What's your greatest startup challenge?

[Adnan Akhtar]

I have Run Five ventures and 3 are doing great.
I will talk about the problems that I have faced:
1). Hiring the right Employees: I m a very choosy person. I like only one thong out of many and thats why when I started my First Venture i.e. Hand Made Custom Leather Products; I hired People and Quickly Fired them. Again I hired and realised that I must train them to be of use. Again this was a bad Idea; I cannot train everyone according to my need.
Finally I got the Idea that what Kind of People are best to work with and who I can train to be of use and who I cannot.
My Advise:
-Hire Them and Fire them;Just do not waste time in people whose career graph you do not see going upwards.
-Be Patient for sometimes It pays and
- Never Over Pay anyone and also Never Under Pay

The other problems Like Funding, Timing , Idea,etc.. are really very basic and much easier to get rid off.....believe me your Entrepreneurial Journey begins only when You start Your Business Venture and hit the "Lean Period" and before that everything is just fiction.

2). Time Distribution: My second Problem started when I started working on my next ventures. My first Business Started well and is till date 100% self-owned by me and my brothers...
We started well and now we make a Million Dollar in revenue...
Coming back to the point, I started my second venture; and oops my time was too tight.We can not start a business without 100% dedication and I cannot also leave a Business that was making a million+ I loved making all those creative stuff...
I started working 18 hours everyday and finally paid with a bad Health....I learnt it later that Its smart work + Hard work That I need and I should also give respects to my human limits.
My Advice: Do Smart Hard Work Not just Hard Work

My Ultimate Success Secret: I faced some common problems that i could have avoided . I faced those problems because I had no one to mentor me ; To Guide me.
So all the Entrepreneurs out there Always do two things and these will help you greatly. Make any two people and atleast two people
- A mentor ; A guide with whom you can discuss all the problems and also your success
- A Confidant; A person whom you can tell your secrets.

[Moosie]

Interesting to see your actual needs, what field of work are you guys involved in maybe I can help.

[Mogens]

The interesting part of having your own business is the constant work of solving challenges. Big challenges and small challenges they keep coming.

[Rush_RLRII]

Mine is Keeping loyal members on my site.

[mflemming]

The key to overcome many of these challenges is To be your own guru. Forget the so call guru who promises you and never deliver.

[apfooball]

My biggest challenge.....having to keep my day job, while trying to stay focused on my REAL JOB of getting my business off the ground. Managing my time, having no down time, very little capital.

I've been an underdog my entire life, so I've always had to be stubborn. My philosophy is to keep banging on the door until someone lets me in or I knock it down.

[supertechexpert1]

The greatest challenge was to decide what is the best thing to do.

[albertgeorge]

Biggest challenge is Money.Without capital or fund we can not start any kind of business.Another challenge is being Focused on what are you doing.You have enough stamina for facing any business problem

[andyredsox]

The thought of starting the Right Business! It's a big deal spending money or putting up a capital in something you're doubtful. But it's like a gamble, nothing's certain. Material sources would be a challenge too as well as your market. But you'll learn as you go.

[findaway]

Getting over the fear of putting yourself and your product out there, open to the world for criticism and critique.

[John_yeo]

HI All,

It is very interesting to know that there are so many people out who are facing difficulties in strating your companies. Can I check with you guys if anyone of you are actually interested if there is a company that can help you to overcome these obstacles at a rather cheap and affordable prices.

I am currently running a sales and business development company where we helped companies that are facing any forms of business problems to overcome their obstacles at a rather cheap and afforadable prices. Feel visit to visit us at Accounting Services, Corporate Secretarial Services, Financial Analysis | WGS Tel: +65 91779846 Consultations are free.

[YAGOOFT]

Anyone considering a business needs to first decide on which type of business to start, so this is your first challenge, and the most important one in my experience. Next is to define the best recession proof businesses for you will not succeed if you make a wrong decision in this down economy. In good times, it is totally different, your odds are better, in a bad economy, the odds of success are going to be a hundred times worse. I have started several businesses over the years, traditional and online, and one thing I have learned is you better focus on recession proof businesses first and foremost. In the U.S. we have seen recessions hit every six years, so unless you are looking for only a short term business, you better concider the recession cycles carefully. I wouldn't waste my time on a non recession proof business having learned my lesson in the travel business. In good times, it was great, in bad times it was terrible challenge to just survive, never mind thrive. Lesson learned, stick with recession proof businesess.

Happy Health Wealthy New Year to all,

[Stephanie Grey]

My greatest start up challenge would be on how to deal with clients and how to win them...

[AndyEntrepreneur]

My greatest Start-up challenge and obstacle was finding the information from other people that we could trust. Because there is so much information now that these days it’s hard to decide who you can trust and who you can’t trust. So, our biggest goal is looking for transparency and one of the best advice I can give for that, it find somebody who is transparent on what they teach but also aligned with your core values as a human being.

[sumukhrao]

By far some of the top challenges are:
- Earning more revenues,
- Getting people to work as a team & take up responsibilities,
- Stabilize operations,
- New hiring & training,
- Deploying money sensibly &
- Establish policies & procedures.

A big (local) challenge for me is that the start-up ecosystem is not as robust as it is in the bay area. The amount of support, financial & non-financial, is tremendous in the bay area. Having said that, mentors & resources that can help lend direction and guidance to a start-up are not scarce here. I stumble upon blogs, articles, do-it-yourself kits, networking events everyday. Something I found useful was a series of mentoring videos by a company called MentorSquare that provided guidance on resolving business issues. Articles found on various sites like Yourstory, Businessgyan, Nasscom emerge also helps put things in perspective.

Can anybody recommend a good incubator in India?