In looking at U.S. entrepreneurship through the lens of my fifty years of entrepreneurial experience, I realize that the system today is stacked against startups and small businesses.
Startups inevitably face several challenges when getting their businesses off the ground. Here are four of the most common roadblocks entrepreneurs face when starting a business:
- The top challenge is lack of capital and difficulty raising capital. While there is plenty of capital for technology startups, traditional startups are not getting adequate access to capital.
- Lack of proper accounting. Keeping up with cash and cash flow is everything. A lot of businesses fail because they run out of money at a critical time. You need to project outcomes and carefully know your numbers.
- Staying focused. Don’t look at too many shiny objects and fall in love with everything. You will come across a lot of potential opportunities while starting your business that will tempt you to divert attention away from your business plan. Focus on sticking to a plan that is as simple and straightforward as possible.
- Dealing with pesky regulators who are seemingly everywhere. Do the best you can to stay away from lawyers and regulators, and when you have to get involved, feel free to ask for advice from friends and mentors and people who are willing to help. The good news is there are a lot of them out there.
Overall, it is much harder today to start a business than it was thirty years ago, and even fifty years ago when I started my company. We have created a widening opportunity gap for all Americans to pursue entrepreneurship, and as such, we have seen an overall decline in startups.
We are at a critical juncture right now in determining what the future of entrepreneurship will look like for all Americans—not just the privileged few—and helping alleviate unnecessary barriers to entry for these potential new businesses.
Adapted from Quora.
Bridging the Opportunity Gap to Reignite Startups
There is an alarming decades-long decline of new business startups facing the United States today. BOOM exposes the reasons behind this downward spiral and outlines strategies to solve the problem.