Читать книгу Entrepreneurial Itch - David Trahair - Страница 22

This area is a strong suit for me, as you might expect. It’s easy for me to keep accurate books, make sure bills and taxes are paid correctly, and file annual income tax returns as required. What about you?

I can’t stress the importance of finance and administration enough. I’ll even spend all of Chapter 6 talking about how to keep financial records.

Sadly, I have watched many businesses fail. One of the traits they shared was lousy financial records. They had receivables so old there was no chance they would ever collect any money. They owed back taxes and had been assessed late-filing penalties and interest charges by the government. They had received many “demand for payment” letters from suppliers and, in many cases, nasty letters from their banker asking when the line of credit was going to come down.

The people running these businesses saw their dream of self-employment turn into a nightmare. Not only did their business fail, but they were often left in deep personal debt or bankruptcy as a result.

Do yourself a favor: work on your bookkeeping and financial skills before attempting to start your own business. (I won’t get into this in too much detail in this book, but Self-Counsel Press has several great books on the subject by Angie Mohr, including Bookkeepers’ Boot Camp and Financial Management 101.) Alternatively, find a partner who has these skills, or accept the fact that you’ll have to pay for a bookkeeper and perhaps an accountant as well.

I’ll give it to you straight:

If you don’t focus on the financial and administrative aspects of your business from Day One, you’re pretty well doomed to fail from the start.

* * *

Your next decision is a big one. Keeping in mind the attributes you need to be a successful entrepreneur and the three fundamental things that will keep a company stable, what business are you going to start?

Learning from an expert: Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin was one of the most incredible people of all time. He was many things: an inventor, a philosopher, a scientist, a statesman, a musician, and an economist. He was also a small-business owner. In fact, he was one of the most amazing entrepreneurs of his day. His business, a printing shop, did so well that he was able to retire by early middle age to pursue his writing and other activities.

But why was he so successful? Let’s look at his attributes.

First of all, he was interested in the people around him and always strove to make improvements to their lives. This natural curiosity drove him to invent many products — the cast-iron Franklin stove so people could warm their houses with less wood, the lightning rod to protect buildings and ships from lightning damage, bifocals so people could see both near and far with the same glasses, and a simple odometer so he could figure out the shortest routes for mail delivery.

He loved what he did. He enjoyed his printing business not only because it provided him with a good income, but also because it allowed him to distribute his writing and opinion pieces at a time when this was hard to do. This laid the groundwork for his future as one of America’s founding fathers and one of the greatest citizens of the country.

He was not afraid of hard work. He attributes many positive things in his life to the reputation he earned as a diligent, hardworking man.

He was obviously a great communicator. All you have to do is read some of his writings to be convinced of this.

He had good skills and experience that he developed on his own. He himself attributes his business success to his love of reading and writing.

He also realized how important physical fitness was. Swimming was his chosen activity as it strengthened his aerobic conditioning as well as his arm muscles. He shunned beer (that’s one strike against me!) and preferred water because he had seen the ruinous effects of too much strong beer on his compatriots.

Benjamin Franklin also had his faults, which he talks about eloquently in his autobiography. If you are interested in the life story of one of the greatest small-business owners that ever lived, I strongly suggest you read his autobiography. (You can do so on the Internet by Googling “autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.”) He learned what he needed to know by reading — you can too.