The common term these days is “start a business”. But sometimes, we fail to realize that the entrepreneurial journey is not for the lily-hearted. Several entrepreneurs have faced grave challenges that made them give up on themselves and their businesses.
Others just run back to their 9-5 jobs, in the guise to be better prepared to become entrepreneurs. Simply put, being an entrepreneur is not easy. In this article, I will highlight some challenges faced by entrepreneurs and how they can overcome them. So, are you an entrepreneur trying to find solutions to the challenges of your business? You are in the right place!
Deciding on a product/service
An entrepreneur often makes the first decision on the product to sell or the service to render. Sometimes, it is even difficult to make this seemingly simple decision. Niches are saturated and one could be lost as to where to focus on. To solve this, identify a need in your community. Do a market survey and ascertain the terrain. In every place, there is always a need; a gap to fill. So, don’t just decide on a product/service from the top of your head, research it. You can even hire a professional market researcher to help you out.
Source for funds
This is one of the greatest challenges faced by entrepreneurs. Being a third-world country, Nigeria is not an environment where people can easily get access to funding. But how do you solve this?
The best bet will be to start small and grow in the process. Presently, there are several loan apps and bodies in Nigeria. Investigate them and find one that will suit your financial needs. You can also seek angel investors or venture capitalists, depending on your business model. However, start with what you currently have, gain some traction, and it will be easier to get external funding.
Staffing
Another task that proves difficult is staffing. Many a time, it seems difficult to recruit the right people on your team. Have detailed qualification criteria while listing any position. This will help sieve out candidates that will not be the best fit for your business. Also, before an interview, thoroughly scrutinize applications, so you can have a shortlist for the interview.
Refer to your company’s goals and objectives in this hiring process, to give you a guide on what to expect from applicants. If you have the budget, you can hire a recruitment agency to also help you out with this.
Generating revenue
One of the greatest headaches of entrepreneurs is making more sales and generating revenue. A trusted way to go about this is having a budget and sticking to it. You might be wondering how that affects your revenue. It does, big time! In your budget, you should detail what to spend money on and how to fund your marketing process, which will in turn drive sales. If you spend on irrelevant areas, you will keep running into debt, running overhead costs, and not achieving anything. Channel your finances to fund your sales and marketing project, as well as other factors that will boost sales. Those are where you should invest your money. Have a marketing/sales team that is goal-driven. Have set targets, with strategic action plans to back them up.
These are just a few of the many challenges faced by entrepreneurs. But this is a good start for you. manage your time and financial resources properly, to drive the results you need. Train your staff to understand the business goals, and work with them to achieve these goals.
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