We all love a good success story – how against the odds a mum has managed to make a good living out of her business idea. But what do you do when you are that mum with a great business idea, but everything and everyone seems to be against you?
Here are some scenarios that can hinder a lot of mums achieving success with their business idea:
Financial setbacks
Money is often the main problem that hinders mums from achieving their dreams. There are challenges that arise that require a lot of financial capital or support. The problem for most people is that they can’t seem to find the proper source to adequately maintain their needs for a variety of projects.
The main idea is to learn how to wait for the right opportunity, to avoid exhausting your resources too soon and unwisely. It is important to consider other things that will help you survive for the long term.
If you’re going into business, you should know where your start-up capital is coming from, and how much it is – this is usually done as part of your business plan. You should also know what your operational expenses (that will be used to support the company until it is ready to stand independently) are.
Problems with other people
Even though you may already be ready to take on different challenges at different times, others may not be as cooperative or as capable as you. We all have unique needs and aspirations so, as a leader, you need to focus on these first and show other people you are serious before you gain their interest and help.
People who are selfish or unwilling to work with you can have traits that could cause your business to collapse if you let them. Some of the negative characteristics include dishonesty, being rebellious and laziness. All these can hinder your progress and keep you from reaching your goals.
It is important to develop leadership skills as a business mum, so that you can adequately encourage and motivate other people to help you reach certain objectives. Give them missions and functions that best suit their own strengths and capabilities. Understand and get to know other people better so that you can expand your business fully, opening up more opportunities in the process. Talk to other successful business mums and learn from their own experience, mistakes and personal techniques – they are usually more than willing to share their wisdom with you.
Natural disasters
The forces of nature are truly inevitable so you always need to have a second or third back-up plan ready for all eventualities. Some of the things to expect are bad weather, accidents, disease, economic crisis, death, theft, fraud, scandals and changes in the system or government. You can work around these potential obstacles by creating plans and objectives that are flexible. You should still set deadlines for your projects, but make sure that you still have other ways around if the unstoppable occurs.
Natural forces are part of life so you will encounter these as long as you have goals. Even those without goals need to deal with these aspects. The most important thing is that you do not lose steam and stay motivated and fired up enough to reach your goals. Find alternatives and other people who can help you manage setbacks. Also, try to learn from your experience and stay prepared for repeat incidents.
