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Starting Your Business - Are You Ready?

Are you Willing to Start Your Small Business?

This is the second of a series of episodes on the topic of what it takes to be ready, willing and able to start your first small business. In this series of episodes, Henry Lopez shares his thoughts, tips and experiences related to being ready to start your first business and becoming your own boss.

The first episode in this series was episode 292, which focused on READY. On this episode Henry shares more details on the WILLING part of ready, willing and able.

Are you WILLING to start your first small business? And if you are not ready WILLING today, what do you need to do to get there? That’s what this episode of The How of Business podcast – the podcast for small business owners – is all about.

If you have been listening to this podcast for some time, you may know that Henry Lopez started his first business back in 1991. He has been challenged with many significant failures and setbacks, but has also been fortunate to be part of some successful small businesses. Henry has been the host of The How of Business podcast for almost 4 years now, with almost 300 episodes released (as of February 2020).

Henry Lopez has been helping other people start, run and growing their small businesses for over 5 years now, and he has found that there are some common challenges most people face on their way to starting their first business. For many people, it’s not the idea that’s the hard part, it’s their mindset, their personal finances, and their willingness to sacrifice. That’s often what separates those who just talk about it from the few who actually move forward and launch their first business.

Topics discussed in this podcast episode include:

  • Do you dream of becoming your own boss? Have you gotten to a point where you just can’t keep working for someone else? You may likely have one or more great ideas, but you just can’t seem to get any traction?
  • Henry Lopez believes that you need to be completely honest with yourself in assessing what is really holding you back from starting your company today.
  • You need to honestly determine how Ready, Willing and Able you are to start you first small business.
  • Are you WILLING to put in the time and effort?
  • “Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do.” The Slight Edge, by Jeff Olson
  • What are you willing to sacrifice for the sake of your business success? Are you willing to give up hobbies, free time, family time and hanging out with friends?
  • Your success in business, as with many things in life, is directly proportionate to your discipline and sacrifice. Business success is typically a long-term journey, filled with setbacks, demanding consistency and dedication.
  • There are few “overnight successes” in the business world. It may seem that way, as we are constantly exposed to glamorized examples of huge and seemingly immediate success. Indeed, there are certainly plenty of instant success stories. The reality for most small business owners, however, is that it takes time to build a profitable venture. More often than not, a successful entrepreneur’s journey is marked by overcoming challenges along the way. Are you willing to stick with it, to delay gratification, and get back up after a failure and try again?
  • As a small business owner, you will likely work harder than you have ever worked before. Once you cross over into the world of entrepreneurship, you assume the ultimate responsibility for everything. There will be times when the work to be done seems endless. To get through it all will require your maximum possible effort.
  • Are you willing to be the person who has to handle the hard questions and make the tough decisions? Are you an accountable person?
  • Are you willing to work harder than you ever have to start and grow your small business?
  • Are you willing to be challenged constantly and always be learning new things about business and leading people?
  • Do you have a passion for your business idea?
  • Are you willing to delay gratification, or are you searching for immediate results?
  • Are you desperately looking for a get-rich-quick scheme or are your willing to build your business over time?
  • Are you prepared for the impact on yourself and your family?
  • Are you willing to make sacrifices now in order to build and grow your business.

As you begin on your path to starting your first small business, it’s critical that you honestly determine how mentally and emotionally ready you are today. And if you are not ready now, what do you need to do – what skills do you need to develop, what resources do you need to tap into, what partnerships do you need to form – to realize your dreams of business ownership.

You will get there! Everyone has their unique path, it’s just a matter of getting started on your own journey, one step at a time.

Determine how Willing you are today – Are you WILLING to put in the time and effort? – to start your first business, and if you are not completely willing today, start preparing yourself and tacking action to get there, so that you can realize your dreams. If you want it bad enough, you can do it!

Henry is a serial entrepreneur and business coach with over 34 years of diverse business experience, including successful careers in information technology, sales, sales training, real estate, and business ownership.

Resources:

Free Download:

Are You Ready? Free Download
Download this free guide to help with determining how Ready, Willing and Able you are to start your first small business!

Books mentioned in this episode:
[We receive commissions for purchases made through these links (more info)].

Related Episodes:

Episode 292: Are You READY To Start Your Business

Episode 309: Are You ABLE To Start Your Business

The How of Business podcast is focused on helping you start, run a grow your small business. You can find all previous episodes of The How of Business podcast on the Archives page.

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