Personal Finance - House Hack Help

This is a guest article by Katie Conroy of advicemine.com. How to Overcome the Fear of Launching Your Own Business If you have always wanted the personal and financial freedom that often comes along with entrepreneurship but have not yet taken the plunge due to fear, you are not alone. Here, guest writer Katie Conroy of Advicemine.com explains a few ways to assuage your anxieties and move forward toward realizing your dreams. Mastering business fundamentals is especially useful for real estate investing and house hacking, and for many other things as well. 1. Create a Solid Business Plan To succeed as a business owner, you need a well-thought-out plan in place to keep you focused and goal-oriented. Typically, a business plan should include: Executive summaryCompany descriptionGoalsGoods and service descriptionMarket research findingsFinancial analysis and projectionsSales strategy 2. Find a Mentor If you feel nervous about the possibility of launching your own enterprise, you would likely benefit from speaking to someone who has been through the process before. Good sources for mentors include friends, family, or acquaintances who own and run their own companies. Another idea could be a local entrepreneur you feel is successful. 3. Start Off Slowly People with a low-risk tolerance may feel more comfortable starting off their new endeavor slowly. Establishing a business as a side hustle can give you time to get up and running before relying on it as a main source of income. If you can dedicate nights and weekends to your company in the first months or years, you can grow it gradually and eventually hope to dedicate all of your time to that endeavor. Starting your enterprise slowly can also take some of the financial pressure off of your shoulders and allow you to use your own income to expand. 4. Stop Fearing Failure Many famous people failed before they became successes. Examples include Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln, and Bill Gates. Sources show that human beings can often learn more from their failures than their successes. Of course, if you invest your entire life savings in an endeavor that flops, this could put you in dire straits financially. However, if you launch slowly minimizing your personal monetary ties, a business that does not make you independently wealthy may be the learning tool you need to create one that does. 5. Believe in Yourself Your fear of failure may stem from simply a small tolerance for risk, or it may be a symptom of something deeper. If you do not believe in yourself and your ability to make your company a success, no one else will either. Consider trying some at-home techniques for bolstering your self-esteem or even seek a therapist to work through your lack of self-confidence. Remember to bring in clients and investors you have to believe in what you are selling, which at first will always be yourself. 6. You Can Eagle-Eye Your Accounting One of the main reasons many businesses fail is leadership’s lack of attention to financial matters. So it makes sense if you’re concerned this could be a problem for you. Your financial state is essentially the cornerstone of building and growing your business. As such, it’s crucial to dedicate your attention to monitoring bills, expenses, cash flow, etc. Fortunately, there are tools available to help you stay on top of everything so you can better manage your accounting. For example, if you’ve decided to launch a handyman business and want to start a company as a general contractor, there is actually an accounting solution for construction businesses. Created specifically for SBOs in the construction and home services industry, this type of software can help you manage job costs, automate accounting needs, file 1099s for sub-contractors and organize all of your tax paperwork. This is but one example, though it underscores some of the important items you’ll need to keep tabs on. If you’re opening a flower shop, a retail store, a consulting business or a dog walking venture, you need an accounting solution. 7. Market Effectively If you’re worried about generating interest, this is where marketing comes in. Marketing is essential for any new business. Without a solid marketing strategy, it can be difficult to reach potential customers and build a successful brand. There are a few key things to keep in mind when developing a marketing plan for your new business. First, it's important to identify your target audience. Who are you trying to reach with your products or services? Once you've defined your target market, you can begin to develop marketing materials that will appeal to them. It's also important to create a strong online presence. In today's digital world, potential customers are likely to search for businesses online before they ever step foot in a store. Make sure your website is easy to navigate and provides information about your products or services. Finally, don't forget the power of word-of-mouth marketing. Encourage your satisfied customers to tell their friends about your business. With a little effort, you can develop an effective marketing plan that will help you reach your target audience and grow your new business. Though starting a business can be scary, the payoffs can be exponential. Create a business and marketing plan, prepare to stay on track with your accounting, find a mentor, and develop your confidence to find success.