Small Business: Expectations vs. Reality

You’ve come up with a great idea for a new business. You can see it taking off in your mind, already making millions. Irresistible. Other people will want to join your business venture as well. The image we see in our minds may be different than the reality of that dream.

Small business owners have high expectations for their companies. They want to be millionaires, they want to be able to take care of their families and they want to do it all with a smile on their faces.

Working for Yourself Requires Work

But the reality is that starting a small business is not easy, it requires real work on your part. The challenges you face as a new entrepreneur are daunting and if you don’t have the right mindset going in, it can be hard to stay positive about your future.

You should expect to work long hours, at first. You may end up working nights and weekends for a little while. But don’t be disappointed if you can’t immediately grow your business into a Fortune 500 company. Remember that starting small is an opportunity for you to learn from your mistakes and refine your skills as an entrepreneur before going big-time. 

Many successful entrepreneurs start with a small business because they want to avoid making big mistakes early on in their careers and learn from experience without risking too much financial or personal investment. You just need to have realistic expectations.

1. Expectations: My customers will love my product or service right away and rush out to buy it.
2. Reality: It will take time for me to build a customer base, even if my product or service is excellent right out of the gate (which rarely happens). It takes roughly 18 to 24 months for a new business to see a profit. 

1. Expectations: I’ll be my own boss.
2. Reality: You are your own boss, but that means you’re also responsible for everything. You have to set your hours, hire and train employees (if you need them), and make sure that everything is running smoothly in the day-to-day operations of your business — from paying bills to scheduling appointments with clients.

1. Expectations: I’ll hit my target market right away!
2. Reality: It takes time to build your brand.

You might think that once you’ve launched your product or service, people will flock to buy it immediately. That doesn’t happen. It may take a few months to start seeing a steady flow of traffic.

Besides having the right expectations, you should make sure you have the right tools to get you started. According to Forbes Advisor, these are a few of the small business must-haves in 2022:

1. Get a Google Business Listing

Google Business Listings allow you to claim your business on Google Search and Maps so that you can be found by people searching for your products or services nearby. They also help drive foot traffic to your business by showing up in search results and maps when potential customers search for what you offer.

2. A Beautifully Designed Website

A beautifully designed website should have an easy-to-navigate design with rich content that engages visitors and helps build trust with them. It should be responsive and compatible with mobile devices so that users can access it easily from anywhere they want. There should be no problem with reading text on small screens too.

3. Business Phone

When you are starting your business, it can be tempting to get the cheapest phone available. After all, you are just starting out and don’t have a lot of money to spend. However, this can be a mistake as you must have a reliable phone line for customers to reach you. Check out the phone systems on Ooma business.

4. Custom Business Email Services 

A lot of small businesses have been moving away from buying servers and renting space at colocation facilities and instead using cloud-based email services like Microsoft Office 365 or Google Apps for Business. These services offer all the features of traditional server-based email without any of the hardware or maintenance costs.

Business success depends a lot on luck and timing, but it also depends on realistic expectations, discipline, and hard work. If you’re willing to do what it takes, there’s no reason why you can’t be successful with your own business.