets and seeking the experience and skill of qualified contractors.
Finding Finance
When looking to fund a new business venture or growing an existing bu one, entrepreneurs struggle to raise capital. The costs of starting a business or keeping one running are daunting and not all entrepreneurs, even the experienced ones, always have a reliable source of cash flow. In the end, it all comes down to having investment contacts to pitch the business idea.
North Woodmere’s Alyssa Reichel recommends getting business loans or to seek funding through lines of credit from a bank or a private venture. “Since nobody knows your business idea like you,” she says, “you should rehearse your business pitch before you meet with your angel investors or venture capitalists. You’re selling them a vision so make sure your business plan has concrete numbers to convince your prospective financial backers.”
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Time Management
It’s one thing to be able to handle the pressure and the demands of starting a business venture and it’s a totally different thing to find the time to do all that needs to be done. A novice entrepreneur would find it satisfying to dedicate as much time as needed for the task at hand. But soon it becomes clear that the day doesn’t have enough hours to accomplish the various goals and tasks.
Unless the business owner appreciates how little time they have compared to how much needs to be achieved, success will become an elusive prospect. It’s essential to set your business targets and to break them down into annual, monthly and weekly goals. That way you’ll know what needs to be done, how long it would take you to do it, and whether you’d need help from others or not.
The Right Strategy
Without a lot of experience in the business world, entrepreneurship can be fraught with daunting obstacles. Not just because there are a lot of uncharted territories that the average entrepreneur must navigate, but also because of self-doubt. “There certainly is no definite manual,” says Alyssa Reichel of North Woodmere, “and you have to grapple with setbacks and things not going your way all the time. Eventually, you begin to ask yourself if you’ve chosen the right career path or maybe you were too hasty in leaving that office job.”
Every person is familiar with self-doubt. And the right strategy to combat it is to have a clear set of goals and a contingency plan. Setbacks and things going wrong are part and parcel of running a business. So, it’s always good to have a plan to fall back on when it becomes clear that the original goals may not be met.
