Do You Want to Be an Entrepreneur? Beware of Beginner's Traps!

When you set up your first business there can be many frustrations and road blocks associated with your new endeavor. You probably were dependent on your former company's resources and services that were at your disposal, but now that you have decided to become an independent entrepreneur all of that will change! These are some of the things you will find useful when becoming your own boss.

The first thing to be aware of is that you will have to do everything yourself in your business to start with. You won't have the luxury of secretaries or mail boys or department executives. You will be doing all of these jobs. The next thing that a new entrepreneur can be trapped by is using the wrong banker for the first business loan. A bank can be an entrepreneur's best source of venture capital, especially for first time entrepreneurs. But you have to choose the right banker. Your local neighborhood branch bank is probably not a wise choice for a loan simply because branch managers have no decision-making capacities. Also if the projected cash flow isn't as good as expected, a branch manager can get very nervous and lose confidence in the entrepreneur's new business. The first time entrepreneur needs a confident main bank manager who will cooperate with him despite periodic cash flow problems.

The next thing a new entrepreneur might fail to do is to write his own business plan. Since most entrepreneurs want to take immediate action, and not be involved with writing a business plan they will hire someone else such as a consultant to do it. The bad thing about doing this is the probability of the lack of excitement generated about the new business in showing bankers and other possible venture capitalists. These people need to be persuaded to the benefits and value of the new business and could very well be sold by the entrepreneur's own personal enthusiasm and convictions. An entrepreneur is generally a natural salesperson, and he or she should write and present their own business plan for these reasons.