Hard work is the secret of success! Starting a business is easy. Making it succeed can be incredibly hard. Almost everyone who enters the world of self-employment must overcome a variety of challenges. Here are some of the main problems they'll face, and that you'll probably have to deal with if you decide to go into business for yourself. 1. Finding customers - If you open a shop on a busy street you'll have people coming in from the first day. But if you're selling web design services or running an online service it's harder for people to find you Ideally, as you plan your start up you should line up one or two customers in advance. Find people through your network of friends, family and colleagues. You might have to offer incredibly good deals to secure them, but having a couple of customers in place helps with word of mouth marketing and testimonials and it introduces you to the demands that they place on you. Advertising is an effective method to your customers knowing you! 2. Knowing how to do everything - No one is an expert in every aspect of running a business. As a sole trader you'll be doing the business planning, marketing, selling, administration, bookkeeping, and customer support. If you're offering a service you need to have those skills as well. A common complaint from those going into business is that they don't have the knowledge or ability to cover all these different roles. You need to identify early on what you can do and what you can't, or at least what you like doing least and what impact that will have on your business. Where possible try to get some help in the difficult areas. For example, there are plenty of people around with bookkeeping skills who'd be happy to sort through your receipts from time to time and write up the accounts. 3. Finding the time - Of all the resources you need to run a business, time can be the hardest to deal with because you can't create or borrow more of it. Ask anyone who's setting up their own business how many hours they work and the answers will be 'lots', which usually means 10-12 per day, often for 7 days a week. This is not an exhaustive list of the issues faced by those setting up their own business. But it gives a flavour of the challenges that await if you're thinking of going in this direction. It's not all hard work and problems. Being self employed is also hugely rewarding in terms of personal satisfaction and if your business succeeds there are going to be financial benefits. You are also master of your own time to a considerable extent, although there will still be deadlines to meet or specific hours to keep. . Hard work is the secret of success! Starting a business is easy. Making it succeed can be incredibly hard. Almost everyone who enters the world of self-employment must overcome a variety of. hours they work and the answers will be 'lots', which usually means 10-12 per day, often for 7 days a week. This is not an exhaustive list of the issues faced by those setting up their. flavour of the challenges that await if you're thinking of going in this direction. It's not all hard work and problems. Being self employed is also hugely rewarding in terms of personal