Are you ready to pursue an entrepreneurial venture, but you’re worried you won’t be successful? If you’re preparing to start and run a business, there are effective skills you can develop to give yourself the best possible chance of success.

Check out the SBA or SCORE for resources on writing a business plan

Learn more about Triangle's business banking tools

Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill

Learn more about business cash flow: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/small-business/business-cash-flow

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Transcript:

Welcome to Money Tip Tuesday from the Making Money Personal podcast. 

When it comes to starting your business, you’re probably excited but a little intimidated by the many steps and decisions involved with getting started. Starting a business is a noble venture, one with great sacrifice, but also great reward. 

You’ve probably thought many times over about the type of business you want to run and have a clear image of your product or service, your business space layout and your role in the entire process. But you might also be facing some apprehension or intimidation that comes with taking on such a big project. You may think, what if it doesn’t work? What if no one wants my product? What if I fail and look like a fool?  

Don’t despair because you’re not alone. There are many people who have gone before you and successfully started ventures that have changed the world. It wasn’t impossible for them and it’s not impossible for you either. With a little focus, discipline, and strategy you can make your business vision a reality.   

Here are some of the skills entrepreneurs develop that you too can work on to give yourself the best chance of starting and running a successful business. 

Do your market research and draw up a business plan. Market research will give you an idea of how your business will perform in the market and whether it’s a saturated or unsaturated market. Research is lengthy and involved so focus on specific questions like, who is your ideal customer? What is the size of the target market? What sets your product apart from the competition?  After your research, you’ll want to write a business plan. This is an important step of the process because it lays out the structure of your business and forces you to formulate more specific ideas about your business. Answer questions like: What problem am I solving? What is my target market? What expenses can I anticipate? Use resources online from the SBA or SCORE to help you get a business plan started. Don’t skip this step because starting with a solid plan sets up a strong foundation that’s more likely to lead to success. Use this quote as a mental guide, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

Understand and organize your cash flow. It’s critical you understand your cash flow. Keep track of all your money coming in and going out and keep it organized. Money coming in would be cash from sales or any borrowing you’ve done. Money going out refers to your expenses, payroll, and rent/operation costs. There's also something called a cash flow cycle. Get familiar with your business’ cash flow cycle to get a good idea of how much money cycles in and out of your business regularly. You may not know this right away if your business is just starting out but as your business keeps running, it’ll be easier to identify. Paying attention to your business cash flow will keep your balance sheet organized so you’re not wasting precious time sifting through receipts, organizing bills and hunting for missing cash.

Make sure you set goals. If you don’t set goals for your business, you won’t have a clear vision to work towards. Start with setting up goals for your 1-year plan and then set up a 5-year plan. This will give you clear, actionable steps to follow that will propel you towards your fi