Is it possible to avoid the pitfalls in the business?
Many successful entrepreneurs and businessmen will not deny that on the way to the top of their careers, they had to repeatedly face failures and start a lot from scratch after failed business projects. Difficulties are an integral part of any business, but many entrepreneurs are not ready for them.
In most business schools, when creating your own business, they are taught to set one main goal, usually difficult to achieve, to achieve which you should give up all your strength and in no way turn off your chosen course.
A radically different approach is offered by Richard Christiansen, the founder of 32 small business projects with a financial turnover of between 5 and 10 thousand dollars, 13 of which make a profit of several million dollars. He recommends to act on the principle of zigzag, that is, to ignore the need to go to the goal ahead, and instead zigzags to bypass obstacles, while maintaining the course for the chosen goal.
Artificially slowing down growth and the need to change the chosen direction will not only help build a successful and profitable business, but also make the failure of any business idea more reasonable.
Here are some tips to help you get around obstacles to a successful business:
1. Evaluate in advance the profitability of the planned business project.
Christiansen recommends starting new businesses by analyzing their profitability and choosing the best and fastest way to make a profit. As for the distribution of financial resources, it is advisable at the initial stage to send 65% of the available funds to work on the recoupment of your business, 25% to staffing and 10% to increase the scale of the business.
2. Make your failure “effective.”
If your business does not start making a profit after a given time interval, which, if you follow the principle of Christiansen, is 3 months, then we can talk about the failure of your business idea. But it will be a “effective” failure, since it indicates that all further attempts to keep this business afloat will most likely be in vain. Having realized this in time, you will be able to correctly orient yourself at the very beginning and not waste time, time and money on a knowingly unprofitable business.
3. Learn to adapt and redistribute resources in time.
After your business proves its profitability, you should reallocate financial investments: 65% of available funds should be spent on staffing, restructuring and technical equipment of the business, 25% on business expansion and franchising, 10% on ensuring business profitability. The ability to reallocate resources in a timely manner is one of the key points in following the zigzag principle.
4. Do not fear the slow pace of development.
If you build a business on the principle of zigzag, you need to be prepared for the fact that the achievement of the final goal in the form of a stable profitable business will take more time.