If you’re thinking of becoming a small business owner, congratulations! It’s an exciting time and you’ll soon find out if the dream is just that—a dream. But before you dive into the deep end, there are some things you should know.
A passion for the business
What is a passion?
A passion is when you’re so into something that it drives your actions and thoughts. For example, if you love to play the violin, then playing the violin will become your passion—and if someone asked you why they should hire you over another candidate who doesn’t have the same passion as yours, they could say: “Because my job involves practicing my instrument so much!”
How do I know if I have one?
There are many ways to determine whether or not someone has a true passion for their profession or hobby; some examples include:
- If they spend more time talking about what they like than talking about things that don’t interest them at all (such as politics or sports) – this indicates enthusiasm for one thing over another subject matter.* If there’s an entire day devoted solely towards listening/watching podcasts related specifically towards whatever field being discussed by those participating in these conversations – again showing interest in something other than just socializing with friends
An honest understanding of your strengths and weaknesses
You need to know your strengths and weaknesses. This will help you find a way to improve your business, whether it’s with marketing, or hiring people who are good at what they do.
- Find out what your strengths and weaknesses are by looking at the data from all of your surveys, interviews and observations.
- Use this information to make decisions about how much time or money should be spent on different types of activities in order to get more growth in the short term (e.g., hiring more interns) while also making sure that long-term goals aren’t compromised by short-term losses (e.g., firing an employee because he was causing trouble).
Good time management skills
Good time management skills are essential for any small business owner. You need to be able to set goals and prioritize your tasks, as well as know when it’s okay or not okay to say no.
One of the best ways to improve your time management skills is by setting up a system that makes things easier for you. For example, if you have several tasks related to one task (like writing an email), put them all into one folder so they’re easier for you when looking at everything at once instead of having multiple folders that each have just one task inside them. This will help reduce unnecessary stress because there won’t be so many times where someone accidentally deletes an important file without realizing what they’re doing!
Another great tip: make sure whatever software program or app works best with whatever tools we use in our business—for example: maybe instead of using Microsoft Word alone we’d rather use Google Docs instead; or maybe instead of having only Excel spreadsheets on hand now let’s invest some money into something like Gmail Docs which allows us more flexibility than just relying solely on PDF documents.”
The ability to take criticism and learn from it
Criticism is a good thing. It shows that you’re doing something right, and it can help you improve your business. But don’t take it personally—it’s not about the person who criticized you; instead, focus on what they said and how their feedback could be useful for improving your product or service in some way.
When someone is criticizing, try not to get defensive; instead listen carefully and take notes on what was said before responding with an action plan for improvement (if possible). If there’s nothing else that needs changing about how things work at this moment in time then respond simply: “Thanks for sharing your thoughts.” Don’t worry if this doesn’t seem like enough feedback; sometimes less information can be more helpful than more because it gives the person reviewing our work an opportunity to consider all aspects of their interaction with us without feeling overwhelmed by having too many details thrown at them at once!
Good financial management skills, especially when it comes to investing in the business
- You need to understand your business’ financials. Your accountant will be able to help you with this, but it’s also important that you stay on top of things yourself.
- Don’t overspend—or even spend money if it doesn’t bring in revenue. If something isn’t bringing in money for the business, don’t buy it! It might cost more than what value it brings back to your company overall (and if not, how are you going to pay off that debt?). Also remember that if something is unnecessary or just not worth buying at all, then don’t do it!
A good plan for how to handle negative times
As a small business owner, you’ll likely be faced with slow times. This can be a stressful time for your employees and the customers who come to you for help. You need to know how to handle this without causing any major problems or making your employees feel like they’re not valued.
In order for your company’s business plan to work well in slow periods, there are some things that will help:
- Create a long-term goal for how much revenue you want from each client/customer at different points throughout their relationship with you (e.g., when they sign up as an account holder and when they renew). Then create milestones along the way toward achieving these goals—for example, by having someone on staff track those numbers weekly so that when it comes time for renewal or another important milestone like purchase volume increase by X%, everyone knows where each department stands relative to those goals!
- If possible, try not having too many projects going on at once; otherwise there could be confusion among team members who are juggling more tasks than usual during busy seasons like holidays! Also keep track of deadlines so everyone knows what needs done before moving onto other things—if someone misses one due date because something else came up unexpectedly but still needs completing within two weeks after then deadline passed without being completed then this person wouldn’t get paid unless another person volunteers their services instead which means less money coming into our pocketbooks since now we’re paying someone else instead.”
Being a small business owner isn’t always easy, but can be very rewarding.
Being a small business owner isn’t always easy, but can be very rewarding. You’re the only one who can make your company successful and you are responsible for everything that happens within it. The face of your company is you, so making sure that customers feel comfortable coming into contact with you is important. If they don’t feel comfortable, they won’t come back again (and neither will their friends).
Conclusion
We hope this article has been helpful in giving you some insight into what it takes to be a small business owner, and how to be successful at it. We know there’s a lot of pressure and stress involved when starting up a new business, but we also know that the rewards are worth it—and if you’re looking for help with any part of the journey, we’re here!
