What to expect on your entrepreneurial journey

by Startacus Admin

Taking the first steps on your entrepreneurial journey can feel daunting if you’re not sure what to expect. Although every startup story is different, co-working space provider Accelerate Places have highlighted some of the most common challenges you can expect to encounter along the way.

Growing your team

Growing your team is one of the most exciting parts of building a business, giving you the opportunity to hire people who can use their skills and ideas to nurture your business. Once you’ve hired the right people, you’ll need to consider the logistics around your new team - do you need office space? Do you have your payroll set up? How does HR work? Make sure to do your homework on these questions; consult the experts or check out the wealth of resources available online.

Raising funding

As you begin to expand, you may need a cash injection to help you grow your team, scale your product or reach new customers. There are many different funding options for startups - check out a guide to your options here. Raising funding can almost be a full-time job for founders, so make sure your team are prepared to keep the ship afloat with less hands-on input from you.

Stress

It’s universally acknowledged that starting and scaling your own business is a stressful process. Being an entrepreneur takes a lot of hard work (and long hours!) and comes with great highs and lows, so make sure to take care of your mental health along the way.

This could be taking 10 minutes per day to do some meditation, talking with friends about how you’re feeling or meeting with a professional, such as a business coach or counselor.

Developing your personal brand

‘Personal branding’ is one of those phrases bandied about in startup circles, without anyone really knowing what it means. Personal branding is the art of being able to sell yourself - using your knowledge and online presence to help grow your company and become a thought leader in your industry. Find out more about personal branding here.

Embracing change

Although no one can predict exactly how your entrepreneurial journey will play out, it is inevitable that there will be change.

Whether that’s pivoting your product to better fit your customer’s needs, or the changing culture of your company as you fill out your team, you need to be prepared to roll with the punches and embrace change in all it’s forms.

This can be tough at first and takes some practise to get used to. Take small steps, and try to keep in mind the bigger picture, even when things aren’t quite going your way.

These five challenges certainly won’t be the only ones you come across on your entrepreneurial journey, but our advice should help you feel a little more prepared for the road ahead.

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Published on: 18th November 2017