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When you started dreaming about opening up your business, your head was full of dreams of success and happiness. Owning your own business meant doing what you wanted, when, and how you wanted to do it.
Though you may have done plenty of research to create a business plan, get financed, and get your company off the ground, there’s not much that could have prepared you for the daily realities of owning a business. There are a lot of things buisness owners have to do that require no small amount of business motivation.
If you haven’t discovered these things for yourself yet, we can enlighten you. Keep reading for some things you might not have thought about when planning your business.
Financial Management
If you had to pitch your business plan to a bank or investor to get funded, you have a little experience with financial planning. Your business plan probably included financial projections, including a breakdown of your costs of operations.
However, once your business is in full effect, there will be several other tasks involved in your financial management duties. For example, you’ll need to keep track of your cash flow, such as:
- Building and property expenses
- Material and equipment costs
- Revenue
- Insurance
- Services (point of sale programs, internet, cable, phone lines, etc.)
- Payroll
- Marketing expenses
- And more
We recommend working with an accountant who can help you keep track of your finances and prepare for taxes.
Team Management
Just because you’re a business owner, it doesn’t mean you’re a people-person. It might be hard for you to talk to other people, especially groups of people.
However, as a small business owner, you’re also a leader and manager. You must be able to communicate effectively and clearly with your staff.
This is where you must call upon your business motivation to be a more effective leader. If you’re nervous about talking in front of others, you must learn to conquer your fear of public speaking.
Marketing
Any successful venture is based on revenue goals. However, your business will only make sales if you’re generating leads. And leads come from marketing.
If you want to establish brand recognition and get regular customers, you must become a master at marketing. You need to spend time learning about digital marketing.
However, this is a steep learning curve. It might be beneficial to work with a professional marketing agency to develop an online presence until you can begin learning the ropes.
PR Work
Finally, as a business owner, you’ll need to develop and maintain the public image of your company. This means making appearances among your business’s customers/clients, doing press releases, and being active on social media.
To become more well-known in the community, find the business motivation to participate, fund, and create events in your hometown to raise awareness/funds for certain causes and charitable organizations.
If you can get other small businesses to participate, you can increase your funds for the event while simultaneously creating affiliate relationships with other local professionals.
Do You Need More Business Motivation?
As you can see, there’s a lot more to owning a business than you might have initially expected. However, there’s no reason you can’t master the art of small business ownership. Everybody starts out exactly where you are, it takes time to develop the small business experience and expertise to become a leader in your industry.
If you’re looking for more help, check out some of our other articles created for entrepreneurs like you. Our blog is full of business motivation, marketing advice, and insider tips.