Need Help Overcoming The Challenges Of Starting A Business?
If you’re going to read one article today, read this one.
Starting your own business is not easy.
The market is full of competitors who want to eat your lunch.
You may doubt if your idea will succeed or not.
Maybe you worry your experience isn’t enough.
We feel you!
Starting & running a business is not easy.
At any stage.
But the truth is you are not alone.
All who start and succeed faced the same difficulties you face now.
There are common challenges of starting a business.
That is why we asked successful entrepreneurs:
How did you deal with the challenges of starting a business?
This is their advice.
You’re welcome. 
Jonathan Laloz
CEO
The hardest challenge for me when starting my business was:
Overcoming paralysis by analysis.
You need to pull the trigger and execute.
My services were far from perfect, to begin with.
But they made my customers happy.
They provided them with valuable solutions to their problems.
With their feedback and over time, I’ve been able to refine my services.
To be something I could be proud of.
While I continue to improve & perfect them.
Daniel Hess
Writer & Filmmaker
My biggest challenge when I started my own business?
Finding the right audience to market to.
At first, I tried to be this catch-all and appeal to everyone’s approach.
It just doesn’t work. At least most of the time.
Once I started defining my audience.
Especially in the world of wedding videography.
I was able to capitalize on my marketing and grow my business.
Ryan David
Owner / CEO
I faced a multitude of daunting challenges when I started my business.
First, it was building my website to look and function great. Next, it was very challenging to implement the best SEO practices.
It was exhausting to optimize for getting traffic.
But the tough part was to bring my domain authority rating up.
Any business not ranking well on Google, risks going out of business.
Also, the website must be:
1-Very easy to use.
2-Appear exceptionally credible.
These were – BY FAR – the biggest challenges my business had when it started up.
Irwin Hau
Owner, Founder, Director of Chromatix
Challenges of starting a business?
The top 3 hardest things when starting were:
- Building a predictable sales/marketing machine.
Something you could simply run to bring in leads.
You need this.
- Not having the right systems and processes.
To ensure staff (at the time myself) could follow pinpoint-accurately.
You need this too.
- Finding the right people to fit the company culture/company vision.
Since we had no culture or vision, to begin with.
Define yours and avoid these issues I had.
Serg Valencia
Founder, B2B Sales Consultant, Psychologist, and Writer.
My entrepreneurial experience has seen me launch three companies.
Each had its specific challenges.
Still, the most significant challenge has been…
Overcoming my internal resistance to the unknown.
Creating a new business means acquiring knowledge we do not have.
Living experiences we have not lived.
So a kind of inner fear stops oneself from taking action.
This is normal.
You must acknowledge it.
Address it and proceed one step at a time.
Leslie Crudup Villagarcia
Founder & Life Coach of Leslie V Coaching
Challenges of starting a business?
One of the most challenging parts was not knowing when to stop working!
I would get to the end of the day/night and wonder:
Have I done enough for today?
Can I actually go to bed now?
It was nerve-wracking at times. I was still trying to find my feet in the whole ‘business thing’.
So, I was spending a lot of time just experimenting.
Trying different processes and systems.
It wasn’t until I had been at it for a while that I began to understand:
How to prioritize my various business-related tasks.
How to best communicate my message and.
When to REST.
Burnout is real. Pick a healthy pace you can maintain.
This is a marathon, not a sprint.
Elle Wilson
Founder and CEO of TrueBrow
In general, the 5 hardest things about starting a company are:
- Just starting. This is the hardest part, I promise.
- Sticking to your guns. Not everyone will love your idea.
- Asking for help. Entrepreneurs are a proud bunch.
- Being persistent and not giving up.
- Being picky about the things that matter.
It’s so easy to get overwhelmed.
Prioritize & Focus.
Jay Crisp Crow
Copywriter | Copy Mentor | Stale-Scrapper
Challenges of starting a business?
Well, I started my copywriting business with more challenges than most.
$0. A disability. I was supporting a family.
Plus I only had a borrowed laptop from my part-time job.
The lack of start-up investment was a hindrance, for sure.
When I did start making a profit, deciding what to invest in was a challenge.
I knew I needed big-picture help. But private business coaching was tremendously expensive. Totally out of my reach.
I also knew I needed systems and processes and all the related tech.
But without business advice, I didn’t know what to invest in first.
Like most bootstrapping start-ups, I DIYed it.
[Do It Yourself]
As I did it myself, I put aside 10%.
Then 20%, then 30%.
To upgrade my skills, tools and get paid advice – even an hour at a time.
Within 18 months, I could quit my job.
The following year was my first 6-figure income year.
It’s like a giant, shifting puzzle with pieces missing.
Only you can’t recognize what’s not there until you hit the gap.
My start-up adventures inspired me to launch no-cost and low-cost copywriting resources. For other businesswomen getting started.
Then bigger courses and programs for when they’d made their first profit.
There’s a lot to learn from starting with nothing.
Now I’ll always know, no matter what, I could do it again.
Ofer Tirosh
CEO: Tomedes Translation Company
Challenges of starting a business?
When I started I envisioned having a remote work model.
I wanted it to center on the “follow-the-sun” model.
No matter where our clients will be.
There will be someone to give them quality customer service.
Also, having a remote work model would be more cost-effective.
We’d no longer need to pay for offices, electricity, etc.
When we first started implementing these models we had issues.
Cultural differences. Miscommunication, and no clear expectations for our employees.
But after we confronted these issues.
We create a work culture based on open communication.
We set clear expectations, personal goals and company goals.
For more than a decade now, we have been following the same models.
It has worked for us.
Work culture is essential in any company.
If you’re starting to build your business.
My advice is to foster a work culture.
It will strengthen the internal relations of your company.
Plus it will benefit your company in the long run.
Nick Heuzenroeder
Managing Director: Haven Wealth Partners
My biggest challenges, in the order I experienced them:
Finding the courage to step out of my comfort zone.
Having the guts to back myself.
Realizing that my business was reliant on the effort of others.
How unmotivated or uninterested these people could be.
They had no ‘skin in the game’
Taking the chance, while scary, was very liberating.
I’ve had to work very hard to improve phone and zoom relationship building.
Since Face-to-Face meetings are not possible at the moment.
I’m CEO/Managing Director of a new Ethical Investment start-up.
I feel I have tested the depth of the water with both feet.
I resigned from a high-paying, secure senior management position.
At a multi-billion-dollar fund.
Why?! To launch my fund.
To be my boss and free myself from the big company molasses.
Despite the many setbacks and failures, I’ve experienced, there are no regrets!
Investment management has significant legislative requirements.
Further, the fund’s management industry is ultra-competitive.
‘Cutting through’ is of absolute importance to succeed.
Starting in such a regulated & competitive industry was daunting.
To overcome these, my business partner and I created a disruptive approach.
One putting the investor’s needs first and foremost.
We conceived, researched, funded and launched our business in only a few months.
We built the business using lean six sigma principles.
We opted for a ‘just in time’ approach.
We let third parties do back-office tasks.
It helps us avoid the high cost of hiring staff.
It means we engage companies to do work for us.
For a fixed cost, fixed deliverables, and at a fixed date.
This has really helped us stay competitive, focus on our clients & grow.
So How Do YOU Overcome The Challenges Of Starting A Business?
The hardest part is getting started, be confident, and don’t hesitate.
Identify your target market.
Build a site. Follow the rules of SEO & emphasize your credibility.
Do the best you can and when you know better, do better.
Acknowledge the key is to make progress day by day.
Also, pay attention to the work culture you create.
Focus on clear outlines & communication between your teams.
To minimize delays and misunderstandings.
Finally, get advice & hire experts.
It will save you a lot of time and effort.
Help you achieve your goal quicker.