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Thread: What stops you from starting your own business?

  1. #41
    Junior Member enos's Avatar
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    Passion. Not many people have passion for business,risks and real life challenges. Hence most only keep the idea in their heads. Those that chase the dream, arent starting because of the barriers to entry. We can start small but if knows u,they won't do business with you. Even be the taste of the cake. This is just my view as I'm one of those that what to start a business.

    I have registered all and all. Now I'm marketing. But a business that is not generating anything is not a business.

  2. #42
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    South Africa really needs entrepreneurs! I have started my own business https://www.invoicesonline.co.za, and although it's a lot of work and comes with lots of ups & downs it is definitely worth it. We believe in entrepreneurship, which is why we have a large free package - to help new businesses get off the ground without incurring any additional costs.

    If you have an idea and passion go after it, live your dream! Just start somewhere, you'll soon either see that it's not for you, or your passion will grow and you'll make a success of it!

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    I also do think that a lot of entrepreneurs depend on business coming to them via "marketing" etc. I firmly believe in telesales. You have to get out there and make it happen - our girls HAVE to spend between 8.30 am to 10.30 am every morning doing telesales. They have to know what they are talking about and definitely must not have a pitch that sounds like it is being read. If we relied on clients contacting us purely from marketing we would not be around. We have our stats at the end of the week and know what percentage must come from telesales and then can see what they might be doing wrong.

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    Quote Originally Posted by BusFact View Post
    I'm curious as to what the reasons are for you not having started your own business. For those that have started one, what are your reasons for not having started another one?

    Is it a lack of finance; a lack of a suitable business idea; not enough time; not knowing where to start; not understanding the bureaucracy and taxes required; too much work involved; the fear of failure or ..... what?

    So often we hear talk about how important the entrepreneurs are for creating jobs, so why aren't there more of them? Everyone who reckons they stand a chance seems to want to look for a job. I can understand the perceived safety of that option, but why not both a job and a business on the side?

    I look forward to some of your insights.
    Quoting the OP above for convenience. Thanks all for your input. So far the one reason brought up, that I hadn't really considered before was the one about the passion and drive required to run a business. Now this is generally true, especially if your business becomes your livelihood. Its most likely also a requirement for a business to thrive.

    However, are there not plenty of business ideas that can be run on the side? Ones that don't require full time involvement and extreme passion? Perhaps the impression that an entrepreneur is some kind of special animal might be putting potential business owners off. Not every business needs to be wildly successful. Some may only generate beer money, others may generate a 13th annual cheque. If the time, money and effort spent on these businesses is minimal, then surely more people should run with this.

    Where is my thinking lacking?

    Surprisingly the common reason of not enough capital was only mentioned twice.

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    Bus fact - If you don't have passion, the business will not do well, whether it is part time of full time. Yes an entrepreneur is a "special animal" - it is not for every one and I think that a lot of people will agree that it is very difficult and sometimes have thought that it would be a whole lot easier working for a boss.

    You mention capital - Capital should not be a reason not to start a business. A lot of people started with nothing a built up or you can get a business loan

  6. #46
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    Yeah, I agree with what you say about capital. In most cases people can start off small with virtually no cash. Of course this is problematic if you need to draw a salary from month one, but it doesn't mean that a business cannot be started, it just can't grow as quickly as it would if it had oodles of cash. I merely commented on it because its the most common reason I've heard of for people not starting a business.

    My view is that to create a growing, thriving business then one of the ingredients is almost definitely drive and passion. However one could still make money with a half-assed attempt. Allow me to use a rather convoluted analogy using your industry, about which I know very little:

    (A) Someone who arranges cold calling for 2 hours every day, works hard to build databases of employers and employees, is driven to personally verify all prospects and passionately tries to find the right matches for clients, will stand a pretty good chance of succeeding nicely. Someone who builds this sort of business from scratch or from very little is the entrepreneur that most of us associate with that word.

    (B) Someone else who's spouse works for a medium sized corporate that hires maybe twice a year, and who happens to be involved in the artisan training industry that trains the artisans this company requires, could have a business on the side. When the need arises he can present the top candidates to his spouse's company. Its no way as a polished as (A), but every one wins. He gets comm, candidate gets a job and company gets employee at below market rate. This is still a business IMO.

    B can't really earn a living this way unless he expands his client base, but he can certainly drift along and earn himself a nice vacation each year.

    Here passion and drive are not so important. Yes it limits his growth, but they are not necessarily a requirement for starting a business.

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    However one could still make money with a half-assed attempt
    Do You think ? ..... I don't

    With regards to your two scenario's above relating to recruitment of employees. If you think a person can do it half heartedly twice a year and still do well and make money and do it professionally I again disagree. There are packages that cost us e.g. R6000 each per month x 4 that we subscribe to to enable us to find the right candidate for our clients, the employer. On top of this we have rent and normal overheads. Even if you are going to operate from home every now and again - how exactly are you going to find these staff you speak about ?? From gumtree ? How will you build a reputation ?

    But look if this is something you are looking at, give it a try, don't let me put you off. I know you are using my industry as an example - personally there are just too many costs involved if you want to do it right. The recuitment data packages alone are the biggest expense and without them you cannot do it properly.

  8. Thanks given for this post:

    Dave A (07-Sep-15)

  9. #48
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    Quote Originally Posted by HR Solutions View Post
    If you think a person can do it half heartedly twice a year and still do well and make money and do it professionally I again disagree.
    Nope I don't think they can do "well", but I do think they can make some money. In the example I gave they have no overheads or even any noticeable costs. Any comm he gets is profit. He is admittedly stuck with no growth prospects, and if a reputable recruitment agency offers a similar deal, his business will probably cease to exist.

    Growth and decent profitability will indeed require much more effort and resources.

    I suppose the point I'm driving at is that if the 1st prize (a thriving business) is being rejected by the dreamers with business ideas out there due to all its demands, then 2nd prize of earning pocket money with little effort is better than doing nothing at all.

    At least by achieving 2nd prize, we may find some realise that they are actually on to a good thing and this will encourage them to put in the extra work and head for 1st prize.

  10. #49
    Junior Member enos's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BusFact View Post
    At least by achieving 2nd prize, we may find some realise that they are actually on to a good thing and this will encourage them to put in the extra work and head for 1st prize.
    If you are not passionate about this why would you be motivated to put extra effort in it?

    Effort is the result of passion. Without it you would never have the desire to go forward. Particularly if if see you have a good thing. Good things brings out the best in you (passion)

    I think it's fair to say from this we separate between the boys of entrepreneurs and men of entrepreneurs. Boys think about capital before starting, they won't start without it, passion or not , men think about capital last. And are driven by passion.

  11. Thank given for this post:

    Blurock (04-Sep-15), Dave A (07-Sep-15), HR Solutions (04-Sep-15)

  12. #50
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    Quote Originally Posted by enos View Post
    If you are not passionate about this why would you be motivated to put extra effort in it?
    People are motivated by different things. If someone suddenly sees that their product is more successful then they expected and earns them more money than expected, that may create the extra motivation. Another may discover that running a business is not as scary or complicated as they thought, so are then prepared to put in the extra effort and risk. Yet another may get a feel good motivation from customer feedback which encourages them to do more.

    I think we are talking different ventures though. You two are talking about a business from which you want to earn a living and perhaps leave a legacy. In those cases I agree, self motivation, passion, commitment, etc are all extremely important. I'm saying though, that the business world is much bigger than that and includes hobby businesses, sideline businesses, silent partner businesses, half-assed efforts, part time efforts, once-a- year effort, etc as well.

    If passion, motivation and commitment are not there for a potential business, I don't think that should be a reason for not getting started. It may well be a reason to limit expectations and results, but not a wall to starting at all.

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