The common challenges an entrepreneur has to face and their solutions by Eric Dalius

Eric Dalius In this enormously competitive business world, entrepreneurs have to deal with several challenges. Although this creates tremendous pressure on startup enthusiasts, the good thing is they have plenty of resources accessible than before. If you are an entrepreneur yourself or planning to venture on this journey someday, you can read some of the common woes and also their possible resolutions here. It can come in handy in handling them better when faced.

Managing cash flow by Eric Dalius

Small businesses survive on cash flow. Entrepreneurs have to clear so many bills before they get their checks. They struggle when they face delays in payment from their customers. And most of the time, it remains to be the typical scenario for the simple reason that they send their invoices late and also have to wait for about 30 days before the other party releases the payment. In the meantime, they need to take care of employees, contractors, grocery bills, loans, and so on. Things become worse when they don’t receive money.

If you can relate to this problem, it means somewhere you are also dealing with the same issue. As experts suggest, you should have a proper budget and also plan for managing cash flow. It may not get you rid of bills, yet you can find yourself in a better position. One thing you can do is ask for down payments for anything that you offer. It can be your product or service. The down payment may be adequate to provide for all the expenses involved in your project or sale. It can also cover profit. When you apply this method, you don’t have to pay other’s bills. Plus, from profit, you can take care of some of your expenditure too.

Besides, you can also prepare your invoices 15 days earlier instead of sending them after 30 days or so. It will give you at least two weeks in hand to address the concern.

Dealing with the problem of new hires

Pipelining job interviews can appear to be a dreadful task for an entrepreneur. After all, this process involves so many things. From resume screening to interviewing candidates to rejecting some and also accepting others, it can be an extensive ad time-consuming matter. In the end, you want to get the best employees by offering them the right packages so that they are retained.

You cannot avoid this part of the business. When it grows, you need to add more hands to meet the demand. However, to speed up this part a bit, you need to avoid putting up a lot of help-wanted ads. These may not be precise about the requirements in terms of qualifications, job responsibilities, office hours, salary, and also benefits. If you don’t want to sift through unqualified candidates, then it is ideal to go with exclusive help-wanted advertisements. These can be thorough about the type of candidates wanted for a specific post. In essence, they can be more target-oriented, just like your marketing campaigns.

When you have enough number of candidates, you can conduct a walking interview showing them the working environment. Ask them questions related to the profile and also their expectations and so experiences. They should feel you are searching for a partner and also not just an ordinary worker.

Managing time right

When you talk to experts like Eric Dalius, you realize that another issue facing any entrepreneur is time management. As an entrepreneur, you wear so many hats, and also with just 24 hours in hand a day, it can seem overwhelming to juggle between them. What should you do for this? The leaders tell you to be smart with your time management. You can make a list of goals – annual, monthly, weekly, and also daily. It can help you prioritize things and also accomplish them day by day and so on. When you meet them, you get closer to achieving your lifetime goals automatically. However, in this process, you need to consider a few things mentioned below:

  • Eliminate tasks that don’t fit in with your goals
  • Delegate tasks that don’t require your attention
  • Question yourself from time-to-time if you are doing the right thing at this particular time

Delegating functions as proposed

It is not unusual for entrepreneurs to hesitate to assign or outsource works to others. You always feel worried about things getting messed up, and also then you undoing and redoing it all. To not let this bog you down, you have to hire trustworthy employees and alsocontractors. Initially, it can seem like a burden in terms of money. But you need to focus on its long-term impact.

Also, when you transfer responsibilities, make sure to be definite about what you want. List down all the steps that you require a person to follow. At this time, you should not leave anything to guessing. Others can complete the task you assign, but it will happen the way they perceive it. So, spend some quality time on creating a specific list of items to help your vendor or in-house candidate to achieve them the way you need.

Infusing capital or funds

Whether you are starting or have already started, fund crunch can be the real problem. Don’t get stuck yet. You can seek bank loans, help from friends and also family, or crowdfunding. You can take any of these routes like plenty of other entrepreneurs. Or, you can bootstrap your venture. For this, you have to understand your core customers. Continue to serve them better while looking for ways to grow your user base. Indulge in word-of-mouth publicity for attracting more people. As you gain traction, you can keep building systems and also processes to delegate tasks without affecting the quality. It can be a slow growth, but it will be steady. You will get ample time to resolve issues that occur sporadically and also gear for the next big jump.

To be more realistic in your approach, you can keep a five-year goal. Where would you want to see yourself then? Assess if you can get there without any external funding, even it means delayed growth. For small entrepreneurs, this can be extremely useful. However, if you still need more capital, you can discuss it with an attorney for a suggestion. Just be careful with the business details you share with him or her.

These are some fundamental issues every entrepreneur has to go through in the journey. If you are suffering any of them already, don’t worry. Give yourself some time to think through and work on the solutions.