Entrepreneurship Is About Survival
Most entrepreneurs who start a business will fail. The statistics vary but as many as 80% of people who start a business today will no longer have their company in 5 years. That is a pretty big failure rate.
According to the Body Shop founder, Anita Roddick:
“I started The Body Shop in 1976 simply to create a livelihood for myself and my two daughters, while my husband, Gordon, was trekking across the Americas. I had no training or experience and my only business acumen was Gordon’s advice to take sales of £300 a week. Nobody talks of entrepreneurship as survival, but that’s exactly what it is and what nurtures creative thinking.”
What many new business owners fail to recognize is that entrepreneurship is first about survival, then about building a company. I have seen too many entrepreneurs to count who have grand visions of where they want to go but never even get to first base. They close down shop before they can execute any of their big plans because they run out of money.
If you cannot make enough to pay your basic bills then you will not be around in the long run to fulfill your dream. It takes a lot longer to get a company off the ground that most people think and in the beginning it is all about survival - do whatever you need to do to keep yourself, and your company, going.
This will mean sacrifices. Maybe you have to take a part time job until you have enough money to support yourself. You also might need to take on clients who might not seem “ideal” at first. You can always fire them later on when you have a more solid base of support but money is money and you will need anything you can get your hands on when you are first starting a business.
Think big, keep the grand vision - but act small. Make sure you have enough in the bank so you can survive the rough early days and see your company vision through.
What have you done to keep your company going to make sure you are still around to see the next day?
Evan Carmichael
Evan CarmichaelYoungEntrepreneur.com Blog Manager
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5 Comments so far
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Im in the process of starting my business and everything you said i experienced; just now you reconfirmed i need to change my way of thinking.
“do whatever you need to do to keep yourself, and your company, going.”
That is why 80% ultimately fail, it’s because they quit. failure is not the opposite of success, quitting is.
Graham
[…] Young Entrepreneur shares some practical pointers about survival: This will mean sacrifices. Maybe you have to take a part time job until you have enough money to support yourself. You also might need to take on clients who might not seem “ideal” at first. You can always fire them later on when you have a more solid base of support but money is money and you will need anything you can get your hands on when you are first starting a business. […]
Hi Evan - We are a small business in Nevada that specializes in forming corporations and LLCs. What keeps our business going is that we provide the best customer service we can which in turn, our customers keep coming back to us and refer many clients to us. Word of mouth has been the number one source of advertising for us.
John
www.nevada.org
[…] I read a post last week from the Young Entrepreneur that went along perfectly with a chapter we just finished up! The chapter is called, “Act Big, Behave Small.” When you’re just starting your business, it’s absolutely essential to conserve your resources and do what you can to cut costs (behaving small). However, just as important as it is to keep expenses to a minimum, it is just as vital to show clients that you are stable, competent, professional and reliable (acting big!). There are plenty of ways to Act Big. Make sure that you have a professional sounding phone system. So what if you only have two employees, or NO employees! Record a menu with options. When people call your number, they should reach a recording that makes you look like you have an office building full of people somewhere. Build an awesome website. Anyone can do this these days. It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money to create something professional and SEO friendly. Never, never, beg for contracts. Even when you’re taking phone calls in your basement and working on the weekends to try and keep yourself afloat, learn to play hard to get. Don’t be overly confident, but be honest, and trust in the quality of your services. […]