Positive Vibes

Developing business requires a lot of everything including support from friends and family, money, perseverance, time, and patience. I don't know which you require most of as all of this comes handy at different times. Mistakes are often made and can be costly in the terms of time and money, that have to be chalked up as a learning experience or they will get the best of you.

Friends and family will only carry you so far and after that you are on your own.  Don't take it personal if they choose not to support you financially, it's unfair to expect them to be the ones who will be the reason for your success, if that was the case everyone would be launching a business.  Its similar to when co-workers bring their child's fundraisers to work eventually you have to know when to say "no thanks but good luck" or you will be poor house for supporting every school fundraiser.  The same with starting a business, if they get it or need it they will support it, if they don't then don't expect them to be opening their wallets for your business, it is after all a business not a charity.

Money and the decisions you make will have a serious affect on the success of your business.  Having a budget set up is key to understanding where you are now and will be 6 months down the road.  Reviewing the budget weekly instead of monthly is just as important as having a budget, it makes making decisions easier and a lot more accurate than flying by the seat of your pants and praying that the credit card companies wont be calling.  Reviewing my budget weekly has helped me from making too many costly mistakes and planning for the bigger expenditures.  If you need extra cash while your business takes the time needed to launch, get a part time job, it helps alleviate the stress of money and the start-up costs. 

Perseverance and patience can almost be tied together, each requires the other to help a business succeed.  Perseverance for me involves having a vision which includes a vision board and a list of goals for my business and for myself.  When all else fails during a bad day, I have the perseverance to keep at it and maintain positive vibes, after all its about enjoying the process of building a great business and not driving myself into the ground with negativity.  Patience is knowing that I am building a great business and that these things take time.

I think the hardest thing to keep in check is "time".  Time for business involves so many hats and learning how to juggle those hats.  I read The E-Myth by Michael E. Gerber, a book which I recommend to anyone who is considering starting their own business.  Learning to create and maintain a schedule for the tasks required to build and maintain a successful business is key, one part can't be allowed to slip without consequences to rest of the business.

Its been a huge learning process these last 6 months since I developed my business plan and launched my website myvirtualcloset.ca, and something that I couldn't have done without the support of many of my friends and girlfriend.  With their support, perseverance, patience, a great budget, and time myvirtualcloset.ca will successfully take off.

I welcome feedback to this blog: what helped you to launch your business; what mistakes to avoid; and what you felt was the biggest challenge and how you dealt with it!