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Building your Business

Why you should think about starting and growing a business as a career choice.

The following article was written by Wayne Mallinson and kindly supplied by SA Career Focus Magazine.

Starting your own Business

This used to be a high-risk alternative. However, with the risk of your job being downsized, off-shored, liquidated, or becoming downright unpleasant or uneconomic, it may be more risky not to consider starting a business. 

Land of opportunity

Today in South Africa, there are many opportunities to be successful in business. Business is about finding some way to add value to someone else who is willing to pay for it. Armed with a good idea, some guidance and support, and lots of hard work, you may be able to join the growing number of people who are trying, and succeeding in becoming their own bosses, running their own businesses, and receiving income for a value-adding product or service, which they provide.

Do you have what it takes?

Many believe that there are certain characteristics you need, in order to be successful in business. Here is a short list of truths that you can use as a reality check to see if you are ready to run a business. If you can read the following eight points in their brutal honesty and still say go, then you may just have what it takes to run your own business.

1. I have perseverance. All full-time business start-ups take more time than you can imagine. As an employee, when the going gets tough you can complain to the boss or even resign. Now you are the boss and the going will get tough (promise). Chances are that you will make your own tea, vacuum the carpets, do the paperwork. But don’t worry: your 6-day, 14-hour week will give you time to work on your dream tasks. You will not take sick leave (even when you are really sick).

2. I can handle loneliness. When you are working this hard, your family and friends will likely lose enthusiasm for the business from time-to-time (and your dog may even bite you). You will long for help, support, someone to bounce ideas off, a shoulder to cry on, and the foetal position more than once.

3. I can handle disappointment. When things are going badly, friends and employees will often disappoint you. When you do work and make a mistake you can handle taking the blame. Now when any of your employees makes a mistake you take the blame for them. If each of your five employees just makes one blunder a day, then you will have a busy week….

4. I can handle pressure. At some time in the life of a business, it is a certainty that someone will put you into a risk situation that was not your fault. For example, a well-known company that owes you money will forget to pay you on time, leaving your staff and bankers less than enthusiastic and helpful come pay day.

5. I can take risks. You have heard the expression, 'nothing ventured, nothing gained' - and it is true, you will (often) need to take calculated risks to run a successful business. Remember sometimes not making a decision is also a risk. You cannot afford to wait-and-see at every decision point.

6. I can handle success. Suddenly your staff will recount stories of the late nights they put into the business. Your friends will say that they believed in you all along, and you will attract a new class of enemies who would rather have you out of business so that they can take your customers.

7. I am good at what I do. Very rarely will you get people to part with their money in exchange for products or services without hard and smart work. Where you lack in skills initially, hard work, learning by mistakes and pure time on the job will add up to what is called experience, and will give you the necessary skills to do the job.

8. I have integrity. My business will last (be sustainable) because I genuinely add value, pay my taxes, honour my debts, and can look my family, staff, clients, and my competitors in the eye each new day.

I could continue, but I think you get the point, starting and running a business is not for sissies.

What are the benefits of being a business owner?

Different businesses bring different benefits. In general, with hard work, a good product or service, and the passage of time, you can earn a great income. You can also make a lot of money quickly if you sell all or part of a successful business at the right time.

You can make the rules in a small business, if you want to close between Christmas and New Year, just do it. If you want to raise (or lower) your prices, once again you can.  Instead of reporting to one boss, you can effectively report to the customers of your choosing.

You can have greater flexibility, travel more, attend interesting training, and conferences. You can have employees and contractors helping you with all sorts of things as long as the business is making money and is still reasonably small.

“You can make the country more productive and you can make the world a better place”

You can have the satisfaction of creating employment for people, supporting worthy causes, creating products and/or services that make life better for your clients. You can make the country more productive and you can make the world a better place.

With continued success, you will need to have other people (directors and managers) to help you run the business. This will cause some loss of freedom, flexibility, and speed as new decisions will often require communication and debate before they can be finalised.

What to do - So many choices, so little time

It is often good advice, if you do know which business you wish to pursue, to work hard as an employee in a company where you know the training and mentoring is good. After learning from the company, you can then think of running your own business doing the same type of work. For example, work as a waiter and then a manager at a restaurant, and then later, start your own restaurant. As a second example, work as a game ranger in a national park, and then later manage someone’s private game farm, and eventually buy and manage your own game farm.
Buying into a Franchise can be a good way to pick up business experience, because a lot of help and support is usually part of the deal. Before purchasing any franchise, we recommend that you seek and if necessary pay for advice from the Franchise Association of South Africa (FASA).

Working in part time businesses, or from home may be a way to make enough money or reduce costs enough to support  the planning and beginnings of your dream business.

Be sure to research books, magazines, the Internet, and to talk to family, friends, and people in the type of business you are considering, before taking the plunge into the exciting (and fulfilling) life of an Entrepreneur.

About the author:
Wayne Mallinson completed a BSc. Honours degree in geology in 1979 at Rhodes University. After working for 7 years as a mining geologist and completing National Service, he entered the Information Technology (IT) industry as a software tester.
He has 18 years of software testing experience, 11 of which he gained whilst running his own company. He is currently the majority shareholder of leading South African software testing company, Test and Data Services and enjoys training, and speaking at seminars and conferences.