Question

As an entrepreneur starting a new business, what cautions would you take away with you when it comes to economical decision making?

Answer 1

Starting a business has never been more exciting. The startup economy is rich with opportunity, innovation and potential. But at the same time, it is also fraught with high-stakes risks. And while it may be scary to take that leap of faith, jumping into the deep end of the startup pool is significantly less intimidating once you understand and assess these risks.In my experience as a serial entrepreneur (having sold one company and taking another public), I have found there are five key risks in starting any business. Fortunately, if you are able to identify these risks early on and determine how to approach them, you will up your chance for success.Entrepreneurs are their own bosses. They make the decisions. They choose whom to do business with and what work they will do. They decide what hours to work, as well as what to pay and whether to take vacations. For many entrepreneurs the freedom to control their destiny is enough to outweigh the potential risks.Entrepreneurship offers a greater possibility of achieving significant financial rewards than working for someone else. Owning your own business removes the income restraint that exists in being someone else’s employee. Many entrepreneurs are inspired by the mega-millionaire entrepreneurs we see today, such as Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg.It gives an individual the opportunity to build equity, which can be kept, sold, or passed on to the next generation. It’s not uncommon for entrepreneurs to own multiple businesses throughout their life. They establish a company, run it for a while, and later sell it to someone else. The income from this sale can then be used to finance the next venture. If they’re not interested in selling the business, the goal may be to build something that can be passed down to their children to help ensure their financial future. One thing is sure: In order to fully reap the financial benefits of a business venture, you need to be the owner. As we delve into the study of entrepreneurship, let’s define what we mean by the word entrepreneur. An entrepreneur is someone who identifies and acts on an idea or problem that no one else has identified or acted on. This combination of recognizing an opportunity to bring something new to the world and acting on that opportunity is what distinguishes an entrepreneur from a small business owner. A small business owner is someone who owns or starts a business that already has an existing model, such as a restaurant, whereas an entrepreneur is someone who creates something new. This new creation can be a new process or product, a business that identifies a new or unique target market, or a combination of ideas that creates a new approach or method, for example.
In a broader sense, what people consider an entrepreneur can vary. Some scholars strictly differentiate between entrepreneurs and small business owners.5 Others acknowledge that a small business owner may also be an entrepreneur—they are not mutually exclusive. Someone may start a venture that is not a completely new idea, but that introduces a product or service to a new region or market. Where does a franchise fall in this discussion? Again, there is not complete agreement, with some claiming that a franchisee and entrepreneur cannot be the same, and others arguing that a franchise is, indeed, an entrepreneurial venture. According to an article in Forbes, “In the for-profit world, an entrepreneur is someone who creates and runs a new business where one did not exist before. And, no, the McDonald’s franchisee didn’t create McDonald’s. But he certainly created a McDonald’s where there never was one before. Franchisees are entrepreneurs. The point is that small business owners and franchisees can be considered entrepreneurs. For the purposes of this course, you will learn the key principles of entrepreneurship alongside the concepts, strategies, and tools needed to succeed as a small business owner or franchisee.Starting a small business is hard work in any environment, but it's even harder in a tough economy. This is partly because when credit markets are tight, it can be challenging to get financing. That’s why it’s crucial for small business owners to hone their business plans. In other words, if you want a slice of the financing pie, you better work your cash projections really hard and know your bottom line down to the penny—how much money you need to put into the business, how much you need to charge to meet your operating costs and, hopefully, what you need to do to realize a profit.