No Country for Small Businesses
Here we are, the day after the Academy Awards, not sure whether I think this country helps small businesses or hurts.
It is not very difficult to start your small business, actually, in a lot of ways , it is very easy to start your own business here, once you have the idea, you plot out how it will work, and go buy business cards! Of course to last in a small business it takes much more than that. With so many thousands of small businesses starting in the US every year, you have to distinguish yourself.
When you believe in your product, you have to find a way to get it out to the people so they can believe in it too. This can be very difficult, because even if you do get it out there, you have to find ways to keep it out there, in front of people, so it is current and alive in people's minds.
The biggest misconception of difficulties for a small business is that you need a good idea. But most people would never start such a huge undertaking unless they did have a really good idea. The hard part is what to do with your good idea. I recently did an interview with the Daily News here in Philadelphia, and it struck me how you really need to spend as much of your time promoting your product, as creating it!
I have chosen baseball art because I am passionate about creating a whole little world on a baseball. Even if my business closed tomorrow, I could not stop myself from continuing to capture the world on a baseball. I would still paint them, even if I ran out of space to put them in my office! The ideas for them come very naturally to me, but I have to really focus on the creative side of how to keep them out there.
I started this to create the best collection of artwork painted on baseballs in the world, I have been in business for over 12 years, they are sold all over the country, but I still have to work at it, every day, with the same creativity as that first day.
It is not very difficult to start your small business, actually, in a lot of ways , it is very easy to start your own business here, once you have the idea, you plot out how it will work, and go buy business cards! Of course to last in a small business it takes much more than that. With so many thousands of small businesses starting in the US every year, you have to distinguish yourself.
When you believe in your product, you have to find a way to get it out to the people so they can believe in it too. This can be very difficult, because even if you do get it out there, you have to find ways to keep it out there, in front of people, so it is current and alive in people's minds.
The biggest misconception of difficulties for a small business is that you need a good idea. But most people would never start such a huge undertaking unless they did have a really good idea. The hard part is what to do with your good idea. I recently did an interview with the Daily News here in Philadelphia, and it struck me how you really need to spend as much of your time promoting your product, as creating it!
I have chosen baseball art because I am passionate about creating a whole little world on a baseball. Even if my business closed tomorrow, I could not stop myself from continuing to capture the world on a baseball. I would still paint them, even if I ran out of space to put them in my office! The ideas for them come very naturally to me, but I have to really focus on the creative side of how to keep them out there.
I started this to create the best collection of artwork painted on baseballs in the world, I have been in business for over 12 years, they are sold all over the country, but I still have to work at it, every day, with the same creativity as that first day.
posted by Unforgettablogger at
9:23 AM
2 Comments:
What advice would you give an aspiring entrepreneur that eventually would like their own small business like unforgetaballs? Where did you get this idea or how did you get on your feet?
Thank You.
Kelli,
I think in this age of technology, if I was beginning my business now, I would start by testing out your idea on friends, and google and research your idea on the web. Does your product idea already exist? do you have a new twist on an old idea?
When you have the answers to these questions, you will already be starting to build your own sales pitch of why your product is different/better/needed, etc.
It is only one pc to the puzzle, but I think an important first step. Good luck!
Emily W.
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