Starting your own business is something many people tend to fear and often with good reason. During the beginnings of a new business there’s loads of challenges and you need balls of steel, yep, even if you’re female!
Well this article is not advice on how to deal with challenges when starting a business but rather some encouragement for those who want to start a business for themselves but are maybe holding back.
A good few years ago I left my employer of 10 years in the printing industry and decided to start my own surfwear label called Nudge Boardwear. In fact the website is still live (www.nudgeboardwear.com) because I make a little extra pocket money from the ads on the site but the business has been put on the bench for different reasons.
I am now running my own website design and development business called Jumping Spider web design on the outskirts of Cape Town South Africa. Jumping Spider was never a business I intended starting, I wouldn’t say it was an accident but certainly the last thing on my mind when I left my employer to start Nudge Boardwear.
Why am I telling you this lot? – Read on a bit.
I needed a website for Nudge Boardwear and I wanted an e-commerce site to be able to sell the surf clothes worldwide. After doing a little research and almost dying too young because of the expensive quotes I was getting for an e-commerce site I made the decision to do the site myself. To cut a long story short I had very little experience in any kind of web design and to dive straight into putting an e-commerce site together and actually getting everything to work correctly was quite challenging to say the least! Anyway, I did manage to pull it off and was stoked when the website made its first sale. Talk about work satisfaction.
Shortly after doing the Nudge site I had one or two friends approach me for sites which I happily did for them for next to nothing and before I knew it Jumping Spider Web Design was born and is now flourishing into a business for which I have a vision that sometimes shocks people I share it with and often surprises even me! That’s another post.
There is more to this but I only wanted to highlight the main points so that I can get to the reason for this article and hopefully encourage those who are considering starting a business.
GO FOR IT!!
You absolutely never know what lies ahead for you tomorrow. In the world of business, although challenging at times, you’re going to get far greater rewards than you would working for any kind of boss… ANY kind. Not to mention the much bigger financial benefits in the long run. One thing leads to another in business, you make contacts, meet potential clients stumble across opportunities, create opportunities, It’s exciting and rewarding.
Never let a small emotion (or any kind of emotion come to that) like fear stand in your way. After all, chances are you’re not going to die just because you tried to start a business. You may lose girlfriends, boyfriends, husbands, wives, kids, your car, house, favorite clothes and jewelery, the big screen T.V., Hi-Fi, your friendship group and the family dog but you won’t die. Yes… just kidding.
If running a business gets too much for you and you can’t take the heat then just pull out when you can and go back to work. At least you’ll always have the satisfaction that you tried, which is far better than always wondering things like “what if…” or “If only I had….” when you’re old and gray.
Anyway, this is what I’m saying – Don’t let anything stand in your way if you are seriously considering starting your own business, get your head down and go for it.