| By :
Jeff Schuman
The American dream for some people is to own their own small business. However this dream can turn into a nightmare because of challenges many local business owner face. Let's talk about 4 challenges you are going to face if you have your own local business or are considering starting one. 1. Undercapitalization. Many small business owners miss calculate the amount of money they need to start or run their business. This is understandable because many of these people have not run a business in the past. One way to view this is to look at your anticipated first year revenues and your first year expenses and that is the amount of capital you will need to operate. Being undercapitalized is the number one reason that small businesses fall into bankruptcy. 2. E-Myth. The entrepreneurial myth is based on the fact that a person who has a technical background in their field thinks it qualifies them to start and run their own business. You see this all the time in trade businesses. For example an air-conditioning installer is very good at what he does so he decides to start his own business. He quickly finds out that running a business is much more complicated than he might have thought it was. This is another reason many business startups fail. Not only does it take adequate capital, but it also takes expertise in running a business. 3. Marketing. Today this means using the Internet to market local businesses. Established small business owners as well as new ones are having trouble with this fact. In the past it was much easier to put together an advertising campaign based on Yellow Pages, direct mail, and local newspaper advertising. Some larger businesses might also use radio or television. Today the way people find businesses is totally different than it was just a few years ago. As a local business owner you need to be found on the Internet where people are searching for keyword phrases relating to the theme of your business. The only way to do this is to use search engine optimization for general keyword phrases and incorporate local business words into them. For example, if you go are a carpet cleaner in Denver, Colorado you want to rank for as many keyword phrases as possible such as Denver carpet cleaner, clean my carpet in Denver, and so on. 4. Who Is The Boss? Small business owners work long hours and many times feel like their customers are their bosses. Unless you become adept at controlling your schedule, and managing employees, you can find yourself quickly burning out on the American dream of owning your own local small business. These are four of the major challenges facing local business owners in today's competitive marketplace. These are things to be aware of and work at improving if you expect your business to survive!
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