If you want to be your own boss and build a future on your terms, start a small business. It’s a challenging journey, but you’ll gain a sense of accomplishment and pride in seeing your work succeed. Plus, you’ll be supporting local jobs and keeping the American dream alive.
Business creation involves planning, making key financial decisions and completing a series of legal activities. It also requires a lot of personal sacrifice to get started, including investing your own money and time to make it happen. And if you’re not successful, you’ll lose some of your hard-earned money.
The start-up phase of a new business is the time period when a business concept becomes a fully operating firm. It can be a quick and intense process or it can take years of trial and error to reach the point where a business has a viable product or service.
In the business innovation stage, a company develops ideas and concepts that enhance the value of its products or services, improves its efficiency or boosts productivity. Examples of innovative business ideas include Dyson’s industrial cyclone technology, ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft or Gillette’s Mach3 razors.
Many people pursue entrepreneurship for the personal fulfillment it offers. You can achieve this by starting a business and watching it grow and succeed, or you can do it to help support yourself financially. However, a new venture can be risky and you may have to gamble your savings, raid your friends or family or borrow from the bank.