Have you ever imagined what it would be like to own your own business? No more being told what to do. No more enduring tasks that you don\u2019t consider worthwhile. No more putting in overtime but seeing most of the profits go to someone else. Surely everyone who\u2019s worked a 9-to-5 job has indulged in this fantasy.<\/p>\n
Sometimes it stays as a fantasy: a nice thought to distract from the tedium of regular employment. But it doesn\u2019t need to. Your dream business can become a reality \u2014 you just need to move past the excuses that may be holding you back.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s true that starting a business isn\u2019t always easy, especially if it\u2019s your dream business, and there are plenty of challenges that must be overcome if you\u2019re to succeed \u2014 but you can do it. In this post, we\u2019re going to look at five bad excuses that can hold you back, and talk about how you can overcome them. Let\u2019s get on with it!<\/p>\n
Perhaps the most common challenge for those dreaming about starting their own business is simply not knowing where to begin. It might sound silly, but it\u2019s true. It\u2019s shockingly easy to think that \u2018real entrepreneurs\u2019 just magically know what to do. They don\u2019t! They\u2019re just as inexperienced and unknowing as anyone else \u2014 they just don\u2019t stay that way.<\/p>\n
Pick out any of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world and look into their backgrounds: you\u2019ll soon discover that they were once struggling, but, they didn\u2019t let that stop them from trying. They accepted their endeavour and started learning as much as they could, following established routes and coming up with tweaks as they went.<\/p>\n
Navigating through government forms and processes can be one of the biggest hurdles in getting your business started. Ontario Business Central makes it simple to register or incorporate your business<\/a>, taking the guesswork out of this part of the business start-up process. <\/p>\n What really matters (as this Forbes piece explains well<\/a>) is that you know why you want to start your business. Everything else can wait for you to mature as an entrepreneur and incrementally develop your skills. You\u2019ll just figure it out as you go. There\u2019s plenty of time for that, and no need to worry about it. Take the first step.<\/p>\n This is a digital world now. There was a reasonable transition period during which online activity was optional for a fair few industries, but the COVID-19 pandemic stamped out the remaining cause for keeping things offline \u2014 and now it\u2019s essential for every business owner to be a capable internet user, regardless of the practicalities of how their business operates. Support, marketing, hiring\u2026 it all happens online.<\/p>\n There are two big mitigating factors, though. Firstly, you don\u2019t actually need great technical skills to navigate the digital landscape. If you can use a computer competently, that should suffice: the presence of intuitive tools and services allows even beginners to get good results. You don\u2019t need to understand code to use an online store wizard, read how a proxy server works (e.g. through the proxy server guide by What Is My IP Address<\/a>) to use a VPN for security, or learn the finer points of automation to set up some basic workflows.<\/p>\n Secondly, the internet is packed with cheap or free training resources and supportive communities \u2014 so if there\u2019s a skill you need to pick up, you can do so with relative ease (and in an efficient way). You don\u2019t need to rely on traditional methods of education with expensive entry fees and laborious processes.<\/p>\n This is greatly liberating, so you should take advantage. There\u2019s never been a better time to pick up new skills. As noted before, what matters is your drive to start your business. Beyond that, all the resources you need are out there waiting for you.<\/p>\n Big business is a big-city staple, so if you live in a small town some distance away from a big city then you can feel a pressure to move \u2014 but it really doesn\u2019t matter much these days. The COVID-19 pandemic has had some terrible impacts, but the silver lining to its cloud has been the acceptance of remote working and not needing big traditional offices.<\/p>\n Do you have a stable internet connection that\u2019s capable of moderate speeds? Even if it\u2019s a mobile data connection instead of a broadband connection: that\u2019s still workable. You don\u2019t even need to go to any in-person business meetings, as this is the era of Zoom meetings. In short, don\u2019t worry about where you live: online business is the way of the present and the future<\/a>.<\/p>\n We\u2019re all afraid of failure to some extent, but it\u2019s also almost always inevitable if you\u2019re making an effort and taking even the most basic risks. If you prefer to shy away from situations in which you could fail, holding out for a sure thing, then you\u2019ll be holding out forever. Failing means you\u2019re trying and gives you a chance to learn and try again. It can actually be a good thing.<\/p>\n You have plenty of time to pursue your dream, but you don\u2019t have forever. You don\u2019t want to live a life full of regrets, always wondering what could have been \u2014 and you don\u2019t need to. You can put everything on the line right here and now. Believe in yourself, believe in the possibilities of the future, and do what needs to be done. That\u2019s how you\u2019ll succeed.<\/p>\n Starting a business needs money \u2014 that\u2019s true. Even a low-budget online-only approach will require some funding to cover things like domain registration, hosting, and paid software \u2014 and you\u2019ll probably need assistance with some tasks. But if you don\u2019t have any money right now, you can still make your dream a reality.<\/p>\n You can look for investment through an angel investor or crowdfunding (HubSpot has some great site suggestions for the latter<\/a>) \u2014 if your idea is promising, people will want to back you. If you start pitching now, you could find the funding you need within months (or even weeks). Can\u2019t find any investment? Start saving immediately. Reduce your spending and plan ahead.<\/p>\n Even if you\u2019re not making a huge amount of money, you can still build up a solid foundation within six months or so, giving you enough capital to kick things off. The sooner you start, the sooner you\u2019ll be ready. By the middle of 2021, you could have your dream business on the go. Doesn\u2019t that motivate you to get started?<\/p>\n Starting your dream business is your path to financial freedom and self-determination, so don\u2019t let these excuses get in the way. Forget about them. They can\u2019t stop you from achieving your dream: all you need to do is take the first step and commit. Everything after that is entirely in your hands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Have you ever imagined what it would be like to own your own business? No…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3568,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[180,179],"class_list":["post-3566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-startup-guides-tips","tag-business-planning","tag-new-business-owners"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/www.ontariobusinesscentral.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/5-bad-excuses-for-not-starting-a-business.jpg",1254,836,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.ontariobusinesscentral.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/5-bad-excuses-for-not-starting-a-business.jpg",1254,836,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/www.ontariobusinesscentral.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/5-bad-excuses-for-not-starting-a-business.jpg",1254,836,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.ontariobusinesscentral.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/5-bad-excuses-for-not-starting-a-business-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.ontariobusinesscentral.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/5-bad-excuses-for-not-starting-a-business-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.ontariobusinesscentral.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/5-bad-excuses-for-not-starting-a-business-1024x683.jpg",1024,683,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.ontariobusinesscentral.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/5-bad-excuses-for-not-starting-a-business.jpg",1254,836,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.ontariobusinesscentral.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/5-bad-excuses-for-not-starting-a-business.jpg",1254,836,false],"obc-archive-card":["https:\/\/www.ontariobusinesscentral.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/5-bad-excuses-for-not-starting-a-business.jpg",608,405,false],"obc-archive-card-2x":["https:\/\/www.ontariobusinesscentral.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/5-bad-excuses-for-not-starting-a-business.jpg",1215,810,false],"obc-archive":["https:\/\/www.ontariobusinesscentral.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/5-bad-excuses-for-not-starting-a-business.jpg",810,540,false],"obc-archive-2x":["https:\/\/www.ontariobusinesscentral.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/5-bad-excuses-for-not-starting-a-business.jpg",1215,810,false],"rt_custom":["https:\/\/www.ontariobusinesscentral.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/5-bad-excuses-for-not-starting-a-business.jpg",1254,836,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Micro StartUps","author_link":"https:\/\/www.ontariobusinesscentral.ca\/blog\/author\/micro-startups\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Startup Guides & Tips<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Have you ever imagined what it would be like to own your own business? No...","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariobusinesscentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariobusinesscentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariobusinesscentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariobusinesscentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariobusinesscentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3566"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariobusinesscentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9797,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariobusinesscentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3566\/revisions\/9797"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariobusinesscentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariobusinesscentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariobusinesscentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariobusinesscentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}You lack technical skills<\/h3>\n
You live in a remote place<\/h3>\n
You\u2019re too scared of failure<\/h3>\n
You don\u2019t have any savings<\/h3>\n