Successful startups aren’t as common as they should be, which is why Fred Cary founded IdeaPros as a way for new entrepreneurs to get the benefit of his experience. Already a long-standing business owner, Cary is responsible for several startup successes. He decided that the best way to give back to the community would be to help others set up their businesses. Thanks to his guidance, various startups have gotten their operations in order. These businesses are well on their way to massive growth and expansion. However, despite these triumphs, some challenges are common to all startups.
Fear and Self-Doubt of New Entrepreneurs
Being a professional always brings the lingering fear and self-doubt of not being able to meet expectations. Unfortunately, as a business owner, fear is doubled. The failure of the business might mean losing everything. In some cases, this fear, coupled with self-doubt, can hamper the business’s development. Even the mental well-being of the entrepreneur might be at risk. “It’s about understanding where you’re at and where you want to be,” Cary explains. Setting goals and reaching for them help to keep self-doubt at bay. Even failing to achieve the goal can push the entrepreneur to more remarkable successes.
Not Working Hard Enough
This is the one problem that stuck with Cary when he founded his startup. Business owners frequently spend ten- and 12-hour days working on their businesses. This time is usually dedicated to ensuring that their business ideas become successes. Yet, they keep wondering if they’re doing enough. If circumstances move against them, they blame themselves for those failures. Cary advises entrepreneurs to remember that “working enough” comes down to what the business needs. “It doesn’t make sense working yourself to exhaustion when you don’t need to,” Cary says. “Know what needs to be done, and do that.”
Finance and Budgets
The most significant challenges Cary has seen startups face come from money concerns. Financing a business isn’t workable for a business owner. The expenses quickly deplete the startup funds the owner has readily available. This outcome results in looking for new means of funding. Investors are the most obvious route, but an entrepreneur needs to be careful when choosing investors to work with. Having a plan in place will help the business both source and manage the money that it gets. “Planning your capital usage can help you deal with financial constraints a lot more easily,” Cary says.
Overcoming Challenges Is the Road to Success
When news outlets cover successful entrepreneurs, they rarely focus on the challenges they faced getting to that point. Instead, they spend a lot of time examining the factors they think we’re responsible for their successes. Despite that focus, challenges are character-building events that help to shape a business’s image and an entrepreneur’s spirit. Cary believes that overcoming challenges is what makes running a startup worthwhile. He suggests that new entrepreneurs should learn from their challenges so it’s easier to beat them in the future.