5 Things You DON’T Need To Start a Small Business

Many people don’t pursue their dream of starting a business because they feel insecure and don’t believe they are qualified enough! 

While some things may be helpful in starting businesses in certain industries, in reality and contrary to popular belief, the things below are NOT absolutely necessary for you to start your faith-driven business. So don’t let these factors hold you back from becoming a Christian entrepreneur! 

Here are five things that are NOT required in order to start your own business… 

#1: A Business College Degree

If you don’t have a business degree, that is okay!

With only 9% of entrepreneurs holding a Bachelor’s Degree in Business, it is clear that lacking a degree doesn’t disqualify you from starting your own successful business. 

Although having some business experience is necessary to start a successful business, a formal college degree is certainly not the only way to gain valuable business experience. In fact, taking a business intensive course (like what we offer through Maju Global) can be an incredibly effective way to prepare yourself to start a business. Working in your target industry or having a business mentor or coach are other ways that you can adequately prepare to start a successful business. 

#2: Investors

Many people falsely believe they need financial investors before they can start their business. The truth, however, is that it is possible to start your small business and still be successful without investors. In fact, being an entrepreneur requires creativity and drive, and thinking of creative ways to raise the capital for your business is often the first step! Do you have personal savings or a way to build it? Or maybe a family member sees potential in your business plan and wants to support your dream. You can even liquidate or leverage personal assets to offset your start-up costs. After all, if you believe in your business idea and plan, you should be willing to put your personal assets behind it. 

#3: An Office

Despite world-wide digitalization, many people still think they need a physical office location before they can start a business. But thanks to globalization and an increasing use of virtual spaces, a brick-and-mortar office location is often no longer required to start your own business. It is possible to run an organized, well-managed, and administratively competent business without a physical office location. In fact, operating virtually may be the more financially responsible option!

#4: Employees

Many entrepreneurs think they need employees in order to launch their business. But statistics show that 62% of small businesses do NOT have employees!  

Your business needs and growth rate will be the actual determining factor for when and how many employees to hire.  You may need to open your doors with trained employees ready to go, or, you may be able to wait until your business expands and only hire an extra set of helping hands in response to the demand of your product or service. It’s even possible that your business will never need to hire a single team member. It all depends on your broader business goals! 

#5: No Debt

There is a widely-circulated misconception that any type of debt is negative and something to be avoided. Of course overspending is irresponsible and you must live within your budget, both personally and in your business. But, this tightly-held zero-debt belief is due to a fundamental misunderstanding of debt specifically within business. Of course, as an aspiring-entrepreneur you must always be wise with your finances to ensure profitability and avoid bankruptcy. But with that you must understand that debt can be a healthy and normal part of running a business. As long as you have a sustainable and well-informed plan to pay back your debts, debt itself should not be a deterrent to starting your business!

https://www.smallbizgenius.net/by-the-numbers/entrepreneur-statistics/#gref