subject: Starting a new business - My own story, and the things I have learned [print this page] Starting a new business - My own story, and the things I have learned
How I got into business
I had been employed at a small electronics firm, for a number of years. The sales turnover was moderate, and the income, steady. To cut a long story short, the widow of the former owner of the firm, found herself in serious debt. Eventually she was forced into bankruptcy, but before this happened, in an effort to shed some of her financial burden, she offered up the business to it's current employees.
The business was stable, and would have been prosperous, but for the amount of debt that the current owner had accrued. It meant that running the business effectively, was next to impossible. So, in the end, through a deffered payment scheme, Myself and another former employee bought the business. There were hard negotiations along the way, but eventually, the deal was made.
So, my journey in to business began...
A shock to the system, and a very steep learning curve
It became very apparent, very quickly, how little I knew about running a business! I've heard it said that there are three types of people in business:
The entrepreneur - A person with ideasfor business
The manager - The person who manages those ideas
The technician - The person who thinks they could do the former two jobs, a lot better than the people doing them!
Well, I have to admit, I sat firmly in the latter of these three! The times I remember sitting in the workshop, when I was just an employee, on several occasions, complaining, that 'a child could run this place better'..Boy, was I in for a sharp lesson! And, many more to follow!
So, coming from the position of someone who had never run a business before, or even had the incline to do so, I though I should share some of what I have learned, to break through some of the unknown barriers that probably stop a lot of people starting, or running their own business.
