Set for success: Pros and cons of starting your own business

by Startacus Admin

Becoming your own boss is something a few of us will have fantasised about.

Making all the decisions, creating our company in our own image, choosing when we work – it all sounds like a dream, but a lot of effort is required to get any enterprise off the ground irrespective of industry, size or location. Here, we detail the pros and cons of becoming an entrepreneur:

The pros

• You get complete control over everything – budgets, product/service ranges, marketing, image and so on
• You’re not forced into taking orders. This is one of the worst things for many of us about being an employee
• With social media, you can get access to the right people with the right tips – help is always available if you search hard enough for it
• Good ideas don’t cost a thing. However, you do need to spend plenty of time on developing your idea on things like market research, branding and, of course, sales
• You can set your business up at home – home-based enterprises are surprisingly common, plus there are fewer fixed costs from running your company from your living room

The cons

• Spending an age devising a marketing plan. As suggested by Conference Genie, marketing plans should be thorough and followed through from the beginning, but take a while to do.
• Going through rough trading patches. Now and again, your business is likely to experience a lull in activity, but if they become too long, giving up might become more tempting
• Trying to access finance. Setting up your own business costs money, which means either going cap in hand to investors or asking for a bank loan. Many banks are reluctant to lend, sadly
• Working long hours. Early on with your business, to make sure everything is in its right place, you might have to work for longer than first anticipated. This can be tiring and, in some cases, fruitless
• You’re not guaranteed a regular income in case of failure. Make sure that your business offers something people will want to buy or use before you begin to trade

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Published on: 16th January 2014