Small business start up requires time and money
Most people think that a business start up will be easy, no not easy, not in the way you might think. They know that it will take time, effort, money, but they know that they will succeed in the end, that’s were it’s easy. Easy peasy. However the reality is that most business fail within 5 years, and why? they run out of time and money. In my opinion there is a co-dependant relationship between the two. If you have the money, then in time, your business will break even, get into profit, give you an income. The other option is to run out of money before that important time when your business takes off. Then the result is mostly business failure. It’s called being under-capitalized. Don’t get me wrong, there are some businesses that will never succeed as they are not commercially viable, but there are those that simply run out of money and time. Here is a business start up lesson we can learn from.
Lessons to be learnt from a small business start up
Todd and Trish Hughes have been working out of their home everyday for the last several months, trying to get their start-up business off the ground.
“It’s called the Family Market,” said Todd Hughes.
“A mom and pop store where you go in looking for quality meat, for quality produce,” said Trish Hughes.
“Has a little bit of Huckleberries, Trader Joes, a bit of Cozanos,” said Todd Hughes
“It wouldn’t be something you’d see at a normal grocery store,” said Trish Hughes
“We enjoyed the lifestyle we had, in turn we didn’t have the family that we had here,” said Trish Hughes.
Since that time they have used up almost all of their life savings of nearly $80,000. They have a building lease, a business model in place, and Todd says an interest in the community. All they need is a $200,000 loan for equipment and initial inventory. But so far every bank has turned them down.
“When you think of the American Dream and to think that we’re almost there and when banks aren’t lending it’s frustrating,” said Todd Hughes.
With their bank account getting low and options running out, this couple is close to having to give up that dream.
“You keep getting kicked in the gut and keep trying and at some point you do have to do other things to get food on the table,” said Hughes
Now it’s looking like all they can do is hope that one day their dream will come true.
“It’s been fun to do it and we know it would work, but it’s just finding that relationship that believes in it,” said Hughes.
I do hope they turn their business around, it’s all in the time and money equation. And this not a one off, it’s common for thousands of businesses around the world asking themselves ‘can we hold on until we turn a profit’. Be warned that a small business start up may cost you more than time and effort.
