Comments on: Measuring Time: How Much Time Does It Take To Build a Business?

By: Personal Finance: Thinking Like a Business Person vs. a Consumer - Zoomstart

Personal Finance: Thinking Like a Business Person vs. a Consumer - Zoomstart — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 05:42:18 +0000

[...] far smarter to start small and suffer through the growing pains when you’re building a business. It hurts, it sucks, it’s hard … but it’s the right way to do [...]

By: 303 Insanely Interesting Links From 2007 -- Jarkko Laine - Insanely interested

303 Insanely Interesting Links From 2007 -- Jarkko Laine - Insanely interested — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 19:35:01 +0000

[...] Measuring Time: How Much Time Does It Take To Build a Business?, ZoomStart [...]

By: Powerful Posts - May 2nd, 2007 | Nate Whitehill dot Com

Powerful Posts - May 2nd, 2007 | Nate Whitehill dot Com — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 03:58:33 +0000

[...] Zoomstart – Measuring Time: How Much Time Does It Take To Build a Business? [...]

By: Andy

Andy — Thu, 10 May 2007 15:31:50 +0000

It can take a lot of time, you just have to have patience.

By: Shane

Shane — Sat, 05 May 2007 06:25:23 +0000

Yeah Gregg,

My stance is that 95% of businesses fail. Most within 2 to 5 years, but there are a few stragglers that hang on barely for maybe even 10 years.

There are a lot of different numbers out there, but when you add up all the great business ideas that people invest a few bucks into but don’t get off the ground … they’re not really listed in any stats … so 95% is not out of the realm of reason.

Anyway, it’s definitely MOST. And it happens simply because the costs are greater than the revenues. Which is either starting too big or not getting out and bringing in the sales.

By: Gregg

Gregg — Sat, 05 May 2007 02:23:10 +0000

Great post…It’s said that most businesses fail within the first 3 years of opperations. And yes, people shouldn’t expect a positive cash flow the first year…although that would be nice

By: Shane

Shane — Thu, 03 May 2007 22:25:06 +0000

Hey Jon,

Not only is it okay to start small, it’s critical. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people go big … and then go home because of it. The only way to go big and not go home is to have a boatload of capital and a generous selection of heavy hitters on the sales team.

By: Jonathan-C. Phillips

Jonathan-C. Phillips — Thu, 03 May 2007 20:50:36 +0000

i agree, businesses like blogging (if a blog is monetize) definitely starts as a hobby. little or no startup costs.

“Your purchasing has to reflect your real sales potential”

true, simple but true, and too often overlooked, people wanna go big right from the start, it’s ok to start small

By: Shane

Shane — Wed, 02 May 2007 22:36:30 +0000

Anthony,

What I’ve written here is a good solid foundation for starting the average business.

Small or micro businesses can achieve profitability pretty quickly. A lot of these start out as hobbies that people have (like blogging). They’d be doing them even if they weren’t making money. The incentive of getting paid for doing something you love just ratchets up the commitment and output.

Micro business entrepreneurs can do well because they usually don’t invest anything extra into the business and keep the overhead super low. Which is a great way to start small and grow with the flow … cash flow that is!

By: Anthony

Anthony — Wed, 02 May 2007 21:30:38 +0000

This subject is a little above my knowledge, however I would have a hard time getting motivated if I didn’t feel I could have a positive cash flow pretty quickly. I think a lot of business hopefuls make the mistake of taking on a bunch of debt up front, expecting to be able to pay it off easily when things start rolling…..then when it doesn’t, they’re in a mess.