10 Signs You’re Not Ready to Launch a Business Yet
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Launching a business might be the riskiest thing you ever do in your life. You’re likely to fail, but learning from these failures is what counts. You need a business plan, a like-minded peer base, funding, a brand, and many other things to launch a business.
It could take years to successfully launch a business and maybe longer to profit. Launching a business is hard to do, but worthwhile in the end. Still, it involves a lot of sacrifices. Many aspiring businesspeople like the aesthetic appeal and bragging rights of starting a business more than appreciate the semi-controlled chaos that goes along with it. Here are 10 signs you’re not ready to launch a business just yet.
1. You Don’t Have a Business Plan
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A business plan is a document that details the business vision, operation strategies, and success goals for your business. It could take months or years to finalize a viable business plan. Business plans sometimes need to be changed, revised, and updated as circumstances and market conditions dictate.
Consult with other business owners or hire a financial advisor to perfect your business plan. A business can’t succeed in a vacuum, and if you don’t see the need for a business plan, then you shouldn’t be trying to launch a business.
2. You Don’t Have Any Money
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If you’re a sole proprietor working from a home office, like a tax specialist or web designer, then you could probably start a small business for anywhere between $2,000 to $5,000. If you plan to launch a brick-and-mortar business with employees then you might need hundreds of thousands or millions to launch a business. It might cost you $1.3 million to $2.3 million to franchise a McDonald’s. You will need a business plan and the help of a good financial advisor to calculate how much it would cost to launch a business on your own terms. It takes money to make money, and you should probably delay launching a business if you can’t raise capital.
3. You Don’t Know Your Own Market
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You must identify, analyze, and market to the demographic that you hope to sell your product or service to. You must know your consumer base and how to navigate local market conditions. Additionally, your business plan must explain why consumers in your market base would buy your product. If you don’t understand your business’ place in the market in which you want to launch your business, then how can you succeed?
4. You May Need to Create Your Own Market
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Veggie burgers are not new. The first veggie burger recipe was published in 1962. The first consumer-grade veggie burgers were sold in 1982. Veggie burgers were not popular until the late 2010s. Companies began marketing “Impossible Burgers,” “Beyond Meat,” “meatless,” and “plant-based” burger products as healthy fast food alternatives. The trend exploded. The meatless burger market is projected to be worth $8 billion by 2030.
Meatless burger options are everywhere now and no one calls them “veggie burgers,” anymore. Before you launch a business you may need to research how to create your own market to differentiate yourself from competitors.
5. You Don’t Care About or Appreciate the Risks
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According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 20% of all new businesses fail within 12 months. 65% of new businesses fail within a decade. So, your business might have better than a three-out-of-ten chance of ultimately succeeding. You should not be afraid to fail, but you also strategically calculate all risks involved before you launch a business. If you have a risk aversion personality, then you probably shouldn’t be launching a business.
6. You’re Afraid to Fail
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Walt Disney was rejected over 300 times when he applied for business loans and approached investors in the early 20th century. His first major business partner betrayed him and stole his first cartoon IP, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Disney, and many famous business owners, failed often before finding success. The point is that they learned from their failures and tried again. The harsh truth is that you might fail after launching your business; learn from your mistakes and try again. If you’re afraid to fail and expect instant and lasting success, you’re not ready to be a businessperson.
7. You’re Not Ready For the Work/Personal Life Imbalance
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Self-made millionaire Grant Cardone told CNBC in 2017 that aspiring business owners should give up the 9-to-5 mentality and work 95, or 14-hour workdays. Whether you work 60, 70, 80, or 90-hour workweeks and weekends, you must work smarter and harder to manifest to launch your business. No one is going to give you your business and growing it from nothing takes Herculean effort.
This also means that you will have to sacrifice a lot. You may have to sacrifice hobbies, leisure activities, personal time, and family time for extended periods for the sake of launching your business.
8. You Don’t Understand the Importance of a Brand
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The McDonald’s Golden Arches logo is one of the most recognized brands in the world. Consumers see the Golden Arches logo, not even the McDonald’s name, and they understand the product or want to learn more about it. That is the power of a logo which is essentially a brand. You or a consultant must find a way to manifest the essence of your business plan into a brand that visually and automatically interprets your product or service to consumers. If you don’t understand the importance of a brand, then you’re not ready to launch a business yet.
9. You Don’t Know How to Differentiate Yourself
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Did you know that Luxxotica controls 80% of the global sunglasses market? That is an example of a monopoly. Several tech companies like Meta and Alphabet monopolize the internet and social media. When you launch a business, it might be a perfect competition business. Perfect competition is where different businesses sell the same products at similar prices to the same demographic. Pizzerias, fast food restaurants, auto supply stores, supermarkets, mattress stores, and bakeries, are a few examples of perfect competition.
If you open a pizzeria in a location with four other pizzerias nearby, then how would you differentiate yourself? Why would you open a burger joint when McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s and more exist? Don’t give up, but ask yourself the hard questions before you launch a business. Remember that Five Guys Burgers and Fries launched in 1986 and makes $1 billion or more annually.
10. You Don’t Understand Bad Timing
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Kodak developed the prototype digital camera in 1975. It was so ahead of its time that the company did not know what to do with it. Also, Kodak was afraid digital cameras would obsolete its monopoly on traditional film cameras. Kodak sat on the technology it pioneered for decades while competitors developed their own. Instead of creating a digital camera market on its own terms, Kodak sat on the tech too long and went out of business in 2012.
It’s easy to judge Kodak in hindsight. Still, the point is to choose the best window of opportunity to launch a business. Sometimes the worst thing you can do is launch a business as soon as possible. Even if you have a solid business plan, your idea or service could be too far ahead of its time for consumers who abhor change. You might need to strategically pick a future date to launch it.
10 Signs You’re Not Ready to Launch a Business Yet
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Consult with other successful business owners and learn how they did it. Read about successful business people. Work with a financial advisor who can help you craft a business plan. If you want to start a business don’t give up, but don’t be completely ignorant or reckless about it either.
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Allen Francis is a full-time writer, prolific comic book investor and author of The Casual’s Guide: Why You Should Get Into Comic Book Investing. Allen holds a BA degree from Marymount Manhattan College. Before becoming a writer Allen was an academic advisor, librarian, and college adjunct for many years. Allen is an advocate of best personal financial practices including saving and investing in your own small business.
