Starting Your Own Business Seems Daunting? Consider These Key Points

Do you think about breaking your 9 to 5 grind and start your own business but are too scared to give it a try? Caution is good, but fear is not!

Jeremy Harbour, a successful entrepreneur, who lectures all over the world on the subject of SME Mergers & Acquisitions will narrate how to overcome the fear of starting your own business. Here’s how:

• Expend your time and effort to do the thorough research about your prospective business. Go to the public library and ask for the related books and journals. 
• Visit every business remotely in your area. Spend some time talking to the suppliers. 
• Plan! Write up a business plan and consider all the elements of your new business and cover every aspect including market analysis, cash flow, management structure and different sections on marketing.

“By using the three keys of extensive research, preparation, and detailed planning, you will acquire the knowledge to make an informed decision about the feasibility and survival of any new business. This will not only overcome the very rational fear you feel but also give you the self-confidence to set you started the right way, ” Jeremy Harbour says.

Jeremy Harbour Wants You To Be The Hero, Not A Victim

Every good story has a villain. In the Hollywood film Money Monster that villain is (SPOILER ALERT) the CEO of a large company. However, the movie’s protagonist is not the disgruntled underdog Kyle - who in the story, lost his life savings banking on a bad investment tip delivered on the titular fictional investment television programme of the film.

The character of Kyle, who presumably is meant to represent the working man, serves neither as a hero nor the villain, but seemingly as a channel for ranting, raving, expletives and threats of violence. While critics are not wowed by the depiction of Kyle, who neither felt like a threat nor evoked any real sympathy from the audience, I feel he is a fantastic representation - of all the vitriol leveled at the wealthy, or “upper classes”.

Why all the hate?

“Class Warfare” is a term thrown about these days and friction between social classes are not exactly a new thing.

For all its detractors and failings, capitalism offers opportunities for social mobility as never before seen in history. Entrepreneurship offers the chance for upward mobility even in China - which is still ruled by the communist party - and in India, in spite of its caste system.

Making someone the villain does not make you the hero

The saying “once bitten, twice shy” is not without merit. Human nature is such that we’re more prone to focus on the negative than we are to be swayed by the positive.

Between the shenanigans that led to the 2008 financial crisis, growing income inequality, the shrinking middle class, and the disruption digital technology having on many industries, people can feel that their financial futures are threatened and the best way to appease the “tiger” is to find a scapegoat.

It’s easy to make someone else the “bad guy”. Blaming our misfortunes on others can temporarily make ourselves feel better. However, it does nothing to actually improve our lot in life.

Be the hero

Aside from the few who have the good fortune of being born into a wealthy family, the rest of us have to work for our money. And aside from the few who win the lottery, none of us get rich accidentally.

If you’ve got the entrepreneurial bug, or a great business idea, but don’t have the money to get a start-up going, you don’t need to give up. You just need to know how to write a business plan. Once more, the resources and knowledge are all just a mouse click away.

It’s natural for people to envy those who “have it better” and it’s all too easy for people to fall into the trap of envy. Like Kyle making the cardinal error of putting all his financial eggs in one basket, one can play the victim and blame others for their own poor decisions. Or, one can start taking charge and working for that difference.

At the Harbour Club, I, Jeremy Harbour, coach people on how to attain and sustain this. I started my first business at the age of 15, and there’s no reason why you can’t start building a $10 million dollar business in 10 weeks, today.

Go do! By Jeremy Harbour – Summary of Chapters 1-5

Go Do is written by Jeremy Harbour, a serial entrepreneur who writes the book from his own experiences. According to Jeremy, he wrote the book for those who talk about starting a business but never get around to actually doing it.

Here’s a brief synopsis of the first five chapters:

Chapter 1 – Go Me: This is all about Jeremy. A bit about his childhood days, family, struggle with formal education and his business exploits as a child. Jeremy didn’t follow the common route of education and then land a job. He started right out in business after secondary school and after a while built a multi-million pound business. His stories are inspiring.

Chapter 2 – Risk: As the chapter suggests, the subject of this chapter is risk, particularly why people fail to live up to their dreams of starting s business. Jeremy discusses the issue of failure and why it is important to try something rather than regret later in life for not trying. Failure as a learning experience is also highlighted.

Chapter 3 – Go You: Here Jeremy Harbour is challenging us to do away with the belief that we can’t start a business. He touches on self-limiting beliefs and offers some ways to over come them.

Chapter 4 – The worst five excuses: This chapter covers the top five excuses people give for not starting a business. Jeremy explores the validity of each of these excuses in detail. The excuses are:

a. I need a lot of money to start a business
b. I cannot afford to leave work
c. I heard 80% of new businesses go bust in the first three years
d. I need to gain more experience in my chosen field before making the leap
e. I don’t know about business tax or accountancy

Chapter 5 – The invention myth: The main premise here is that you don’t need a new invention to start a successful business. In other words, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel.

This is a quick summary of the first five chapters of Go Do! by Jeremy Harbour. You can pick up a copy on Amazon.com.