The number of entrepreneurs around the world is very much on the rise. The United Kingdom, in particular, is full of business-minded go-getters who have fantastic industry-leading ideas that they want to make happen. According to a report published by a think tank called the Centre for Entrepreneurs in 2017, in 2016 657,790 new businesses were founded in the UK, which represented a significant amount of growth when compared to the 608,110 businesses that were founded in the UK in 2016 and the 581,173 businesses founded in the region in 2015.
Business analysts have called this the UK startup ‘revolution’ and say that there are no signs of it letting up. More and more of us are getting into business and becoming self-employed. And while this is great news for the economy, it is important to note that being a business person is not easy and many thousands of us may face the following problems as we enter the business world.
Standing Out from the Crowd
With so many people entering the market every year, things are going to begin to seem a little crowded. No matter your niche – whether it be public relations, health and fitness, or if you’re a beauty blogger branching out into selling your own cosmetics – there is going to be competition. That competition is only going to grow and the big challenge is figuring out how to make your business stand out.
The first part of this is establishing your unique selling point (USP). What do you do differently to your competitors? If you sell cosmetics, are those cosmetics especially waterproof? Or excel at covering blemishes? And if you are a public relations specialist, do you have contacts in a particular industry? In with your USP, you can also figure out who your target demographic is (e.g men over the age of 50, or women who own little dogs) before crafting your marketing campaign. Knowing your worth and your target is key to standing out.
Managing Your Work/Life Balance
The work/life balance is defined as the division of someone’s time and focus on working and taking part in family or leisure activities. It was one of the biggest things that modern workers find difficult, but particularly if you are an entrepreneur or someone trying to get their business off the ground. Half of the fathers interviewed for the 2017 Modern Families index said that the work/life balance is a significant source of stress.
But managing that balance doesn’t have to be such hard work and there are simple ways to offset that pressure. When you’re working long hours, it makes sense to multitask and complete life-related tasks that you can do during the work day. For example, if you don’t have time to go out on the prowl you could use platforms like Badoo online dating to find a romantic partner. This will save you time in finding a significant other and you won’t need to set aside time to chat people up in the meatspace. If you don’t have time to go and browse the snack aisle at your local supermarket, you can also make use of online shopping. With online shopping apps, you can order your groceries on the go, saving things to your favourites for easy access and choosing a delivery slot throughout the week for your convenience.
Staying Productive
The other side of the work/life balance coin is figuring out how to stay productive; this is especially the case when you work from home. When you have to juggle so many other things in your life, it can be easy to get distracted by these other, non-business tasks. Maybe you’ll find yourself marathoning that hilarious comedy show on Netflix or end up watching cat videos on a loop on YouTube.
Getting back into the productive groove isn’t as hard as it seems, though, even when all that entertaining content on the internet is piquing your interest. A report by Fast Company offers five top tips for staying productive, including getting a good night’s sleep and waking up early. It makes sense to suggest that by resting and waking up early you will feel more energized in the morning and thus ready to complete those busy business tasks. Other handy suggestions include setting goals (big or small) that you can go about achieving.
Having to Do Tasks That You Don’t Want to Do
When you’re an employee in a huge company with dozens or even hundreds of employees, having to do tasks that you don’t really want to do is par for the course. Your boss is paying your wages and fetching their coffee might just be part of your job description! But founding your own business is supposed to be fun and you may feel reluctant to do all of those boring tasks like, yes, going to Starbucks, sending out invoices and organising the office filing cabinet.
There are two ways to tackle this: reframing it and delegating. If you are self-employed then you’ll simply have to suck it up, but try reframing the task at hand to think that this is just part of making your business a huge success. Or you can delegate and ask other employees for help, you can even look at platforms such as UpWork and Fiverr to outsource those same tasks.
Financial Tasks
Speaking of doing tasks that you don’t want to do, when you’re an employee in a larger firm you may not realise financial management is such a significant part of making a business successful. If you aren’t a math whiz and you don’t like spreadsheets, then this may be difficult for you.
But by breaking financial management down, you can conquer the pesky world of numbers! Regularly review finances, maintain a budget, reduce debt and write down other financial tasks, looking back on the checklist to get over the hurdle.
Being an entrepreneur has its perks, including being your own boss and turning your idea into a success. This is important to keep in mind when facing the above hurdles because there are ways to overcome them!
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