Join TLC to discover the biggest mistakes start-up often makes. You’re heart’s still beating. You’re still standing. The blood is pumping. And you’re still alive. It took you a few tries, but you finally made it to the finish line — the real one, the finish line that used to be called “finishing” and now just simply isn’t enough for most people. The last thing that you want is to be reminded of how much work lies ahead of you.
This might sound like a perfect opportunity for a post about taking stock and having a healthy sense of gratitude towards your existence right now, but that's only part of the story. To get back on track with your business, it's important to take stock — or to at least look at your finances and make sure they're in working order before starting any new projects. In other words, there's no point in spending money you don't have if it means ever having more from what you already have (and what so many people don't).
If there isn't enough cash available for many reasons — perhaps due to unexpected expenses, bad decisions made by your company, or any number of other reasons -- then there's really nothing more than a good excuse to let go and reevaluate your business plan before moving forward with any additional investment in hopes of making things better (or at least not getting stuck with huge debts when things don't go as planned).
How to Get a Business Plan Done But the business plan is only one piece to the puzzle. It’s not enough that you fully understand your goals and vision, you also need to know how you’ll get there. Having a business plan gives credit applicants a leg up on you, since they can see how well your business fits into their overall financial picture. But if it’s not done well, it could be the difference between getting the loan or not. Here are six mistakes small businesses make in financing: Getting Financing and Investors
The best way to start your business is with a positive business plan. A business plan gives you an idea of your profits, projections, and the market for your product or service. It also includes information about how you will be able to fund your startup.
But here are the 6 biggest mistakes small businesses make in financing:
1. Not having a clear business plan
2. Overestimating the amount of money they will need to get started
3. Not having an emergency fund or cash reserves in place
4. Ignoring their credit score and debt-to-income ratio when applying for loans
5. Taking on too much debt at once
4. Your First Steps in Starting a Business Failure to start your own business is an ongoing process. As the idea for your startup grows, so does the amount of information you have to process. You may encounter several challenges along the way, but there are also new opportunities that arise as you learn more about your business and how it functions. In this section, we’ll go over some of the most common mistakes small businesses make in starting their own business and how they can avoid them.
5. Legal and Tax Issues for Your New Business
If you are a small business owner, the stakes in your business are high, and the choices you make can be difficult. In order to get to profitability, you need to make the right decisions. There are many choices that you have to make:
Whether or not to take on debt, how much debt to take on, where you will locate your business, what kind of taxes you will have to pay and how will you handle them. Though it may seem like an impossible task, there is help for small businesses come up with a solid business plan. You can get a free copy of “Paying for Your Business” an online guide that walks through the steps of creating one and getting it approved (for free) by your bank or lending institution.