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How to start (and make a success of) your own business

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90% of businesses fail in their first year, if not the first five, while the other 10% succeed. Although this is true, it should not scare you away from starting your own business.

Robert Kiyosaki may have created the best way to beat these statistics when he said: “Nine out of ten businesses fail, so I came up with a fool proof plan: create ten businesses.”

Kurt Theobald co-founder and CEO of Classy Llama did just that, except he failed the first 10 times before creating a $3 million (R46 million) company with his 11th attempt.

Here are some of the things he did differently:

•    Understand your core competencies.

There are many opportunities out there and you’ll want to chase after all of them at once. Don’t be caught by shiny object syndrome, this means pursuing every opportunity that seems interesting.

Forbes contributor Eric Wagner suggests that you always understand your core competencies. Understand the reasons why you started your business and the purpose you’re trying to achieve. This may seem trivial, but digging deep will help you strategically select opportunities that will greatly align with the mission statement of your business and serve towards its growth instead of chasing every opportunity. You cannot do them all.

•    You must cede control.

What? Give up control of the one thing you have created? According to Theobald, yes. Control can be a ‘dangerous’ thing and, quite paradoxically, you have to give up control to gain control by allowing others to be part of the decision-making process. This helps to generate ideas and takes a load off your mind and shoulders in concept expansion.

•    Run lean and learn to survive.

You may not even see profits within your first year. The sooner you realise this, the better. In the beginning, one of your greater focuses should be building up a capital reserve and figuring out how to reach your goals on a tiny budget. This means no fancy offices, artisan coffee and colour-printed brochures. Particularly in the beginning, your core focus is learning how to survive until you reach a formula of success. This may prove difficult for businesses just starting from the ground up and that does not necessarily have extra cash sitting around. But there will be mistakes and bad luck along the way. It’s a good idea to run lean.

“By the time it came to close, there wasn’t enough revenue to sustain the (business) model. It just wasn’t viable and the formula wasn’t right at a fundamental level. It wasn’t too long after that I went and filed personal bankruptcy,” Theobald on one of his 10 failed businesses.

•    Find something unique.

If something isn’t working, try it from a different angle until you find something that works. Theobald reportedly shared with Forbes that sometimes he let’s go too quickly and perhaps the most successful entrepreneurs stick through it until they get the right formula and it eventually takes off.

•    Don’t start unless you can survive the imitation game.

When creating your business, chances are, there is something just like it already out there. Creating something radically different and creating a key system of continuous innovation becomes essential to not only protecting your uniqueness but to also prevent another company from completely copying your product or service.

•    Bend to the market.

Many businesses fail because of their refusal to compromise to what their customers want. This doesn’t make sense. Your market is where you learn the most about what’s working and what isn’t. Customers drive your business and profits so it’s important to value and consider their opinions.

TIP: Co-director of Ivy and Lark Nicole Durand, started her jewellery line by creating a survey with images of her jewellery. She sent out these surveys to her friends and family to find out which items and designs they are interested in the most.

•    Most importantly:

Take care of your personal, spiritual health and family first. At the end of each business day, it is YOU who made it through the day and YOU who is executing your success. So know and define who you are as an entrepreneur, but also maintain who you truly are outside of your business.

money, business, entrepreneurship, success

Gif: Giphy

Have you started your own business or know someone who has? Tell us your story and how you/they did it. Email us

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