We all have dreams of an entrepreneurial manner in one form or another.
Whether it’s starting a blog so you can communicate your thoughts and feelings, or it’s about starting a small business, we can easily get discouraged by the amount of work that goes into it. But, if you’re not afraid of a little hard work (or a lot), you need to know exactly what you are letting yourself in for.
So, when it comes to starting a passion project, and specifically, one that is done with the aim to make you money, how much work should you put into this?
Dedicating the appropriate amount of time
Time is irrelevant in many respects. If you’re looking to start a business, you need to not think about how much time you have available, but how to add hours to the working week. You might be working a full-time job, in which case, you need to dedicate your evenings and weekends to getting everything set up properly.
As the saying goes, “if you want to learn how to build a house, build one”. The same applies if you are going into this with limited knowledge. As a result, it’s not about dedicating a minimum amount of hours, but it’s about making sure you’ve put so much effort into every aspect so that it doesn’t fall flat on its face.
As is commonly communicated, 9 out of 10 businesses, approximately, fail within the first year. So how much work do you have to put in to not be part of this overwhelming statistic? As much as humanly possible.
The problems you didn’t take into account
If you’ve got your business up and running, that is great, but now is when certain problems begin to rear their head. One common issue in the modern business world is computer viruses. This can be mitigated by outsourcing to managed IT services, so they can do the protecting for you.
While protection over your data is paramount, you need to put in as much effort into your human capital. While you may have the cogs turning, you might have members of staff who are unhappy in the organization, clients who aren’t pleased with your approach to work, and the problems increase thereon in. I believe it is critical to put systems in place to keep clients and team members happy.
Does it take over your life?
In a word, yes. In starting a business, the biggest concern from your immediate family and friends is the work-life balance. However, this is a necessary evil, especially the very start. It doesn’t have to take over your life, but if you want the business to fly, it’s essential that you put in the amount of work that will keep it ticking over.
It’s important to note, if you view starting a business as work, you might not put your all into it. A passion project is something that shouldn’t feel like work. And if you’re doing it right, setting up a business that relates to a passion of yours won’t feel like work.
