No Surprise

I recently attended a small business workshop. It was excellent, it covered all the aspects of
starting and running a small business. It filled in a few gaps for me. Now that I said, surely, you can almost hear the but coming in my next sentence.

This blog was started on the premise that the most important elements of starting a small business is the fortitude to make decisions and continue to go forward. It was not based on  having a lump sum of money or borrowing, to set-up a business. If you do have money this is a good thing, but I don't believe the people who read this blog have money to start a small business. As one participant mentioned  that you gotta hustle. I agree, get one job, one client, provide an excellent product or service and repeat that cycle. My position has always been that you will get little help from anyone to create and manage a start-up. For some time I could not understand the reason for this reality.

It has become clear to me, business in this country has a very powerful influence on government.
If small business was set up that you and I could be successful, at some point, people would collaborate and change some of these crazy laws in this country.

In reality you need to have some funds or you will have to borrow to go into business. In my opinion
these are not options. Let's just think about the first option, who has money set aside to start a business? Secondly who wants to create another debt in this economic environment. The numbers of first time successful small business owners are dismal. Ask yourself if so many other things in this country can be tweaked, why can't the small business paradigm be tweaked? It is a valid question.

So, it was no surprise that instead of believing I would get some information to excite me about
developing a small business. It is made very clear that starting a business is a buzz word, more than a reality for you and me.

Building Blocks

For years building blocks have been created to teach children the foundation of building. We can also use building blocks as concepts to move toward starting a business. I do not assume your success will be a multi-million company, but rather an opportunity for a person to do something they like and at the same time make a living or acquire supplemental income. The building blocks I refer to consist of how one gets from one level to the next in this process.

Today, it is not a guarantee to be able to go to college and then get a great job or even get a job. I suggest if you don’t know your strengths and weaknesses then you should check out some  free self-assessments on the Internet. This would allow you to  get a better understanding of what you do well.

This could take some time, it doesn’t usually happen by taking one test, you may have to take a few tests to arrive at the correct insight. After that is done you can start to look at possible small business ventures that may work for you. Will you need additional training? Is there cost involved? There probably will be cost involved, do some searching and see if you can find a series of YouTube videos or a website, maybe a blog that teaches what you need. Then see if you can work your way towards your goal or start your business. You may feel funny attempting this on your own, so get a friend or partner to help in the overall assessment. Make it a project. The longest journey starts with the first building block.