Three Difficult Truths About Starting a Business

Founders of successful businesses all started out the same way.  They were people with ideas who were determined to make them work.  In a perfect world a head full of ideas and a gut full of gumption would be all you need to be a successful businessman, but unfortunately we live in the real world.  Every businessman you know from big successes like Maurice Bouri to the owner of the deli down the street learned some tough lessons when they started their businesses.  Sometimes you have to learn from the school of hard knocks in order to truly understand something, and if you're starting your own business soon you'll probably be learning these tough lessons soon.

You Can't Get Bank Loans with Ideas

No bank or credit union is going to write a check and tell you to simply follow your dreams.  You may have one of the best ideas in human history, but if you don't have proof that you can pull it off you shouldn't expect a dime from anyone.  It's unfortunate and unfair, but many banks shy away from financing startups because many of the people behind the startups have little experience managing businesses.  Having a concept is great, but if you want to get any monetary support you'll need to have proof that you can make the concept work.

Your Initial Financial Expectations Will be Way Off

You could have an economics degree and have the finest financial analysts going over your projected earnings, but you won't know how much you'll earn until you actually start your business and start earning money.  Financial forecasts are a lot like regular weather forecasts.  Experts look at the data they have and make predictions on what they think will happen, and the majority of the time unexpected factors affect their predictions.  You can't predict world events, changing social norms, or upcoming economic shifts.  Focus on growing your business naturally before you start setting 7 figure revenue goals.

Success Today Doesn't Guarantee Success Tomorrow

There is no such thing as a perfect business that's always profitable; companies go through high and low periods as often as the wind changes.  If you falsely believe that you'll always be the top company in your industry you're almost guaranteed to fail somewhere down the line.  A good business owner is always looking for ways to improve their business and they make it a point to stay on top of industry trends.  The faster you realize that your success isn't guaranteed, the better off your business will be.