Entrepreneurship is extremely frightening to a lot of people, and that’s probably why a lot of people make the choice to work for others. If you think about it, a lot can go wrong; a lot more than can go right. Today, we thought we’d highlight how business owners are able to get through all of the problems to forge ahead and create successful companies.

At the start of any new business is hope. Nobody has ever started a business without it. Most entrepreneurs think they can improve or innovate on ideas that are already in existence; and many “experts” on the notion tend to believe that if a business owner isn’t willing to go outside their comfort zone, that they are bound to run a stagnant business.

That’s not to say that avoiding risk is a good thing—of course you’re going to want to do that—but if you don’t explore outside of the things that you already know, your business is going to suffer. Let’s take a look at five solid tips that people just starting their business, or want to start a business, need to do to move outside their comfort zone to improve their chances.

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Getting the information you need to expand your business’ reach is paramount to the whole endeavor. If you are looking to start out, you need to understand how a lot of things work that you may not know a lot about. What about payroll? Taxes? Ordering and inventory? Do you have vendor relationships? What about regulatory compliance? There is an endless list of things that you need to know before you can open a business, let alone run one. 

What’s worse, as your business grows, and you think you have a grasp on everything, you may come to find out that there are things you have neglected to learn that may have some type of negative impact on your business. Remember that PSA on NBC “The more you know”? Well, in business the more you know, the better. 

Hold Yourself Accountable

If your business is going well and you are looking to step outside your comfort zone to help it grow a little faster, you will need to set goals. Start small. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Reworking some of your procedures to be more efficient; getting some new equipment that will help streamline or automate some processes; hiring new people with a track record of success; all these examples and more take time, capital, and commitment.

Just like starting a business, growing one takes hard decisions. This means being able to look yourself in the mirror when things don’t go to plan. Too many substandard managers blame the people they’ve hired, the government, or even the customers for their problems, but the only way to be a success as an entrepreneur is to hold yourself accountable for the positive and negative outcomes that your business experiences. 

Keep Pushing Forward

Once your comfort zone starts to expand and more and more things fall under your proverbial umbrella of excellence, there is a tendency to get complacent. Business can change from one day to the next. Consider for a minute the millions of small businesses that were affected negatively by the years-long COVID-19 pandemic. If they didn’t have some type of continuity plan to keep their business from going under, they went under. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, it was just a global health crisis that put the nail in the coffin for a lot of companies that didn’t have the foresight to prepare. 

For the business owner, getting out of their comfort zone isn’t anything new. It’s hard to start a business. It takes guts and determination. The same guts and determination it takes to take your business to the next level. Pushing yourself to move past what you are comfortable with to improve your business, makes the lives of your vendors, employees, and customers better.

Building a business can be a massive challenge, but we can help. Give us a call today to talk to one of our knowledgeable IT consultants and start building a better business.