Starting an independent business from scratch comes at a cost. Business ownership requires knowledge, systems, resources, and expertise. Before you even open your doors for business, you can incur significant costs and need to gain the required knowledge associated with market research, equipment, store design and layout, pricing, public relations, testing the model, putting an infrastructure in place, developing technology, and hiring and training employees.
An independent business owner has to know or learn about many aspects of starting and operating a business—things that have nothing to do with the services or products it offers. Independent business owners have to know about marketing, finance, accounting, operations, customer service, equipment, vendor relations, price negotiations, pricing, employee management, and customer retention, among many other disciplines.
They also have to keep ahead of the competition and invest money and resources in research and development to stay ahead of the game. They must create a demand for their products and services by building a strong brand. If they want to succeed but don’t have all of this knowledge and experience, they have to get it somewhere else. They will have to hire employees or experts in these areas, which can be very expensive.
Independent business owners have to develop and prove their business model. They don’t have a successful example to follow. They may be able to get some information about similar businesses, but they have to create their own secret sauce. If they don’t do well, most small independent business owners blame the economy or the competition from the large chains. Sometimes, however, their failure to achieve the results they want and need is the result of something they are missing, but they’re too close to the problem to see it. Unless they hire an outside consultant or business coach, they may never know what is causing their problem.
One of the most disturbing characteristics of owning an independent business is the fact that you are all alone. There is no support mechanism behind you, no one to call when you have a question or a problem, and no one who can listen to your woes and help you get out of your own way to achieve the results you desire. There is no one to provide training when there is a gap in knowledge or experience, no one to even recognize when there is a gap. It’s just you. This aloneness can feel especially distressing if you are accustomed to working for someone else or within a team environment.
There are some lone rangers out there for whom not having a support team is not a problem. These people prefer to be alone and to have full responsibility for everything. They are risk-takers and love to wear many hats, at least in the beginning. They thrive on the pursuit of opportunity. They are true entrepreneurs.
Perhaps you fit this mold. If you do, you’re in the minority. (In fact, less than 10 percent of the population is well suited for this path.) You are a maverick and visionary, and we applaud you.
Every great business on earth today started as someone’s crazy idea. The reason we applaud the true entrepreneur is that your vision is strong enough to combat those naysayers who enthusiastically tell you that your idea is insane and that it will never work and that you are wasting your time.
When Terry started The Entrepreneur’s Source, countless people told him that his idea wouldn’t work. A former business partner told him, “You are wasting your time with those tire kickers and dreamers.”
But instead of being discouraged, this comment had the opposite effect. That word dreamer fueled a fire in Terry because he saw himself as a dreamer. His vision was to help others make their dreams a reality so they could create a better and brighter future. Walt Disney’s quote gave him all the inspiration he needed: “All your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them.”
Despite the odds and the challenges, a true entrepreneur will prove the rest of the world wrong. Everyone else benefits from their innovation.