The best time to start a small business is now: You just need to realize it

| September 29, 2015

The best time to start a small business is now: You just need to realize it

Several years ago, starting your own business meant running after banks for finance, struggling to spread the word and hitting the phones to grab the right clients. It was a huge deal to just get your business off the ground, let alone running it successfully. No wonder very few dared to venture into entrepreneurship; staying within the corporate grind was probably a wiser option.

What is different now?

If you’re a keen observer of the market, you’d probably have noticed by now that entrepreneurs are popping up by droves these days. More and more people are starting to turn towards self-employment. It’s not just that people are coming up with great ideas more often; it is just that there are more opportunities today than there ever have been.

  • Better Exposure, more ideas- The Internet is a treasure trove of information. There are a lot of helpful people out there willing to give you advice and ideas for starting new businesses. Information is at your fingertips and you don’t need to figure things out by yourself. This gives you more confidence and allows you to take a step forward with eyes open. It is easier to research and find markets, to see if your idea is viable.
  • Technology- Technology offers unprecedented opportunity to entrepreneurs across the board. It’s also somewhat of an equalizer. Building a business is no longer limited to those with great resources and significant financial backing, and while these things are important, they’re no longer so inaccessible. Now developments in communications, new strategies of marketing, email and social media advertising, etc., are definitely making things easier.Not too long ago, if you needed to advertise or promote your product and services, your options were limited. You need to do things like handing out flyers, hiring people to create television or radio ads and publish a piece in the local newspaper of magazine. Today, you have PPC Google advertising, blogging, marketing immensely popular websites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc.
  • Finances- There was a day when you had to chase bankers for finance, now they chase you. While they still hesitate to readily finance small businesses, they are certainly willing. In this competitive market, even bankers need to offer attractive interest rates and more incentives to attract a growing number of entrepreneurs.
  • Competition and Satisfaction- Of course, you’re not the only one contemplating business; there are thousands more out there. Several of whom who have the same idea. There is tough competition but sometimes, its competition that just pushes you to improve and go further. You’ll strive to provide better products and services, introduce better marketing strategies and build a better business overall.

There is a great feeling of personal satisfaction when your own creation takes off. There’s a feeling of empowerment when you know that your earnings, your future and your life is in your hand. With so many factors in favour of starting small businesses, you just need to find the courage to step off the corporate world and into the world of new opportunities.