It doesn’t matter what YOU think of your new business idea

OK, most of us have harboured visions of some great business idea at some point or other. Maybe your mature years are the prefect time to get your ideas into action. Now, if you’ve read the article on BUYING a business, many of the same pitfalls apply here.

Perhaps one of the biggest mistakes we’ve seen over the years is that people tend to ‘fall in love’. Not with their life partner. But with their business idea. In truth, it doesn’t matter what YOU think of your idea, it only matters what THE MARKETPLACE thinks!

And once you’ve got past that, there’s a whole shopping list of things you need to do to set up a business. This is one area in which the government websites are incredibly valuable. And other organisations like the Business Enterprise Centres too.

Here are some useful links:

http://www.business.gov.au/Information/pages/Startingyourbusinesschecklistcontents.aspx

http://www.business.gov.au/Howtoguides/Thinkingofstartingabusiness/pages/default.aspx

http://www.becaustralia.org.au/

Thinking of buying a business with your ‘nest egg’? ... Some sobering advice and tips

Most of us know, or know of, someone who has retired with a nice little ‘nest egg’, or they’ve received a ‘golden handshake’ ... and then gone out and bought a business with it. And lost the lot. And the statistics don’t give much comfort either. It’s been estimated that up to 80% of businesses FAIL in the first five years. And 80% of the ‘survivors’ fail in the second five years! Pretty daunting statistics.

Now of course, this is not to put anyone off the idea of getting into business. There are countless success stories of former employees throwing it all in and launching a new venture, and making a go of it. Michael Gerber, author of “The E-Myth ... the entrepreneurial myth” (an excellent book by the way for anyone considering going into business) called it having an ‘entrepreneurial seizure’. Whether you’re going to succeed or not is primarily a result of good planning, doing your due diligence, and taking your time to validate your idea. OK, and a bit of good timing and good luck.