Top Three Reasons Why Business Is Difficult And What You Can Do About It

Image by iosphere at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It is widely known in the entrepreneurship world that 8 (sometimes 9) out of 10 new businesses fail in just 5 years. I'm pretty sure you've seen this statistic before but fortunately, an article by Paul Jarvis states why 8 out of 10 new businesses fail is a myth.
I know this is not what we're supposed to talk about here, but if you are an entrepreneur, you may still feel strongly about how true this may be.

Business is hard and it's very common to be pressured about it every day. To make you feel better, you shouldn't take all the blame. A lot of it has to do with our upbringing and our nature as human beings. What's great to know is you have the power to change your situation.

These top three reasons are still very true to me until this day. Identify these three reasons and how it affects your life. I included actions you can take to help you go about each reason.

1) We are trained to work for someone else
Education is very important in our society, and I'm promoting it for a lot of reasons. Unfortunately, most schools don't train you to become a businessman or an entrepreneur, even when it's a business school. One of my qualifications to know whether or not someone is trained to work for someone else is their perception of money and selling. What do YOU think of selling?

I grew up in an environment where studying hard to find a good stable job is the mantra. From my relatives, school, and to friends, I was surrounded by people with this mindset. On top of that, my family is a family of professionals. If you are like me, it is difficult to move away from what your family labels as "success". My family was not very supportive of my ventures when I was younger, and it's not because they don't want me to succeed, but because of their image of what success is.

Take Action:
Shift your mind to the opposite side of the coin. Gain an understanding of the two different sides and where you fit on those two sides.

You can gain insight by reading self-development books, create relationships with people who are in the same position you are in and be in an environment where people have been there and done that. The ultimate goal for this is to become aware of who you are right now and know who you have to become.

2) We stay away from uncertainty
It is our nature to stay away from pain. It is easier to avoid doing things. Some people call it being lazy, some call it procrastination, but the deeper truth is that we are not wired to work on things that have the potential to hurt us. When things are doing "ok" and we don't have that deeper need to do things, our brain protects us from harm.

You have to face it, business will always be difficult. There are a ton of challenges that will come your way. The only way to grow in business is to embrace uncertainty, take control of your thoughts, and start taking actions even small ones every day.

Take Action:
You will face adversity every day. Whether it be financial, legal, personal or health concerns, it is something you will have to deal with. Mel Robinson says that we have 5 seconds to decide on doing something. If we start hesitating, our brain sends stress signals and stops us from doing what we know what we need to do. Hesitation is a dream killer.

3) We work on it alone
It takes a lot of skill and patience when you work with someone else. You can see this at work, at school, and in business. It is usual for people in business to complain about employees not caring about the business as much as the owners do. As what rich dad said in Robert Kiyosaki's books, business is hard, and people are difficult. What most business owners don't fully realize is that businesses are built by people for people, not for machines.

Take Action:
Learn how to trust and manage people. Just because you can do it better, doesn't mean that you should do it. As a business owner, it is best to delegate the task, train people, and learn how to multiply yourself. If you don't know how to train people, learn to delegate up, not delegate down.
There is no easy way out of this, learning to trust in what people can do is what I consider as one of the most satisfying things you can learn in business. It's difficult when you are still starting out, and the best part is, the better you get good at working with people, the easier it is for your business to grow.

There a dozen more reasons on why business is difficult, these are just guidelines for you to work on right now. You are the best solution for your business.